Do Subjective Effects from Alcohol and Cannabis Predict Simultaneous Use During a Decision-Making Task?

Background: Simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use is associated with negative outcomes, yet little is known about what motivates the decision of simultaneous use. One possibility is that early-episode subjective effects motivate simultaneous use to complement or replace the first substance's effects. The current study used a hypothetical decision-making task to test this hypothesis. Objectives: College students (N = 486) were presented eight scenarios characterized by alcohol/cannabis subjective effects (i.e., high/low arousal positive [e.g., excited, relaxed], high/low arousal negative [e.g., aggressive, dizzy]) and asked their likelihood of simultaneously using the other substance per scenario. Multilevel modeling tested whether subjective effect scenarios predicted a higher likelihood of simultaneous use and whether ordering moderated this association. Results: Task-based simultaneous use likelihood was associated with self-reported simultaneous use, showing task validity. Scenarios characterized by high/low arousal positive effects were associated with higher likelihood of simultaneous use, whereas high/low arousal negative scenarios were associated with lower likelihood. Alcohol vs. cannabis-first scenarios were associated with higher likelihood of simultaneous use, and significant interactions were observed for high/low arousal positive and high arousal negative effects. High arousal positive scenarios were associated with higher likelihood of simultaneous use when cannabis was used first, low arousal positive scenarios with higher likelihood when alcohol was used first, and high arousal negative scenarios with lower likelihood when cannabis was used first. Conclusions: Beginning-of-episode subjective substance effects may be a promising event-level predictor of simultaneous use, and just-in-time interventions may benefit from targeting the ordering and subjective experiences of alcohol and cannabis use.

Within- and between-person effects of naltrexone on the subjective response to alcohol and craving: A daily diary investigation.

OBJECTIVE: Naltrexone is an effective treatment for heavy drinking among young adults. Laboratory-based studies have shown that naltrexone dampens the subjective response to alcohol and craving. However, few studies have tested naltrexone's dynamic, within-person effects on subjective response and craving among young adults in natural drinking environments. METHODS: Using daily diary data from a randomized, placebo-controlled study of naltrexone's efficacy in young adults, we examined the between-person effects of treatment condition (i.e., naltrexone vs. placebo) and medication dosage (i.e., daily, targeted, and daily + targeted) on the subjective response to alcohol and craving on drinking days. Multilevel mediation models predicted subjective response and craving from treatment condition (between-person) and medication dosage (within-person), accounting for drinking levels. All effects were disaggregated within and between persons. RESULTS: At the between-person level, naltrexone directly blunted intense subjective effects (i.e., "impaired", "drunk") and indirectly blunted subjective effects through reduced drinking. Naltrexone was not associated with craving. Between-person effects were not significant after alpha correction, but their effect sizes (bs = 0.14 to 0.17) exceeded the smallest effect size of interest. At the within-person level, taking two (vs. 1) pills was associated with heavier drinking, and taking one (vs. 0) pill was associated with lighter drinking, and lighter drinking was associated with a lower subjective response and craving. Treatment condition did not moderate the within-person effects of dosing on outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the direct between-person effect of naltrexone was largest on intense subjective responses, blunting feelings of being "drunk" and "impaired". Future research using momentary (rather than daily) assessments could confirm and extend these findings.

BDSM Proclivity Among College Students.

Bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism (BDSM) proclivity among college students is poorly characterized, in part because existing measures of BDSM proclivity highlight the consensual nature of BDSM and are appropriate for use with non-community members (e.g., those who may not understand BDSM jargon). The current study introduces such a measure, the BDSM Proclivity Scale, which characterizes BDSM proclivity among college students and evaluates relations of BDSM proclivity with other sexual attitudes and behaviors. College students (n = 552) completed measures of BDSM proclivity, sociosexual attitudes and behaviors, rape-supportive attitudes, lifetime sexual partners, and consent-seeking behavior. Two factors mapping onto attitudes and experiences related to BDSM were identified and cross-validated. Average endorsements of BDSM attitudes and experiences on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strong disagreement, 7 = strong agreement) were 5.61 and 4.44, respectively. Structural models revealed that lifetime sexual contact and gender significantly positively correlated with BDSM attitudes and experiences, sociosexual attitudes positively correlated with BDSM attitudes, and rape-supportive attitudes positively correlated with BDSM experiences. Consent-seeking was unrelated to BDSM experiences or attitudes. College student BDSM proclivity was evident for both attitudes and experiences, highlighting the need to characterize the development of BDSM proclivity and its correlates, the sources of students' knowledge, and the nature of students' experiences. The observed associations between BDSM proclivity and relevant sexual attitudes and behaviors support its construct validity and suggest that BDSM proclivity may prove to be an important addition to the broader constructs assessed in sexual attitudinal and behavioral domains.

