Thesis (MA. (Clinical Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2014 / A study investigating alcohol use amongst female undergraduate students was conducted at the University of Limpopo Turfloop Campus. The study was quantitative in nature and used a cross-sectional survey design. A purposive sample of 200 undergraduate female psychology students across 1st, 2nd and 3rd year levels was used. The Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) was used as a framework which guided the study and the reporting of the research results. The self-report questionnaire was made up of several standardized questionnaires and open-ended questions. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics namely, frequency tables and figures as they gave a clear overall picture of the data. The chi square (X2) statistic was also used to see if there was significant difference in drinking trends between 1st, 2nd and 3rd year female psychology students. Nearly 89% of the entire sample reported to being Christian, it was expected that they would have moral values associated with the religion which would either call for moderate drinking or abstinence. The results of this study generally underpin this statement. Overall, a significant difference in drinking patterns across year levels, with first years more likely to report problem behaviours relating to alcohol consumption, than second or third year levels was found. In terms of the PMT, the majority of the respondents reported responsible drinking behaviours and patterns. However, a notable number of participants, although not statistically significant, did report a number of problems associated with alcohol consumption. The study recommends that future research be undertaken into alcohol use amongst both genders at different year levels at the institution. It was also recommended that qualitative research, to find out students motivations for drinking, be undertaken amongst both genders.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the social, cultural, and structural factors that contribute to or inhibit alcohol use and abuse in the Army among young males, unmarried or married without a present spouse. Seventeeen single, or separated, young male soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg Army Base were interviewed to provide insight into the research questions. Soldiers were largely located through face-to-face canvassing. The interviews, which lasted from 45 to 90 minutes, took place face-to-face and were then transcribed. Interviews were analyzed using grounded theory approach by locating patterns, themes and relationships to come to generalizations. The themes that emerged from the interviews include: 1) stresses of army work/life; 2) social/entertainment use; 3) tradition/brotherhood/entitlement; 4) fear/consequences; 5) impressionable youth; 6) treatment. While the themes which emerged were reported in discrete terms, there was overlap in them. The functional aspect of alcohol use to these soldiers mixed with the impact of social interaction influencing their use served to encourage and further the use of alcohol. The drinking patterns of young male soldiers can be seen to exist on a continuum of either social integration or social stress, in line with Durkheim's conception of suicide, with the existence of being on either end of these continuums leading to excessive alcohol use. The findings confirm Durkheim's conception of social order in leading to unhealthy responses and indicate the Army needs to address the role and impact of the greater social environment in leading to alcohol misuse among young male soldiers.

The proposed study examined whether negative urgency and positive urgency are dynamic traits that hold bi-directional relationships with binge and prolonged alcohol use across time. Individuals between the ages of 18-30 were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; n = 179) and university student (n = 66) pools. Participants completed three batteries of self-report assessments approximately 30 days apart, each containing measures assessing negative and positive urgency, as well as drinking frequency and binge behavior during the prior month. Latent variable cross-lagged panel models examined the effects of alcohol use from the previous month on negative and positive urgency while controlling for concurrent and autoregressive effects. Results of the current study indicated that for the full sample, there was not an effect for the influence of binge/prolonged drinking on either negative or positive urgency during the subsequent month. However, when examined separately by sample (Turkers vs. university) and gender (male vs. female), significant effects were found more for individuals who were Turkers, male, and/or heavy drinkers, suggesting that increases in positive and negative urgency at Time 2 could be partially explained by variance in drinking patterns at Time 1 for these individuals. However, these relationships were not replicated again between Time 2 and Time 3 due to a decrease in all drinking behaviors during these times. Lastly, the study found that while urgency scores were related to psychosocial problems and dependence symptoms associated with drinking, there was no evidence to support that urgency scores had substantial relationships to specific frequency and/or bingeing behavior across the overall sample, although positive urgency had support for a relationship with bingeing, particularly among heavily drinking men. Thus, while the primary findings did not indicate any effects for a general sample of young adults, the effects observed among heavy male drinkers in the present study add to a growing body of literature indicating potential for interactive effects among personality, environmental, and sociobiological factors across the trajectory of the human lifespan. Future research that continues to examine urgency and how it relates to alcohol use in longitudinal contexts, utilizing diverse samples, is warranted.

