Drinking, abstinence, and academic motives: Relationships among multiple motivational domains and alcohol use in college students.

BACKGROUND: Drinking, abstinence, and academic motives have been previously linked with alcohol consumption in high school and college students; however, little research has examined the impact of such sources of motivations concurrently. OBJECTIVE: Drawing from self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000), the current study tested the hypothesis that alcohol-related and academic motives would be associated with one another along internal vs. external focused dimensions. We also examined the relative influence of these motives on alcohol consumption. METHODS: College students (N=226) completed self-report measures assessing drinking motives, abstinence motives, academic motives, and alcohol-related outcomes. RESULTS: Findings suggest that drinking motives are related to abstinence motives but not academic motives. Both forms of alcohol-related motives were related to alcohol use and consequences; no associations between academic motives and alcohol variables were observed. CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE: The lack of associations among academic motives, alcohol-related motives, and alcohol variables departs from previous findings suggesting that academic motives impact alcohol use. The current findings indicate a greater understanding of the interplay of motivational sets related to salient issues for youth, such as academics, is needed in order to expand intervention models for alcohol use in such populations.

Psychometric Properties of the Child's Reaction to Traumatic Events Scale-Revised in English and Lugandan.

Brief and age-appropriate measures of trauma-related symptoms are useful for identifying children in need of clinical services. The current study examines the psychometric properties of the 23-item Child's Reaction to Traumatic Events Scale-Revised (CRTES-R). The CRTES-R includes subscales assessing hyperarousal, avoidance and intrusion. To date, no studies have examined the psychometric properties of this revised measure or cross-cultural differences in its factor structure. Two samples of (a) children (ages 6-21) who had experienced a hurricane in the USA or Grenada (N = 135), and (b) Ugandan children (ages 8-17) who had experienced a variety of traumatic events (N = 339) completed the CRTES-R in English or Lugandan. Confirmatory factor analysis supported an empirically adjusted model with three modified latent factors in both the English (χ2/df = 1.34, CFI = .90, RMSEA = .05) and Lugandan samples (χ2/df = 1.45, CFI = .93, RMSEA = .04). Although the analysis supported separate hyperarousal, avoidance and intrusion subscales, the items that loaded on each factor differed from the original CRTES-R subscales. The English version of the CRTES-R showed good concurrent validity with the Kauai Recovery Index measure of trauma symptoms. Those using the CRTES-R to assess children's experiences of the different symptom types should consider using the empirically-derived subscales described in this paper; however, those who wish to capture a broad spectrum of PTSD symptoms should consider using all the original CRTES-R items and calculating a total score.

The efficacy of a standalone protective behavioral strategies intervention for students accessing mental health services.

Students with poor mental health are at increased risk for problematic alcohol use. These students also tend to underutilize alcohol-related protective behavioral strategies (PBS). Cross-sectional studies indicate that PBS use may be particularly useful for students with mental health challenges; however, it is unclear whether training these students to use PBS is an effective approach for reducing alcohol use and consequences. The current study evaluated the efficacy of a standalone PBS skills training and personalized feedback (PBS-STPF) intervention among students accessing mental health services. Participants (N = 251) were randomly assigned to either an individual facilitator-led PBS-STPF intervention or a health-related control condition. Participants completed online follow-up surveys 1 and 6 months post-intervention which included measures of alcohol use, negative consequences, and a composite measure of PBS use. Relative to control participants, students in the PBS-STPF condition reported significantly greater PBS use but no differences in alcohol use or consequences. Participants in both conditions reported decreases in drinking outcomes over time. Tests of mediation indicated that the intervention indirectly led to reduction in drinking outcomes at 6 months through increased PBS use. Although the intervention resulted in changes in PBS use that were maintained for up to 6 months post-intervention, the effects of the intervention on drinking and consequences were limited. A brief standalone PBS training may need augmentation in order to promote effective use of PBS for substantial decreases in alcohol consequences.

Parents' and students' perceptions of college alcohol risk: the role of parental risk perception in intentions to communicate about alcohol.

INTRODUCTION: The current study aims to examine discrepancies in parents' and college students' perceptions of alcohol risk and the role of perceived risk in predicting parents' intentions to discuss alcohol with their child. METHODS: In total, 246 college student-parent dyads (56.1% female students, 77.2% mothers) were recruited from a mid-size university. Participants completed measures of absolute likelihood, comparative likelihood, and severity of alcohol consequences. RESULTS: In comparison to students, parents perceived the risks of alcohol poisoning (p<.001), academic impairment (p<.05), and problems with others (p<.05) to be more likely. In addition, parents rated the majority of alcohol consequences (e.g., passing out, regrettable sexual situation, throwing up) as more severe than students (all ps<.001). However, parents tended to be more optimistic than their child about the comparative likelihood of alcohol consequences. After controlling for demographics and past alcohol communication, greater absolute likelihood (ß=.20, p=.016) and less confidence in knowledge of student behavior (ß=.20, p=.013) predicted greater intentions to discuss alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: Providing parents of college students with information about college drinking norms and the likelihood of alcohol consequences may help prompt alcohol-related communication.