Social Cognitive Processes Underlying Normative Misperception of Sexual Judgments.

Acquaintance-initiated sexually aggressive behavior (SAB) is a widespread problem on college campuses, and intervention strategies thus far have not produced sustained reductions in SAB. Peer-related social norms and cognitive processes underlying sexual decision-making have separately been implicated in SAB. The present study integrates this work by examining the effect of perspective (self vs. typical college male referent) on college men's judgments of the justifiability of unwanted sexual advances, determining the cognitive processes underlying men's misperceptions, and evaluating rape-supportive attitudes (RSA) as a correlate of the implicated processes. College men attracted to women (n = 217) completed the Heterosocial Perception Survey-Revised, in which they judged the justifiability of a man's increasingly intimate sexual advances as a woman responds increasingly negatively. Participants completed the Heterosocial Perception Survey-Revised from their own perspective and from the typical college male perspective. Participants also completed questionnaires assessing RSA and demographics. Undergraduate men, and particularly those endorsing more RSA, greatly overestimated how much the typical college male perceives increasingly nonconsensual behavior as justified. Three cognitive processes were strongly implicated in this misperception. When responding from the self-perspective, RSA correlated significantly with all cognitive processes. These findings illustrate the utility of integrating work on social norms and cognitive processing to document the global effect of perspective on average justifiability ratings and the perspective effect on cognitive processes underlying the ratings. Future work should evaluate personalized normative feedback and cognitive-training approaches to target misperceptions of peers' sexual judgments, given the well-established relation between sexual misperception and SAB risk.

Examining the Moderating Role of Behavioral Willingness on Indirect Relations Between Alcohol Expectancies and Negative Consequences.

AIMS: Alcohol expectancies are directly linked to alcohol misuse and indirectly linked to negative consequences via use. Likewise, willingness to experience negative consequences imparts direct risk for negative consequences and may represent an important individual difference when predicting risky alcohol use. To date, no studies have examined how willingness to experience consequences may moderate relations between expectancies and alcohol use in the prediction of negative consequences. It is possible that those who expect appetitive effects and are high in willingness may discount the severity of negative consequences and drink more to realize positive expectations. Alternatively, those who expect aversive alcohol-related effects and are high in willingness may drink more to overcome negative experiences. METHODS: The current study tested these hypotheses in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 657) from a larger study focused on alcohol and cannabis co-use. RESULTS: Findings suggested that high-arousal positive expectancies (e.g. sociable, lively, talkative) function as a risk factor for negative consequences indirectly through heavier drinking, whereas low-arousal positive (e.g. mellow, relaxed) expectancies served as an indirect protective factor against negative consequences through lighter drinking. Willingness to experience negative consequences had direct and indirect effects on negative consequences through drinking but did not interact with alcohol expectancies. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates the utility of assessing the full range of alcohol expectancies and behavioral willingness in continued research into the dynamic nature of antecedents to alcohol misuse and negative consequences.

Protective behavioral strategies for sexual aggression and risky sexual behavior.

Sexual aggression (SA) is a serious public-health problem on college campuses, and there is a pressing need for basic research fostering the development of novel prevention strategies. The current study (a) developed measures of protective behavioral strategies (PBS) for sexual aggression (SA) and risky sex (RS); (b) characterized college men's PBS use; and (c) evaluated whether those who reported engaging in SA and RS showed lower PBS use. Undergraduate men from two universities (n = 567) who endorsed sexual attraction toward women completed measures of PBS, SA, RS, rape-supportive and sociosexual attitudes, and alcohol consumption. On average, participants reported using PBS for SA and RS fairly often, but a sizeable number indicated that they seldom or never used the strategies. Men who reported SA engagement in the last year, relative to their peers, endorsed sharply lower reliance on SA PBS and RS PBS. Men who reported at least one RS behavior in the last year used RS PBS far less often than their peers. The PBS measures converged as expected with other attitudinal and behavioral measures. The new PBS measures reference cognitive-behavioral approaches that a large percentage of college men use on a regular basis, making them potentially acceptable prevention targets. Further, men at greater risk of exhibiting SA are much less likely to take steps to reduce the risks associated with sexual behavior, in comparison with their peers. Thus, future work could evaluate the potential usefulness of incorporating PBS for SA and RS into primary prevention programming in both domains.