The hermeneutic phenomenological study interprets the lived experience of female alcohol dependence. Literature reveals that past research into alcohol dependence has generally used male subjects that formed the standard for theories, and treatment, of alcohol dependence. Researchers realised that alcohol dependent women differ significantly from their male counterparts, leading to an increase in exploratory studies of female alcohol dependence. However, these studies only provided a description of the disorder. How female alcohol dependents experience their disorder and how it makes sense to them has been largely ignored. The philosophy of Martin Heidegger provided the framework for collection, analysis and interpretation of data. Analysis revealed four life-worlds: „The Disheartened One‟, „The Ambivalent Player, „The Contemplator‟ and „The Covert Chauvinist‟. A lived experience typology of female alcohol dependence was proposed, namely „The Condemned‟, „The Utopian‟ and „The Realist‟. Implications of the findings on treatment and recommendations for future research are discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Maternal drinking during pregnancy and its consequences are a growing health concern worldwide. It has also been identified as a significant problem in South African communities with some of the highest prevalence rates of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) reported in South Africa. The primary aim of this study was to explore how women in a South African community in the Northern Cape Province perceive the personal and general risk of drinking during pregnancy. The secondary aims were to ascertain whether there was evidence of unrealistic optimism, to examine whether there were personal characteristics that are associated with high or low risk perception, and to examine women‟s knowledge of FASD. A total of 128 women from De Aar in the Northern Cape, an area with a high prevalence of FASD, and therefore drinking during pregnancy, were recruited to take part in the study. Participants had previously taken part in a FASD prevention programme. Questionnaires were administered assessing the perception of the risk posed to a participant‟s own child should she drink during pregnancy, and the risk posed to others‟ children should they drink during pregnancy. The questionnaire also contained questions on FASD knowledge and demographic variables. Participants were between 18 and 44 years of age and reported high rates of unemployment. Most women had more than one child and 7.8% had a child diagnosed with FASD. No evidence for unrealistic optimism was found. Multiple regression analyses revealed both FASD knowledge, and the perception of how easy it would be for oneself to stop drinking, were significant predictors for both personal and general risk. A model including the perception of general risk, FASD knowledge and the perception of how easily one could stop drinking accounted for the most variance in the perception of personal risk (66.4%). Perception of personal risk on its own was the strongest predictor of the perception of general risk accounting for 56.1% of variance. There was no significant correlation between passage of time and FASD knowledge, but possible gaps in FASD knowledge were identified. The study provides an overview of the perception of the risk of drinking during pregnancy in the target population. It also suggests improvements to the research design and materials for further research. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Moederlike drankgebruik gedurende swangerskap en die gevolge daarvan word wêreldwyd met groeiende kommer beskou. Dit is ook as ʼn wesenlike probleem in Suid-Afrika geïdentifiseer, met van die hoogste voorkomssyfers van Fetale Alkohol Spektrumafwykings (FASA) wat in Suid-Afrika aangeteken is. Die primêre doel van hierdie studie was om, in ʼn Suid-Afrikaanse gemeenskap in die Noord Kaap provinsie, die persepsie van persoonlike en algemene risiko van drink tydens swangerskap onder vrouens, te ondersoek. Die sekondêre doelstellings was om vas te stel of daar bewyse van onrealistiese optimisme is; te bepaal of daar persoonlike eienskappe is wat korreleer met ʼn hoë of lae risiko-persepsie, en om ook die vroue se kennis van Fetale Alkohol Spektrumafwykings (FASA) te ondersoek. 128 vroue van De Aar in die Noord-Kaap is gewerf om aan die studie deel te neem. Die gebied het 'n hoë FASA voorkoms, en dus ook alkoholgebruik tydens swangerskap. Deelnemers het voorheen deelgeneem aan 'n FASA voorkomingsprogram. Vraelyste is voltooi rakende die persepsie van die risiko vir 'n deelnemer se eie kind sou sy tydens swangerskap drink, en die risiko vir ander se kinders, sou hulle tydens swangerskap drink. Die vraelys het ook vrae oor FASA kennis en demografiese veranderlikes ingesluit. Deelnemers was tussen 18 en 44 jaar oud en het hoë vlakke van werkloosheid gerapporteer. Meeste vrouens het meer as een kind gehad en 7.8% het ʼn kind wat met FASA gediagnoseer is gehad. Geen bewyse vir onrealistiese optimisme is gevind nie. Meervoudige regressie-ontleding het bevind dat beide FASA-kennis en die persepsie van hoe maklik dit vir ‟n deelnemer self sou wees om op te hou drink, beduidende voorspellers vir beide persoonlike en algemene risiko is. 'n Model wat die persepsie van algemene risiko, FASA-kennis en die persepsie van hoe maklik 'n deelnemer self kan ophou drink, het die grootste variansie in die persepsie van persoonlike risiko verduidelik (66,4 %). Persepsie van persoonlike risiko op sy eie, was die sterkste voorspeller van die persepsie van algemene risiko, opsigself verantwoordelik vir 56,1% van die variansie. Daar was geen beduidende korrelasie tussen die verloop van tyd en FASA kennis nie, maar moontlike gapings in die kennis van FASA is geïdentifiseer. Die studie bied 'n oorsig van die persepsie van die risiko van drankgebruik tydens swangerskap in die teikenbevolking. Dit stel ook verbeteringe vir die navorsingsmetodiek voor vir toekomstige navorsing.