Relational aggression, positive urgency and negative urgency: predicting alcohol use and consequences among college students.

Research on relational aggression (indirect and social means of inflicting harm) has previously focused on adolescent populations. The current study extends this research by exploring both the frequency of perpetrating and being the target of relational aggression as it relates to alcohol use outcomes in a college population. Further, this study examines whether positive urgency (e.g., acting impulsively in response to positive emotions) and negative urgency (e.g., acting impulsively in response to negative emotions) moderate the relationship between relational aggression and alcohol outcomes. In this study, 245 college students (65.7% female) completed an online survey. Results indicated greater frequency of perpetrating relational aggression, higher levels of positive urgency, or higher levels of negative urgency was associated with more negative consequences. Further, negative urgency moderated the relationship between frequency of perpetrating aggression and consequences such that aggression was more strongly associated with consequences for those high in urgency. Counter to the adolescent literature, the frequency of being the target of aggression was not associated with more alcohol use. These findings suggest that perpetrators of relational aggression may be at particular risk for negative alcohol-related consequences when they act impulsively in response to negative, but not positive, emotions. These students may benefit from interventions exploring alternative ways to cope with negative emotions.

Sleep quality and alcohol risk in college students: examining the moderating effects of drinking motives.

OBJECTIVE: Sleep problems and alcohol misuse are common issues experienced by college students that can have detrimental effects on overall health. Previous work indicates a strong relationship between poor sleep quality and alcohol risk in this population. This study explored the moderating effect of drinking motives in the relationship between global sleep quality and experience of alcohol-related negative consequences. PARTICIPANTS: College students (N = 1,878) who reported past-month drinking. METHODS: Participants completed online surveys assessing sleep and alcohol-related behaviors. RESULTS: Poorer sleep quality and higher drinking motives (coping, conformity, and enhancement) predicted greater alcohol-related consequences, controlling for drinking. Further, coping motives moderated the relationship between sleep quality and consequences such that participants reporting poor sleep and high coping motives experienced heightened levels of consequences. CONCLUSIONS: These findings advance the understanding of the relationship between sleep problems and alcohol-related risk and provide implications for targeted campus-based health promotion interventions.

Patterns of care and side effects for patients prescribed methadone for treatment of chronic pain.

OBJECTIVES: This manuscript evaluates physician monitoring practices and incidence of cardiac side effects following initiation of methadone for treatment of chronic pain as compared to patients who began treatment for chronic pain with morphine sustained release (SR). DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed medical record data on all new initiations of methadone and compared results of physician monitoring practices to patients with new initiations of morphine SR. A standardized chart tool was used to capture clinical data. Data related to health service utilization and clinical diagnoses were obtained from the VA clinical information system. SETTING: A single VA Medical Center in the Pacific Northwest. PATIENTS: Chronic pain patients prescribed methadone (n=92) or morphine (n=90) in the calendar year 2008. RESULTS: There was no difference between patients prescribed methadone versus patients prescribed morphine SR in the likelihood of receiving an electrocardiogram (ECG) prior to initiating medication (53 percent versus 54 percent) or in the year after opioid initiation (37 percent versus 40 percent). The two groups also did not differ in rates of developing prolonged rate-corrected (QTc) intervals (>450 ms) (11 percent versus 17 percent). Seventy-two percent of all patients discontinued their long-acting opioid regimens before 90 days due to adverse effects or insufficient pain relief. CONCLUSION: Despite recommendations for standardized assessment and cardiac risk monitoring, few patients prescribed methadone received an ECG, and this occurred at a rate that did not differ from patients prescribed morphine SR. Patients discontinued both medications at high rates. Further research is needed to evaluate the clinical significance of QTc prolongation in patients treated with methadone.

Stimulation of pneumovirus-specific CD8+ T-cells using a non-toxic recombinant ricin delivery system.

Internalisation of the plant toxin ricin occurs by retrograde transport which delivers the toxin to the ER where it intersects with the MHC class I system for peptide antigen display. Here, we describe the generation of an inactivated, non-toxic, ricin molecule fused to a peptide which elicits a CD8+ T-cell response in mice directed against pneumonia virus of mice, a pneumovirus related to human respiratory syncytial virus. The ricin fusion elicited a significant T-cell response when delivered by intraperitoneal inoculation in the absence of adjuvent. Challenge experiments showed that the T-cell response resulting from inoculation with the ricin-peptide fusion molecule delayed the onset of virus-induced disease.