Relations Between Acute Effects of Alcohol on Response Inhibition, Impaired Control over Alcohol Use, and Alcohol-Related Problems.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consistently impairs response inhibition in the laboratory, and alcohol impairment of response inhibition may lead to excess consumption or increases in intoxicated risk behavior, both of which contribute to risk for alcohol-related problems. To our knowledge, no prior studies have examined relations between alcohol impairment of response inhibition and either impaired control over alcohol (i.e., inability to adhere to predetermined drinking limits) or real-world alcohol-related problems. The current study addressed this gap in the literature. METHODS: Young adult social drinkers (N = 215, 76% male) participated in a between-subjects, placebo-controlled alcohol challenge study and completed self-reports approximately 2 weeks later. Multilevel models were used to examine the hypothesis that alcohol impairment of response inhibition would indirectly lead to alcohol-related problems through impaired control over alcohol use. RESULTS: Greater alcohol-induced impairment of response inhibition and impaired control over alcohol use were both significant predictors of alcohol-related problems. However, greater alcohol-induced response inhibition was not a significant predictor of impaired control over alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating relationships between alcohol impairment of response inhibition and real-world alcohol-related problems and the first to address relationships between alcohol impairment of response inhibition and impaired control over alcohol use. These results suggest that impaired control over alcohol use may result from deficits in the trait ability to control behavior rather than deficits in alcohol-induced response inhibition. Regardless, results suggest that alcohol impairment of response inhibition and impaired control over alcohol are both worthwhile intervention targets.

The Role of Relationship Changes in College Students' Heavy Episodic Drinking.

OBJECTIVE: The beginning of college is a period in which increased alcohol use often coincides with greater involvement in romantic relationships. Existing literature yields inconsistent findings regarding the influence of relationship types on drinking behavior, perhaps because these studies have not accounted for recent changes in the way college students engage in dating/sexual relationships. METHODS: The present study sought to address this issue using a longitudinal study design by examining the effects of both relationship type and sexual activity on heavy episodic drinking (HED) among 1,847 college students over the course of the first 3 semesters of college. RESULTS: Results indicated that the effects of relationship type depended on whether an individual was sexually active. Nondating but sexually active students reported rates of HED comparable to students who defined themselves as casual daters. Conversely, nondating students who were not sexually active reported drinking behavior similar to those involved in exclusive relationships. Further, transitions between low- and high-risk relationship/sexual activity types were associated with corresponding changes in HED. Transitioning into a high-risk relationship was associated with significant increases in levels of HED, whereas transitioning into a low-risk relationship was associated with significant decreases in HED. CONCLUSIONS: Together, results indicate that engaging in nonexclusive dating or casual sexual relationships may play an important role in the development of problematic patterns of alcohol use during the early college years. These findings have potentially important implications both for future research and for prevention and intervention efforts targeting high-risk college drinkers.

The Comprehensive Early Drinking History Form: A Novel Measure of Early Alcohol Exposure.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent and young adult alcohol use is a major public health concern; alcohol is the most widely used substance by teenagers. It is imperative to better understand alcohol use during adolescence and early adulthood given the important changes that occur. Although numerous measures aim to capture alcohol use during this time, no existing measure gathers comprehensive information on alcohol use across these developmental stages. We developed the Comprehensive Early Drinking History Form (CEDHF), which retrospectively gathers drinking information for each year since onset of first regular use, including quantity/frequency of both regular use and periods of heaviest drinking. The CEDHF also collects information on aggregate drinking experiences between age of onset and age of first regular use. METHODS: Using a sample of young adults (ages 21 to 27) from an ongoing longitudinal study, we examined whether the CEDHF predicted both concurrent (N = 303) and future (N = 75) alcohol-related problems over and above other commonly used alcohol use measures (e.g., age of onset, age of first intoxication, Timeline Follow-Back) and current alcohol problems. RESULTS: Controlling for gender, age, and current problems, the CEDHF predicted both concurrent and future alcohol-related problems over and above these other widely used measures of alcohol exposure. CONCLUSIONS: The CEDHF may be a valuable tool when longitudinal studies are not feasible as it provides more comprehensive information than other widely used measures of early alcohol exposure. Further, this measure can provide detailed information regarding who is at highest risk for future consequences.