Effective school-based alcohol prevention programs do exist. However, the overall efficacy of these programs has been compromised by implementation failure and a focus on abstinence based outcomes. The current thesis attempted to overcome such concerns by developing a computer-delivered school-based alcohol prevention program founded on a harm-minimisation approach. The aims of this thesis were to assess whether (1) this program would be both a feasible and acceptable means of overcoming the obstacles encountered in the implementation of school-based drug prevention programs, and (2) it was effective in decreasing alcohol misuse and related harm. CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was developed in collaboration with teachers, students and relevant health and legal professionals. The final curriculum based program consists of six lessons, each with two components. The first component involves students completing an interactive computer-based program, with the second consisting of a variety of individual, small group and class-based activities. The feasibility and efficacy of CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was assessed utilising a cluster randomised controlled trial involving 1434, Year 8 students (13 years old) from sixteen schools. CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was found to be both feasible and acceptable in the school setting. The provision of alcohol prevention information in the background of a computerised teenage drama provided young people with an education program they enjoyed in a context to which they could relate. Teachers reported a willingness to implement CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module in routine practice. They believed it to be a high quality program which was superior to other drug education programs. CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module led to significant increases in knowledge of harm minimisation skills and subdued alcohol related expectancies. It was effective in reducing alcohol use, misuse and related harms for females, but not for males. The differential effects of gender are extensively discussed and implications for future research considered. CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was clearly both feasible and acceptable and has the potential to offer an innovative new platform for the delivery of prevention programs in schools.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parental attitudes and student attitudes toward the consumption of alcoholic beverages, between parental attitudes toward the consumption of alcoholic beverages and the reasons students drink alcoholic beverages, and between parental attitudes toward the consumption of alcoholic beverages and the frequency and quantity of alcoholic beverages consumed by students. The Alcohol and Other Drug Survey and the Survey of Parental Attitudes were employed. The sample included 389 sets of matched pairs of parent and student from Radford University, Virginia. Analysis included descriptive statistical techniques, Multiple Linear Regression to predict outcomes, and Pearson r to describe correlations between variables. Based on the results of the study, the following conclusions were reached: 1. There is a significant relationship between parental attitudes and student attitudes toward alcohol consumption, but this is brought about by the difference of opinion in condoning or not tolerating the use of alcohol. 2. There is a significant relationship between the parental attitude "condone use" and students consuming alcohol because "it tastes good" and "to get drunk." 3. There is a significant relationship between the parental attitude "condone use" and students consuming five or more drinks in a row. 4. It was concluded that student peer attitudes, student religion, and parental attitudes about alcohol were significant predictors of student attitudes toward alcohol consumption. 5. There is a substantial difference in the percentage of students who condone drinking as compared to parents responding similarly. 6. Important findings revealed students to be much more tolerant of drinking behavior that parents overwhelmingly felt placed people at risk of harming themselves. 7. Interesting data revealed that students are much more accepting of drunken behavior and drinking games. 8. The primary reasons students gave for drinking alcoholic beverages included "to have a good time with friends," "to fit in with peers," and "to get wasted," with parents being most tolerant of their son/daughter consuming alcohol "to have a good time with friends. / Graduation date: 1994

Hintergrund. In klinischen und epidemiologischen Untersuchungen wurden retrospektiv Assoziationen zwischen Angst- und Alkoholstörungen bestätigt. Bei Personen, die von beiden Störungen betroffen waren, fand man restrospektiv meist einen früheren Beginn der Angststörungen im Vergleich zu den Alkoholstörungen, was kausal im Sinne der Selbstmedikationshypothese interpretiert wurde. Diese konnte bisher nicht eindeutig bestätigt werden. Zur Aufklärung notwendige prospektive Untersuchungen, die Angststörungen auf diagnostischer Ebene erfassen, zwischen verschiedenen Angststörungen unterscheiden und sich auf Jugendliche beziehen, fehlen bisher. Fragestellung. Die Bedeutung von Angststörungen für die Entwicklung von erhöhtem Alkoholkonsum und Alkoholstörungen bei Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen. Methodik. Die Analysen basieren auf den Daten der prospektiv-longitudinalen EDSP-Studie (Follow-Up: insg. 4 