Correction: Messina et al. Knowledge and Practice towards Alcohol Consumption in a Sample of University Students. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 9528.

Gemma Battagliese was not included as an author in the original publication [...].

Knowledge and Practice towards Alcohol Consumption in a Sample of University Students.

Objective: Alcohol affects many human systems and is involved in the pathogenesis of other diseases. Particular attention must be paid to alcohol consumption among young people. It has been shown that 25% of young people's deaths are attributable to alcohol, and around 35 million people aged over 11 had consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in 2015. Study Design: Young people aged 18-24 were the most vulnerable to binge drinking in Italy, and 50.6% of teenagers drunk alcohol. Only a few studies in the literature have investigated those habits in university students. This study aims to examine alcohol use habits in a population of university students in Italy. Methods: Between 2018 and 2019, an anonymous online questionnaire was randomly sent to university students from 17 different universities in a network of research centres to study alcohol use disorders. The survey included socio-demographic information, questions about alcohol use, knowledge about alcohol consumption, and related risks. Used questionnaires were the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) and the Drinking Motive Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R). Results: the AUDIT-C revealed that 53.3% of students were high-risk drinkers. Regarding binge drinking habits, 13.1% of students admitted to binge drinking behavior at least once a month. In our sample, male students are more likely to be low-risk drinkers than female peers (p < 0.008). Students from northern Italy are more likely to be high-risk drinkers (p = 0.003). Beer (65.9%) and wine (60.9%) were the most consumed alcoholic beverages. The most common places to drink alcohol were pubs (85.5%). The most likely motivations to drink alcohol were enhancement (40.43%), social (38.39%), coping (15.63%), and social pressure or conformity (5.55%). Only 43.8% of participants reported having attended an educational course on alcohol. Conclusions: University students were not fully aware of the implications of alcohol misuse and will be part of the adult society as critical figures and future leaders. It is imperative to inform students about alcohol consumption risks and investigate the motivations to drink. Stress, anxiety, and social pressure are only a few issues young people are exposed to. Special attention must be paid to young people and their coping strategies that involve substance abuse by using educative, preventive, and motivational approaches.

Drop-out, relapse and abstinence in a cohort of alcoholic people under detoxification.

The Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS) was developed to reflect obsessionality and compulsivity related to craving and drinking behaviour for revealing in the long-term drop-out, abstinence and relapse. This study evaluates the early OCDS predictive value in drop-out, abstinence and relapse of patients suffering from Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) for discovering an OCDS total score cut-off capable of disclosing patients most at-risk of relapse during the beginning of the therapeutic intervention in the Day-Hospital period. The sample includes 263 AUD patients, with 192 men and 71 women. The OCDS scores were measured during the two-weeks Day Hospital treatment for detoxification and after 30, 60, 90 and 180 days after discharge. We also investigated the association between the all OCDS scores and abstinence and between craving, relapse and drop-out. We found that high values of OCDS during Day Hospital detoxification may predict a lower ability to maintain abstinence with elevated relapsing probabilities. Surprisingly, early dropping-out AUD people had lower OCDS total scores. However, significant differences in OCDS values in dropping-out AUD people were revealed mainly 90 and 180 days after discharge compared to no dropping-out AUD subjects. Craving measured also after 30, 60, 90 and 180 days from discharge in AUD relapsers, with OCDS values comprised between 6 and 10, could indicate a lower ability to continue abstinence. In conclusion, OCDS may be a useful tool to early discriminate AUD people at-risk for relapse and drop-out and for addressing the specialist to adjust both medical treatment and psychological support during crucial moments of patients' treatment and follow-up.

Behavioral responses in people affected by alcohol use disorder and psychiatric comorbidity: correlations with addiction severity.

AIM: In this study, we investigated in people suffering from alcohol use disorder (AUD) with or without dual diagnosis (concomitant psychiatric disability) how they feel their dependence condition. We predicted that AUD people with a dual diagnosis could feel potentiated their addiction. METHODS: Alcohol habits and psychiatric conditions of 183 AUD men and 62 AUD women were measured by using the DSM-5, the severity of alcohol dependence questionnaire (SADQ), the alcohol anamnesis and psychiatric examination by the symptom check list 90-R (SCL-90-R). RESULTS: We have shown that alcohol drinking does not correlate with both psychiatric examination and self-reported psychopathology. SADQ shows that severe alcohol dependence correlates with highest psychiatric symptoms and with the levels of alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: This finding suggests that high SADQ scores may represent a tool to early disclose only patients with dual diagnosis. SADQ may provide information to address pharmacological interventions because revealing aspects of the dark side of addiction potentiated by AUD associated psychopathology.

Treatment of alcohol dependence. Alcohol and the young: social point of view.

Adolescents are the most vulnerable group for alcohol-related diseases, as starting to drink at a young age is associated with an increased risk of alcohol dependence in adulthood. Young people tend to drink large amounts of alcohol to seek out strong emotions and for reaching fun at all costs through the psychotropic properties of alcohol. The behavioural motivations of this kind of drinking (binge drinking) depend on the lack of awareness of the harmful effects of alcohol, in the rite of social conviviality (a condition for which alcohol is attributed to the function of facilitating the aggregation among young people), in the absence of personal interests, lack of controls and family habits. Actions to be taken to limit or stop harmful alcohol consumption in young people should be based on interventions aimed at delaying the age of first contact with alcoholic beverages through the implementation of educational campaigns aimed at young people, their families and the whole society.

Pharmacological treatment for dual diagnosis: a literature update and a proposal of intervention

Background: It has long been appreciated that alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with increased risk of psychiatric disorder. As well, people with history of mental disorder are more likely to develop lifetime AUD. Nevertheless, the treatment of dual diagnosis (DD) in alcohol addiction still remains a challenge. The efficacy of pharmacological treatment for these patients has been widely investigated with controversial results. Patients with untreated psychiatric disorder are at higher risk to return to drinking and tend to do so more quickly. The aim of this review was to collect clinical data for developing guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of psychiatric diseases in a population with AUD. Materials and methods: A literature review was conducted using the following databases: PubMed-NCBI, Cochrane database, Embase Web of Science, and Scopus, including studies published between 1980 and 2015. Search terms were: "guideline", "treatment", "comorbidity", "substance abuse", "alcohol", "dual-diagnosis", "antidepressant", "antipsychotic", "mood-stabilizer". Out of 1521 titles, 84 studies were included for their relevance on pharmacological treatment of psychiatric disorders in people with AUD. Results: Different drugs were collected in major pharmacological classes (antidepressant, mood-stabilizer, antipsychotic), in order to identify their proved efficacy for treating specific psychiatric disorder in the AUD population. Data were selected and verified for publications from randomized clinical trials, open-label trials and case reports. Conclusions: DD in alcohol dependence is a complex clinical entity, and its high prevalence is supported by epidemiological data. Pharmacological management of psychiatric disorders in patients with AUD remains partially anecdotal. Based on reviewed articles, we propose a classification of psychiatric medications for treatment of mental disorders comorbid with AUD, listed with evidence-based recommendations. More research is needed to obtain and collect clinical data, in order to organize and share evidence-based guidelines.