Associations between early internalizing symptoms and speed of transition through stages of alcohol involvement.

Alcohol use disorders and internalizing disorders are highly comorbid, but how this comorbidity unfolds over development is not well understood. The present study investigated effects of internalizing symptoms in late childhood on speed of transition between three alcohol involvement milestones: first drink, first binge, and onset of first alcohol dependence symptom. Greater early internalizing symptoms were expected to predict a later age of first drink, a slower transition from first drink to first binge, and a faster transition from first binge to first dependence symptom. The effects of age and moderating effects of gender were also examined. Data were from a longitudinal study of children of alcoholics and matched controls (N = 454) followed from late childhood to midlife. Generally, stage-specific hypotheses were not supported; rather, greater internalizing symptoms predicted an earlier age of first drink and a faster transition through the full interval from first drink to first dependence symptom. Regarding gender moderation, internalizing significantly predicted a faster transition between each milestone as well as through the full interval among women but not men. These results suggest that early internalizing problems confer risk for a rapid transition through all stages of alcohol involvement, and this risk may be limited to women.

Interactive and Indirect Effects of Anxiety and Negative Urgency on Alcohol-Related Problems.

BACKGROUND: Although drinking for tension reduction has long been posited as a risk factor for alcohol-related problems, studies investigating anxiety in relation to risk for alcohol problems have returned inconsistent results, leading researchers to search for potential moderators. Negative urgency (the tendency to become behaviorally dysregulated when experiencing negative affect) is a potential moderator of theoretical interest because it may increase risk for alcohol problems among those high in negative affect. This study tested a cross-sectional mediated moderation hypothesis whereby an interactive effect of anxiety and negative urgency on alcohol problems is mediated through coping-related drinking motives. METHODS: The study utilized baseline data from a hazardously drinking sample of young adults (N = 193) evaluated for participation in a randomized controlled trial of naltrexone and motivational interviewing for drinking reduction. RESULTS: The direct effect of anxiety on physiological dependence symptoms was moderated by negative urgency such that the positive association between anxiety and physiological dependence symptoms became stronger as negative urgency increased. Indirect effects of anxiety and negative urgency on alcohol problems (operating through coping motives) were also observed. CONCLUSIONS: Although results of the current cross-sectional study require replication using longitudinal data, the findings suggest that the simultaneous presence of anxiety and negative urgency may be an important indicator of risk for alcohol use disorders via both direct interactive effects and indirect additive effects operating through coping motives. These findings have potentially important implications for prevention/intervention efforts for individuals who become disinhibited in the context of negative emotional states.

In with the old and out with the new? A comparison of the old and new binge drinking standards.

BACKGROUND: There is consistent evidence that the binge drinking standard of 5+ drinks per drinking occasion for men (4+ for women) is associated with risk for negative consequences. Yet, many have questioned the adequacy of this measure as an index of intoxication (e.g., a blood alcohol concentration [BAC] of 0.08 g%). In response to these concerns, a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism task force recommended adding a time qualifier of 2 hours to this criterion. Although conceptually appealing, there has been little effort to determine whether this new measure better captures drinking that leads to negative consequences. METHODS: This study examined the new binge standard (2-hour period) and old binge standard (no time qualifier) in relation to frequency of drinking to an estimated BAC of 0.08 g% and the experience of negative drinking consequences. These relations were examined within both a social drinking sample of adults (N = 200) and a sample of heavy-drinking young adults (N = 168) participating in a randomized clinical trial for drinking reduction. RESULTS: Contrary to the purpose of adding a time qualifier, the new binge measure was not more strongly correlated with drinking to an estimated BAC of 0.08 g% relative to the old binge measure. In addition, when both measures were entered simultaneously into a regression model, only the old binge measure accounted for significant variance in negative drinking consequences. CONCLUSIONS: These empirically based results suggest that the original binge standard without a time qualifier may be preferable to the 2-hour standard as a marker for risk. The findings also suggest that further efforts are needed to identify a brief measure that effectively captures drinking to intoxication and related risk for negative consequences.

