Childhood with a relative's excessive alcohol use, and own drinking in adult years.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate if individuals who had been brought up by relatives (e.g. parents, siblings and grandparents) who consumed excessive alcohol effected these individuals' own alcohol use in their adult years. The participants in the study were also asked about their alcohol consumption in the past 12 months, and abstainers were asked about their reasons for choosing to live their lives without consuming alcohol. Method: A quantitative approach was used. Data collected from the Icelandic RARHA SEAS were used in this study. A panel of 2500 respondents in the age range of 18-65 years was randomly sampled and was intended to be adequately representative of the Icelandic population. There was a 34.9% response rate (n=873). Results: Of the 873 source of this study, 26.6% (n=211) categorised as Group A had lived with relatives who excessively consumed alcohol, and this had negatively affected them in their childhood. In their adult years, Group A seemed to be more frequently intoxicated than the control group, Group B (n=659). They also experienced more negative consequences from their alcohol consumption. Group A was likely to consume alcohol to deal with difficult feelings such as depression, and they were also more likely to abstain than Group B. Conclusions: The childhood experience of living with relatives who excessively use alcohol does not impact everyone in the same way in their adult years. Some of them are more likely to use excessive alcohol as adults without relating it to their childhood experience of relatives excessively using alcohol.

Neck Muscle and Head/Neck Kinematic Responses While Bracing Against the Steering Wheel During Front and Rear Impacts.

Drivers often react to an impending collision by bracing against the steering wheel. The goal of the present study was to quantify the effect of bracing on neck muscle activity and head/torso kinematics during low-speed front and rear impacts. Eleven seated subjects (3F, 8 M) experienced multiple sled impacts (Δv = 0.77 m/s; apeak = 19.9 m/s2, Δt = 65.5 ms) with their hands on the steering wheel in two conditions: relaxed and braced against the steering wheel. Electromyographic activity in eight neck muscles (sternohyoid, sternocleidomastoid, splenius capitis, semispinalis capitis, semispinalis cervicis, multifidus, levator scapulae, and trapezius) was recorded unilaterally with indwelling electrodes and normalized by maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) levels. Head and torso kinematics (linear acceleration, angular velocity, angular rotation, and retraction) were measured with sensors and motion tracking. Muscle and kinematic variables were compared between the relaxed and braced conditions using linear mixed models. We found that pre-impact bracing generated only small increases in the pre-impact muscle activity (< 5% MVC) when compared to the relaxed condition. Pre-impact bracing did not increase peak neck muscle responses during the impacts; instead it reduced peak trapezius and multifidus muscle activity by about half during front impacts. Bracing led to widespread changes in the peak amplitude and timing of the torso and head kinematics that were not consistent with a simple stiffening of the head/neck/torso system. Instead pre-impact bracing served to couple the torso more rigidly to the seat while not necessarily coupling the head more rigidly to the torso.

Parent-early adolescent relationship quality and problem behavior in Hungary, the Netherlands, India, and Iceland.

Higher parent-child relationship quality has been associated with less internalizing and externalizing problem behavior. However, it remained less clear whether these associations are universal or depend on the country under investigation. Furthermore, fathers are still understudied, even though there is increasing evidence of their important role in early adolescent development. Our study compared the association of mother-child as well as father-child relationship quality with early adolescents' problem behavior in four culturally different countries, namely Hungary (N = 293; Mage  = 11.22; 53% boys), the Netherlands (N = 242; Mage  = 11.20; 48% boys), India (N = 230; Mage  = 10.68; 61% boys), and Iceland (N = 261; Mage  = 10.90; 53% boys). Early adolescents filled out questionnaires in their classroom, assessing warmth and conflict with fathers and mothers and internalizing and externalizing problem behavior. Stepwise multi-group path analysis demonstrated no cross-cultural differences in associations between quality of the parent-child relationship and problem behavior. We did not find any effects of maternal or paternal warmth. However, across samples conflict with mothers was associated with more internalizing and externalizing problem behavior, and conflict with fathers was associated with more externalizing problem behavior. Our findings highlight the need to target conflict with both fathers and mothers in interventions across different countries, especially when addressing externalizing problem behavior.

Trunk muscle recruitment patterns in simulated precrash events.

OBJECTIVES: To quantify trunk muscle activation levels during whole body accelerations that simulate precrash events in multiple directions and to identify recruitment patterns for the development of active human body models. METHODS: Four subjects (1 female, 3 males) were accelerated at 0.55 g (net Δv = 4.0 m/s) in 8 directions while seated on a sled-mounted car seat to simulate a precrash pulse. Electromyographic (EMG) activity in 4 trunk muscles was measured using wire electrodes inserted into the left rectus abdominis, internal oblique, iliocostalis, and multifidus muscles at the L2-L3 level. Muscle activity evoked by the perturbations was normalized by each muscle's isometric maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) activity. Spatial tuning curves were plotted at 150, 300, and 600 ms after acceleration onset. RESULTS: EMG activity remained below 40% MVC for the three time points for most directions. At the 150- and 300 ms time points, the highest EMG amplitudes were observed during perturbations to the left (-90°) and left rearward (-135°). EMG activity diminished by 600 ms for the anterior muscles, but not for the posterior muscles. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest that trunk muscle activity may be directionally tuned at the acceleration level tested here. Although data from more subjects are needed, these preliminary data support the development of modeled trunk muscle recruitment strategies in active human body models that predict occupant responses in precrash scenarios.

