Adolescent alcohol use: a reflection of national drinking patterns and policy?

AIMS: To analyse how adolescent drunkenness and frequency of drinking were associated with adult drinking patterns and alcohol control policies. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional survey data on 13- and 15-year-olds in 37 countries who participated in the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) Study in 2010 (n = 144 788) were linked to national-level indicators on alcohol control policies and adult drinking patterns. MEASUREMENTS: Outcome measures were self-reported weekly drinking and life-time drunkenness (drunk once or more). Data were analysed using multi-level logistic regression models. FINDINGS: In the mutually adjusted models, adolescent drunkenness was associated significantly with high adult alcohol consumption [odds ratio (OR) = 3.15 among boys, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.13-4.64, OR girls = 2.44, CI = 1.57-3.80] and risky drinking patterns in the adult population (OR boys = 2.02, CI = 1.33-3.05, OR girls = 1.61, CI = 1.18-2.18). The level of abstainers in the adult population was also associated significantly with girls' drunkenness; a 10% increase in the number of abstainers in a country reduced the odds of drunkenness with 21% (OR = 0.79, CI = 0.68-0.90). Weekly drinking was associated significantly with weak restrictions on availability (OR boys = 2.82, CI = 1.74-4.54, OR girls = 2.00, CI = 1.15-3.46) and advertising (OR boys = 1.56, CI = 1.02-2.40, OR girls = 1.79, CI = 1.10-2.94). CONCLUSIONS: Comparing data cross-nationally, high levels of adult alcohol consumption and limited alcohol control policies are associated with high levels of alcohol use among adolescents.

Phenotypic diversity, population structure and stress protein-based capacitoring in populations of Xeropicta derbentina, a heat-tolerant land snail species.

The shell colour of many pulmonate land snail species is highly diverse. Besides a genetic basis, environmentally triggered epigenetic mechanisms including stress proteins as evolutionary capacitors are thought to influence such phenotypic diversity. In this study, we investigated the relationship of stress protein (Hsp70) levels with temperature stress tolerance, population structure and phenotypic diversity within and among different populations of a xerophilic Mediterranean snail species (Xeropicta derbentina). Hsp70 levels varied considerably among populations, and were significantly associated with shell colour diversity: individuals in populations exhibiting low diversity expressed higher Hsp70 levels both constitutively and under heat stress than those of phenotypically diverse populations. In contrast, population structure (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene) did not correlate with phenotypic diversity. However, genetic parameters (both within and among population differences) were able to explain variation in Hsp70 induction at elevated but non-pathologic temperatures. Our observation that (1) population structure had a high explanatory potential for Hsp70 induction and that (2) Hsp70 levels, in turn, correlated with phenotypic diversity while (3) population structure and phenotypic diversity failed to correlate provides empirical evidence for Hsp70 to act as a mediator between genotypic variation and phenotype and thus for chaperone-driven evolutionary capacitance in natural populations.

Gambling in Western and Eastern Europe: the example of Hungary.

The history of gambling in post-socialist countries is noticeably different from that of other countries in Europe. The goal of this study was therefore twofold: Firstly, to systematically review all European epidemiological studies related to excessive gambling in the general adult population, and secondly, to provide an overview of the state of gambling in Hungary based on the first ever nationwide representative survey, setting the results against the backdrop of the earlier European studies. A systematic review was carried out of European gambling studies which focus on a representative adult general population. Hungarian data was obtained from the National Survey on Addiction Problems in Hungary general adult population survey (N = 2,710). Pathological gambling was measured by the South Oaks Gambling Screen. Lifetime prevalence of excessive gambling (problem and pathological gambling) in the general adult population of European countries varies between 1.1% (Italy and Spain) and 6.5% (Estonia). In Hungary, the prevalence of problem gambling is 1.9%, with pathological gambling at 1.4%. The socio-demographic characteristics of the results are similar to those of other European countries. Using epidemiological data from the general adult populations of two post-socialist nations, it was possible to compare the results with data from 12 other European countries. Based on the data available, the extremely rapid liberation of the gambling market in the post-socialist countries has led to a similarly swift escalation in associated gambling problems.