Jahre) mit einer epidemiologischen, repräsentativen Stichprobe von 3021 Personen im Alter zwischen 14 und 24 Jahre zu T0 aus München und Umland. Zur Erhebung von DSM-IV-Diagnosen wurde das M-CIDI verwendet. Ergebnisse. Primäre Panikstörungen, Panikattacken und Soziale Phobie erwiesen sich prospektiv als spezifische Prädiktoren für Beginn und Aufrechterhaltung von Alkoholproblemen. Umgekehrt waren Alkoholprobleme mit einem erhöhten Risiko für den Beginn von Sozialer Phobie und GAS assoziiert. Bezüglich DSM-IV Diagnosekriterien fanden sich phobische Ängste sowie Episoden intensiver Angst als Risikofaktoren für den Beginn von Alkoholproblemen. Vermeidungsverhalten war mit einem verminderten Risiko für nachfolgende Alkoholprobleme verbunden. Schlussfolgerungen. Maßnahmen zur Prävention von Alkoholproblemen können sich zielgruppenorientiert an Jugendliche mit Sozialer Phobie und Paniksymptomatik richten. Bei Patienten, die sich wegen Alkoholproblemen in Behandlung begeben, ist eine umfassende Diagnostik zur Identifikation zusätzlicher Angststörungen ratsam. / Background. Many clinical and epidemiological studies have documented significant cross-sectional comorbidities between anxiety disorders and alcohol use disorders. Analysis of retrospective age-of-onset reports suggests that the anxiety disorders often start earlier than the alcohol disorders. These data have often been interpreted in terms of a self-medication-model implying a causal mechanism. Overall, in former studies this model couldn't definitely be proofed. Prospective studies that follow a sample of adolescents into adulthood assessing different anxiety disorders on an diagnostic level are needed to confirm these associations. Methods. Baseline and four-year-follow-up data from the EDSP-Study, a prospective community survey of 3021 (2548 at follow-up) adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 24 years at baseline carried out in Munich, were used. DSM-IV anxiety disorders, alcohol use and alcohol use disorders were assessed with the M-CIDI. Results. While in retrospective analyses strong associations between nearly all anxiety disorders and alcohol problems, especially harmful use and dependence, were found, prospective analyses showed that only primary panic disorder, panic attack and social phobia are specific predictors of subsequent onset and persistence of alcohol problems. Contrary, primary alcohol problems were related to subsequent onset of social phobia and GAD. Considering the different DSM-IV-criteria, phobic anxiety as well as episodes of intensive anxiety were found to be risk factors for the following onset of alcohol problems. Avoidance behavior was associated with a lower risk for subsequent alcohol problems. Conclusions. Alcohol prevention programs could be directed to target groups with social phobia and panic. Patients with alcohol problems should carefully be screened for comorbid anxiety disorders. In order to prevent relapses the treating of social phobia and panic should be part of the therapy with comorbid alcohol patients.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-70). / viii, 70 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Effective school-based alcohol prevention programs do exist. However, the overall efficacy of these programs has been compromised by implementation failure and a focus on abstinence based outcomes. The current thesis attempted to overcome such concerns by developing a computer-delivered school-based alcohol prevention program founded on a harm-minimisation approach. The aims of this thesis were to assess whether (1) this program would be both a feasible and acceptable means of overcoming the obstacles encountered in the implementation of school-based drug prevention programs, and (2) it was effective in decreasing alcohol misuse and related harm. CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was developed in collaboration with teachers, students and relevant health and legal professionals. The final curriculum based program consists of six lessons, each with two components. The first component involves students completing an interactive computer-based program, with the second consisting of a variety of individual, small group and class-based activities. The feasibility and efficacy of CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was assessed utilising a cluster randomised controlled trial involving 1434, Year 8 students (13 years old) from sixteen schools. CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was found to be both feasible and acceptable in the school setting. The provision of alcohol prevention information in the background of a computerised teenage drama provided young people with an education program they enjoyed in a context to which they could relate. Teachers reported a willingness to implement CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module in routine practice. They believed it to be a high quality program which was superior to other drug education programs. CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module led to significant increases in knowledge of harm minimisation skills and subdued alcohol related expectancies. It was effective in reducing alcohol use, misuse and related harms for females, but not for males. The differential effects of gender are extensively discussed and implications for future research considered. CLIMATE Schools: Alcohol Module was clearly both feasible and acceptable and has the potential to offer an innovative new platform for the delivery of prevention programs in schools.