Event-level risk for negative alcohol consequences in emerging adults: The role of affect, motivation, and context.

OBJECTIVE: Decades of research has found support for the motivational model of alcohol use at the between-person level, yet research on event-level drinking motives is in its nascent stage. Similarly, drinking context has been largely ignored in studies of day-level motives. Therefore, the present study sought to test whether drinking context mediates the relation between affect and motivation on drinking outcomes at both day and person levels. METHOD: Emerging adults who drank in solitary and social settings (N = 107; 61.2% female) completed 21 days ecological momentary assessments. Affect was assessed during morning/afternoon reports; drinking motives were assessed during afternoon reports; and past-night drinking context, drinking quantity, and negative consequences were assessed during next morning reports. Two-level multilevel structural equation models tested whether within-person and between-person levels of predrinking affect were indirectly associated with negative consequences through predrinking motives, drinking context (social vs. solitary), and drinking quantity. RESULTS: At the day and person levels, positive affect was associated with higher social and enhancement motives. At the day level, positive affect indirectly predicted consequences through social motives, social (vs. solitary) drinking, and drinking quantity, whereas positive affect indirectly predicted consequences through enhancement motives and drinking quantity above and beyond context. At the day and person levels, negative affect was associated with coping motives, but coping was not associated with context, drinking quantity, nor consequences. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that positive affect was linked to drinking outcomes through motives (enhancement and social) and contexts (social), whereas negative affect was not. Findings suggest that positively valenced drinking motives may be an important just-in-time intervention target. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Differentiating action from inaction: Longitudinal relations among impulsive personality traits, internalizing symptoms, and drinking behavior.

BACKGROUND: Impulsive personality traits are strong, consistent risk factors for heavy drinking, and modern theories suggest that impulsive traits may also confer risk for internalizing symptoms. However, it remains unclear which specific impulsive traits are linked with heavy drinking versus internalizing symptoms, and whether heavy drinking and internalizing symptoms are mechanisms of risk for negative alcohol consequences in impulsive individuals. METHOD: Data are from a longitudinal study of young adults (N = 448, Mage = 22.27, 43.5 % female) assessed at baseline (T1), 6 months (T2), and one year later (T3). Longitudinal path models tested whether T1 impulsive traits (i.e., lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking, positive urgency, negative urgency) were indirectly associated with T3 negative alcohol consequences through heavy T2 drinking and T2 internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress). Separate models were tested for positive and negative urgency given strong correlations between these measures. RESULTS: Across models, T1 lack of premeditation indirectly predicted more T3 negative alcohol consequences through heavy T2 drinking. When tested separately, T1 negative urgency indirectly predicted more T3 negative consequences through higher T2 stress and depressive (but not anxiety) symptoms, and T1 positive urgency predicted higher T2 anxiety symptoms, but T2 anxiety was unrelated to T3 negative consequences. Across models, T1 sensation seeking indirectly predicted less T3 negative consequences through decreased T2 depression. CONCLUSIONS: Distinct impulsive traits prospectively predicted heavy drinking and internalizing symptoms, both of which conferred risk for negative alcohol consequences. Findings underscore the importance of targeted interventions based on personality and suggest that decreases in drinking may be more effective prevention for those who lack premeditation, whereas decreases in internalizing, particularly depression/stress, may be critical for those high in negative urgency.