[Problematic and pathologic gambling in Hungary: the Hungarian version and use of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS-HU)]. / Problémás és patológiás szerencsejáték Magyarországon: a South Oaks szerencsejáték kérdoiv magyar verziójának (SOGS-HU) hazai alkalmazása.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Gambling is a form of entertainment with a history of thousand years that has a significant potential for development and has become a widely spread global industry recently. Excessive gambling can take the form of problem, or even pathological gambling. The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) is the most common measure used for the assessment of problem and pathological gambling. The aim of our study was the development and psychometric analysis of the Hungarian version of the instrument, and its verification on a representative population sample. METHOD: The administration of the instrument was conducted within the frame of the National Household Survey on Addiction Problems, where 2710 persons were interviewed from Hungarian population between 18 and 64 years. RESULTS: The psychometric properties of SOGS-HU are adequate. 65.3% of the respondents had ever gambled. The most popular games are lottery and other number draw games. According to the data obtained by SOGS 1.9 % of the sample was considered to be problem gambler, and 1.4 % of the sample was considered to be pathological gambler. In both groups the proportion of man was higher, while additional risk factors were lower income, lower expected level of education and legal / illegal substance use. CONCLUSION: Based on these results Hungary can be found in the middle-rank of Europe regarding the prevalence of problem and pathological gambling.

[Association of the different types of substance use behaviors in the Hungarian adult population]. / A különbözö szerhasználó magatartások kapcsolódása a magyarországi felnött népesség körében.

BACKGROUND, AIMS: There are several examples in international literature dealing with the connection between different types of substance use behaviors. Studies mostly report the strengthening effect of one type of substance use on other types as well among Hungarian high school students. In our study the relationship between different substance use behaviors are analyzed on adult population. METHOD: The analysis was carried out within the framework of the Hungarian Population Survey on Addiction Problems (OLAAP) on a sample of 2710 persons from the Hungarian population between 18 and 64 years of age. RESULTS: Lifetime prevalence of abstinence regarding all substance use behaviors in the 18-64 years population is 7.5%. 848% of all subjects have drunk alcohol ever, 55.6% have smoked, 13.1% have consumed prescription drugs and 9.3% have used illicit drugs at least once while lifetime prevalence of abusive prescription drug use is 6.1%. One fourth (24.8%) of the surveyed persons have not used any of the studied substances in the last month. Socio-demographic pattern of different substance use behaviors is rather heterogenic, however descriptive analyses on the relationship between different actual (last month) substance use behaviors in line with the cluster analysis carried out on prevalence data of different substance use behaviors indicate the relatedness of substance use behaviors. CONCLUSION: Our results support the phenomenon called multiple drug use in literature that was observed on a Hungarian high school student sample as well. At the same time however, based on the substance use data regarding adult population, a slightly different cluster structure was identified.

Confirmation of the three-factor model of problematic internet use on off-line adolescent and adult samples.

As the Internet became widely used, problems associated with its excessive use became increasingly apparent. Although for the assessment of these problems several models and related questionnaires have been elaborated, there has been little effort made to confirm them. The aim of the present study was to test the three-factor model of the previously created Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ) by data collection methods formerly not applied (off-line group and face-to-face settings), on the one hand, and by testing on different age groups (adolescent and adult representative samples), on the other hand. Data were collected from 438 high-school students (44.5 percent boys; mean age: 16.0 years; standard deviation=0.7 years) and also from 963 adults (49.9 percent males; mean age: 33.6 years; standard deviation=11.8 years). We applied confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the measurement model of problematic Internet use. The results of the analyses carried out inevitably support the original three-factor model over the possible one-factor solution. Using latent profile analysis, we identified 11 percent of adults and 18 percent of adolescent users characterized by problematic use. Based on exploratory factor analysis, we also suggest a short form of the PIUQ consisting of nine items. Both the original 18-item version of PIUQ and its short 9-item form have satisfactory reliability and validity characteristics, and thus, they are suitable for the assessment of problematic Internet use in future studies.

[Epidemiology of smoking in Hungary--a representative national study]. / A dohányzás epidemiológiája a magyar népesség körében országos reprezentatív adatok alapján.

UNLABELLED: Our study reviews publications regarding assessment of smoking prevalence rates on Hungarian adult representative samples. Our aim is to report the results on prevalence of smoking of the national representative survey called the National Survey on Addiction Problems in Hungary (NSAPH) carried out in 2007. of the present survey and former studies are compared, as well. METHODS: Target population of the survey was the entire Hungarian population between 18 and 64 years of age. Net size of the sample was 2710 persons. Part of the data collection happened by face-to-face interviews while more sensitive issues were assessed by self-rating questionnaires. RESULTS: 36.1% of the Hungarian adult population smoke cigarettes (29.9% on a daily basis). 40.6% of males while 31.7% of females smoke regularly (rates of daily smokers are 34.6% and 25.3%, respectively). Male gender, lower age, lower education, lower socio-economic status and parental smoking were identified as risk factors for smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Present results support the higher prevalence rates among the heterogeneous results of previous years, while suggest slight increase of smoking at the same time. This tendency is unequivocally due to the increase of smoking among women, while in case of men stagnating prevalence rates can be observed.