Alcohol Recognition and Desire to Drink of Extended Alcohol Brand Logos.

Alcohol companies in Thailand have adopted surrogate marketing that uses similar logos on non-alcoholic products. We aimed to assess variations of the alcohol recognition using reaction time and desire to drink among consumers exposed to original logos and modified logos (i.e., black logos, partial logos, logos on non-alcoholic beverages and other merchandise). Participants aged ≥19 years took part in this cross-sectional study. The primary independent variables were types of logos: original logos, modified logos (i.e., black logos, partial logos, logos on non-alcoholic beverages, and logos on other merchandise). An in-house-developed online survey randomly presented the logos. Alcohol recognition and the desire to drink alcohol were assessed. The study included 1185 participants. More time (estimated coefficient of reaction time <0.5 s) was required to recognize the modified logos than the original logos. Younger participants (19-24 years) reacted significantly faster than the older participants (>25 years) after seeing all types of logos. The desire to drink alcohol (<0.5 point) upon seeing the modified logos was lower than the original logos. No significant difference in the desire was observed between the younger and older participants upon seeing the original and partial logos. The modified logos reminded consumers of the alcohol products of that brand with a tiny difference in reaction time and the desire to drink without practical significance.

Mental health problems from direct vs indirect exposure to violent events among children born and growing up in a conflict zone of southern Thailand.

PURPOSE: This study aims to examine and compare the effects of direct and indirect exposure to armed conflicts on the mental health of primary school students in the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. METHODS: A school-based survey was conducted. Detailed exposure of traumatic events both directly and indirectly were measured by a self-completed questionnaire. Behavioral-emotional problems were measured by the Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire and screening for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was done using the Children's Revised Impact of Events Scale (CRIES). Multivariate analysis adjusted for gender and other covariates was used to determine the effect of direct and indirect exposure of armed conflict on mental health problems. RESULTS: Out of 941 students included in the study, almost half had direct exposure to an armed conflict event. Overall, 42.1% of students had at least one behavioral-emotional problem (47.6% and 38.5% in the direct- and indirect-exposed groups, respectively) and 30.5% was found to have PTSD (37.3% and 25.9% in the direct- and indirect-exposed groups, respectively). Students who had direct exposure to an armed conflict event had a two times higher odds of mental health problems than their peers. Other modifiable factors of mental health problems were receiving news from two sources including other adults and media, and exposure to other non-conflict-related traumatic life events. CONCLUSIONS: Children living in armed conflict areas of southern Thailand, although without any direct exposure to traumatic events, also suffered from mental health problems. Research on appropriate interventions for these children should be further conducted.