Early subjective response and acquired tolerance as predictors of alcohol use and related problems in a clinical sample.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated that a low subjective response (SR) to alcohol is a risk factor for alcohol use disorders (AUDs), and a recent study suggests that acquired tolerance can be differentiated from initial SR and is also significantly associated with drinking problems. Because the prior study of SR and tolerance focused on a sample of moderate drinkers, the goal of the current study was to examine relations between early SR, acquired tolerance, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems in a sample of young adults with clinically significant alcohol problems. METHODS: The current study examined associations between early SR and acquired tolerance and both drinking behavior and alcohol-related problems within a sample of 113 heavy drinking young adults (66.1% male) volunteering for a clinical trial of naltrexone in combination with brief motivational counseling. RESULTS: Consistent with the 1 prior study examining simultaneous effects of early SR and tolerance, both early SR and acquired tolerance were positively associated with typical drinking behavior, although tolerance was a much stronger predictor within this clinical sample. In contrast to the prior study, early SR was inversely associated with risk for alcohol-related problems, and tolerance was not a significant predictor of problems. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that, controlling for weekly drinking, a low early SR protected against acute negative consequences within a sample of heavy drinkers who had acquired significant tolerance to alcohol effects. It is possible that this protective effect may eventually shift to a risk factor by allowing individuals with a low SR to persist in a pattern of hazardous drinking.

Pregaming potentiates risk between UPPS-P impulsivity and day-level drinking behavior: A test of person-environment transactions theory.

Pregaming represents a uniquely high-risk drinking event for young adults, and subfacets of impulsivity are robust predictors of alcohol use and related negative outcomes. Further, it is likely that pregame events contain social and physical stimuli that are particularly appealing for impulsive individuals, thus exacerbating risk for negative outcomes. However, no prior studies have investigated the extent to which impulsive personality traits interact with pregame events to confer alcohol-related risk. Thus, the present study examined the extent to which UPPS-P (urgency-perseverance-premeditation-sensation seeking-positive urgency) subfacets of impulsivity interact with the occurrence of pregaming to predict relations between pregaming, drinking quantity, and negative alcohol-related outcomes. College students (N = 737) completed a modified, online version of the 30-day Timeline Followback in which they reported drinking quantity, negative consequences, and whether they engaged in pregaming on a given day. Results indicated that sensation seeking and a lack of premeditation moderated relations between pregaming and drinking quantity such that those who are higher in sensation seeking and lower in their ability to plan ahead drank more on pregaming days. Sensation seeking and positive urgency moderated relations between pregaming and negative consequences such that those who are higher in positive urgency experience more consequences on pregaming days whereas those who are higher in sensation seeking experience less consequences. Future studies may benefit from more granular assessments of pregame-related risk as subfacets of impulsivity may confer momentary risk. Prevention efforts targeting the reduction of pregaming frequency, particularly among impulsive individuals, may lower overall risk for heavy drinking. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Differential effects of UPPS-P impulsivity on subjective alcohol response and craving: An experimental test of acquired preparedness.

Recent studies have extended the acquired preparedness model to experimental data, finding that impulsivity predicts subjective alcohol response, a related yet distinct construct from expectancies. However, studies have not tested whether specific facets of impulsivity predict subjective response, or whether impulsivity indirectly predicts alcohol craving through subjective response. Young adults who reported past-month binge drinking (N = 448) participated in a placebo-controlled alcohol administration study. Mediation models tested whether UPPS-P impulsivity facets indirectly predicted alcohol craving through subjective response on the ascending and descending limbs of the blood alcohol content (BAC). High arousal positive (e.g., sociable), low arousal positive (e.g., relaxed), high arousal negative (e.g., rude), and low arousal negative (e.g., dizzy) subjective effects were measured across limbs. Moderation by beverage condition was not detected, so models were collapsed across beverage condition. Sensation seeking indirectly predicted craving through high arousal positive subjective response on both limbs, whereas positive and negative urgency directly predicted craving. When controlling for baseline subjective response and craving, effects of sensation seeking and negative urgency on subjective response and craving became nonsignificant. The effects of positive urgency on craving remained, and an effect of positive urgency on high arousal positive effects emerged on the ascending limb. Findings suggest that relations among impulsivity, subjective response, and craving are contingent upon the specific facet of impulsivity. Interventions targeting predrink cue exposure and/or positive emotionality may be most effective for sensation seekers, whereas targeting subjective response and/or expectancies may be most efficacious for individuals high in positive urgency. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A preliminary investigation of salivary α-amylase as a novel biomarker of subjective response to alcohol: A brief report.