Depression, anxiety, and stress from substance-use disorder among family members in Iceland.

AIMS: This research was designed to explore the extent to which the use of alcohol or drugs by one member of a family affects the psychosocial state of other family members. The study asks whether family members of substance abusers are more likely to report increased depression, anxiety and stress then the general population in Iceland? Are there significant differences between family members; e.g., spouses, parents, adult children and siblings by gender, age, education and income? DATA AND METHODS: The instrument used for this purpose is the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), which is designed to measure those three related mental states. It was administered to 143 participants (111 women and 32 men) with ages ranging from 19-70 years on the first day of a four-week group therapy programme for relatives of substance use disorder (SUD) at The Icelandic National Centre for Addiction Treatment (SÁÁ) from August 2015 to April 2016. Thirty participants are adult children of a parent with SUD, 47 are a spouse, 56 are parents of a child with SUD and 10 are siblings. The subscales of the DASS for depression, anxiety, and stress were utilised to examine which family member - parent, child, partner, or sibling - presented the behaviour associated with SUD. RESULTS: 36% or more of the respondents in all three subscales had average, serious, or very serious depression, anxiety, and/or stress. This is higher than in DASS studies of the general population in Iceland. However, the analysis indicates that it made little difference to the family's wellbeing which family member was affected by SUD.

Dynamic spatial tuning of cervical muscle reflexes to multidirectional seated perturbations.

STUDY DESIGN: Human volunteers were exposed experimentally to multidirectional seated perturbations. OBJECTIVE: To determine the activation patterns, spatial distribution and preferred directions of reflexively activated cervical muscles for human model development and validation. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Models of the human head and neck are used to predict occupant kinematics and injuries in motor vehicle collisions. Because of a dearth of relevant experimental data, few models use activation schemes based on in vivo recordings of muscle activation and instead assume uniform activation levels for all muscles within presumed agonist or antagonist groups. Data recorded from individual cervical muscles are needed to validate or refute this assumption. METHODS: Eight subjects (6 males, 2 females) were exposed to seated perturbations in 8 directions. Electromyography was measured with wire electrodes inserted into the sternocleidomastoid, trapezius, levator scapulae, splenius capitis, semispinalis capitis, semispinalis cervicis, and multifidus muscles. Surface electrodes were used to measure sternohyoid activity. Muscle activity evoked by the perturbations was normalized with recordings from maximum voluntary contractions. RESULTS: The multidirectional perturbations produced activation patterns that varied with direction within and between muscles. Sternocleidomastoid and sternohyoid activated similarly in forward and forward oblique directions. The semispinalis capitis, semispinalis cervicis, and multifidus exhibited similar spatial patterns and preferred directions, but varied in activation levels. Levator scapulae and trapezius activity generally remained low, and splenius capitis activity varied widely between subjects. CONCLUSION: All muscles showed muscle- and direction-specific contraction levels. Models should implement muscle- and direction-specific activation schemes during simulations of the head and neck responses to omnidirectional horizontal perturbations where muscle forces influence kinematics, such as during emergency maneuvers and low-severity crashes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A.

Driver kinematic and muscle responses in braking events with standard and reversible pre-tensioned restraints: validation data for human models.

The objectives of this study are to generate validation data for human models intended for simulation of occupant kinematics in a pre-crash phase, and to evaluate the effect of an integrated safety system on driver kinematics and muscle responses. Eleven male and nine female volunteers, driving a passenger car on ordinary roads, performed maximum voluntary braking; they were also subjected to autonomous braking events with both standard and reversible pre-tensioned restraints. Kinematic data was acquired through film analysis, and surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded bilaterally for muscles in the neck, the upper extremities, and lumbar region. Maximum voluntary contractions (MVCs) were carried out in a driving posture for normalization of the EMG. Seat belt positions, interaction forces, and seat indentions were measured. During normal driving, all muscle activity was below 5% of MVC for females and 9% for males. The range of activity during steady state braking for males and females was 13-44% in the cervical and lumbar extensors, while antagonistic muscles showed a co-contraction of 2.3-19%. Seat belt pre-tension affects both the kinematic and muscle responses of drivers. In autonomous braking with standard restraints, muscle activation occurred in response to the inertial load. With pre-tensioned seat belts, EMG onset occurred earlier; between 71 ms and 176 ms after belt pre-tension. The EMG onset times decreased with repeated trials and were shorter for females than for males. With the results from this study, further improvement and validation of human models that incorporate active musculature will be made possible.