Alcohol misuse represents a universal public health concern that spans multiple demographics. As such, understanding shared, biological indicators of alcohol-related risk is vital to implementing targeted prevention and intervention efforts. Self-report measures of subjective response to alcohol (SR) capture both psychological and pharmacological effects of alcohol and robustly predict patterns of alcohol use, negative consequences, and the development of alcohol use disorders. Importantly, several biological markers of alcohol's sedating effects, including cortisol, have been identified and complement subjective response assessments. However, biological markers of alcohol's stimulating effects are less understood. Studies have implicated alcohol-induced changes in heart rate as a viable marker, but heart rate measurements are susceptible to measurement error. Salivary α-amylase, a reliable indicator of sympathetic nervous system activation, represents a promising alternative biomarker of alcohol-induced stimulation. Using data from a large, placebo-controlled alcohol administration study (N = 448), the present study examined the extent to which α-amylase is a viable marker of alcohol-induced stimulation. To test this, a measurement model was estimated in which baseline and ascending limb subjective stimulation latent variables were created using two validated measures of subjective response. Ascending self-reports of stimulation and levels of α-amylase were then regressed onto beverage conditions and allowed to correlate with each other. Findings indicated that α-amylase is sensitive to acute alcohol consumption and is positively, but not statistically reliably, related to the ascending limb stimulant SR. Future studies should consider including salivary α-amylase as a noninvasive physiological indicator of alcohol's stimulating effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Disentangling between- and within-person alcohol and expectancy effects on acute alcohol craving.

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol craving is a predictor of continued drinking and a diagnostic criterion for alcohol use disorder. Rewarding subjective effects potentiate craving, but it remains unclear if relations are expectancy-driven vs. alcohol-induced. In addition, it remains unclear if relations operate solely at the person level, or if there is also within-person dynamic change. METHODS: Participants (N = 448) come from a placebo-controlled alcohol administration study. Participants in the alcohol condition reported subjective effects and alcohol craving on ascending (BAC = .068), peak (BAC = .079), and descending (BAC = .066) BAC limbs. Participants in the placebo condition were yoked to alcohol condition participants. Multilevel models tested whether (1) within-person deviations in subjective effects predicted within-person deviations in craving, (2) between-person levels of subjective effects predicted between-person levels of craving, and (3) effects were dependent upon experimental condition. RESULTS: At the within-person level, increases in high arousal positive/stimulant effects were associated with within-person increases in alcohol craving, regardless of experimental condition. At the between-person level, interactions were observed between high arousal positive/stimulant (and low arousal positive/relaxing) effects and condition. Probing suggested that the association between person-level high arousal positive/stimulant effects and craving was statistically significant in the alcohol but not the placebo condition. Conversely, the association between person-level low arousal positive/relaxing effects and craving was positive and statistically significant in the placebo but negative in the alcohol condition. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest expectancy-like relations among high arousal positive/stimulant effects and craving within-person. However, alcohol-induced positive reinforcement (i.e., stimulation) facilitated heightened person-level craving, whereas expectancy-like negative reinforcement (i.e., relaxation) attenuated person-level craving.

College men's use of protective behavioral strategies for sexual aggression, risky sexual behavior, and heavy episodic drinking.

OBJECTIVE: Sexually aggressive behavior (SAB), risky sexual behavior (RSB), and heavy episodic drinking (HED) are serious behavioral health problems among college men. The present study substantially revises and validates protective behavioral strategies (PBS) measures in the SAB and RSB domains; evaluates the relations among PBS usage in the SAB, RSB, and HED domains; and determines whether college men with SAB, RSB, or HED histories report lower PBS usage. METHOD: College students who identified as men (n = 1,121) completed measures of PBS, SAB, RSB, HED, rape-supportive attitudes, sociosexuality, and bar/party attendance. RESULTS: Factor analyses resulted in three PBS scales (SAB, RSB-General, and RSB-Protection) that showed good fit and cross-validated well. Average scores for all four PBS measures converged moderately to strongly. Men reporting histories of SAB, RSB, or HED reported much lower domain-specific PBS use, and domain-specific PBS predicted concurrent SAB, RSB, or HED in the presence of other established predictors. CONCLUSIONS: Four well-developed and validated PBS measures now provide an expanded set of potential harm-reduction strategies for college men who drink and engage in sexual activity. Given the strong concurrent associations between PBS use and problems, as well as the interrelatedness of PBS use across domains, future research should examine the impact of simultaneous personalized normative feedback on PBS use across alcohol and sexual domains. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).