This study describes the reliability reporting practices in empirical studies using eight adolescent alcohol screening tools and characterizes and explores variability in internal consistency estimates across samples. Of 119 observed administrations of these instruments, 40 (34%) reported usable reliability information. The Personal Experience Screening QuestionnaireProblem Severity scale generated average reliability estimates exceeding 0.90 (95% CI=0.90-0.96) and the Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale generated average score reliability estimates below 0.80 (95% CI=0.67-0.85). Average reliability estimates of the remaining instruments were distributed between these extremes. Sample characteristics were identified as potentially important predictors of variability in the reliability estimates of all the instruments and all instruments under evaluation generated more reliable scores in clinical settings (M=0.89) as opposed to nonclinical settings (M=0.82; r effect size (38)=0.29, p.10). Clinicians facing instrument selection decisions can use these data to guide their choices and researchers evaluating the performance of these instruments can use these data to inform their future studies.

No description available.

A significant consequence of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) is hippocampal neurodegeneration. The hippocampus is responsible for learning and memory, and neurodegeneration in this brain region has been shown to result in cognitive deficits. Interestingly, some alcoholics demonstrate improvements in hippocampus-dependent functions, potentially due the phenomenon termed adult neurogenesis. Adult neurogenesis, the process by which neural stem cells (NSCs) proliferate, differentiate into neurons, migrate into the granule cell layer, and survive, occurs in two brain regions; however, this study examines only neurogenesis occurring in the subgranular zone of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Four-day binge ethanol exposure in an animal model causes a decrease in neurogenesis during intoxication; however, there is a reactive increase in cell proliferation on day seven of abstinence. The purpose of this study was to determine the timing of increased cell proliferation. Furthermore, most alcoholics also smoke tobacco, and nicotine, the addictive component of tobacco, has also been shown to affect hippocampal neurogenesis. As many people initiate alcohol and tobacco use during adolescence, the second experiment herein examined the effect of nicotine coadministration on alcohol-induced reactive hippocampal cell proliferation.

Peer influence is a well-studied and established phenomenon in the social sciences with much research focusing on peers influencing one another in negative ways. However, peers have also been shown to provide a positive influence. Research on substance treatment programs indicates that one's social network can influence one to enter treatment as well as help maintain abstinence following the completion of the program. However, little is known about the influence that peer's drug treatment can have on the substance levels of an individual. I use the peer nomination data and Waves 1 and 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to study this instance of peer influence. Results indicate that having a higher proportion of peers who attend drug treatment is not associated with lower levels of respondent illicit drug, alcohol use, and binge drinking behaviors. Consistent with past findings, having a higher proportion of one's peers who reported drug use is associated with higher levels of respondent substance use. Implications for clinicians and other treatment providers are discussed with an emphasis on the role that strong parental attachment can play in offsetting negative peer influence.

The present study used auditory fear conditioning to assess the impact of repeated binge-like episodes of alcohol exposure during adolescence on conditioned fear in adulthood. Male and female Long-Evans rats were subjected to adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) exposure by vapor inhalation between post-natal day 28 and 44. After aging into adulthood, rats then underwent fear conditioning by exposure to a series of tone-shock pairings. This was followed by cued-tone extinction training, and then testing of fear recovery. In male rats, AIE exposure enhanced conditioned freezing but did not alter the time-course of extinction of cued-tone freezing. During subsequent assessment of fear recovery, AIE exposed rats exhibited less freezing during contextual fear renewal, but greater freezing during extinction recall and spontaneous recovery. Compared to males, female rats exhibited significantly lower levels of freezing during fear conditioning, more rapid extinction of freezing behavior, and significantly lower levels of freezing during the tests of fear recovery. Unlike males that were all classified as high conditioners; female rats could be parsed into either a high or low conditioning group. However, irrespective of their level of conditioned freezing, both the high and low conditioning groups of female rats exhibited rapid extinction of conditioned freezing behavior and comparatively low levels of freezing in tests of fear recovery. Regardless of group classification, AIE had no effect on freezing behavior in female rats during acquisition, extinction, or fear recovery. Lastly, exposure of male rats to the mGlu5 positive allosteric modulator CDPPB prevented AIE-induced alterations in freezing. Taken together, these observations demonstrate sex-specific changes in conditioned fear behaviors that are reversible by pharmacological interventions that target mGlu5 receptor activation.

<p dir="ltr">Alcohol is the most frequently used drug among adolescents and is commonly consumed through binge drinking. This pattern involves repeated rapid and heavy consumption of alcohol followed by abstinence. Continued binge drinking can result in increased susceptibility to drink during adulthood and a higher risk of adverse health issues, including cognitive impairment. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HIPP) are two of the main regions affected by binge drinking, which may lead to individuals experiencing impairment in cognitive processes such as sensorimotor gating and object recognition memory. However, the mechanisms underlying these processes can be complex. Extensive research needs to be conducted to examine the effects adolescent alcohol consumption can have on cognitive processing. A critical note is using an appropriate model to effectively study this relationship. The purpose of this work was to investigate the association between adolescent binge-like alcohol consumption, cognition-related behaviors, and neuroinflammatory responses in crossed high alcohol-preferring (cHAP) mice, a unique selectively bred mouse model for binge alcohol drinking and its consequences in humans.</p><p dir="ltr">Results showed alcohol history mice increased alcohol intake from adolescence to early adulthood, with females displaying faster escalation. Sensorimotor gating was impaired in the alcohol history group at the 112dB pulse intensity one week after alcohol consumption. Alcohol history male mice exhibited impairment in object recognition memory while females did not. IL-1β and TNF-α in the PFC and HIPP did not vary based on alcohol history or sex. These data provide information on the validity of cHAPs as a model of adolescent to early adulthood binge drinking. Our findings allow a foundation for future research to delineate the effect adolescent binge drinking has on various cognitive processes that are modulated by overlapping brain regions. This will aid in not only educating the public to facilitate more conscious actions but also provide potential therapeutic targets and interventions for those with alcohol use disorder (AUD).</p>

No description available.

Objective: The relationship between alcohol use and suicidal behaviors is well-accepted, but less is known about the contribution of its early initiation. This study was designed to test the association of early alcohol initiation versus later initiation with suicidal ideation and attempt in an ethnically diverse sample. Methods: The Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), 2001-2003 (n = 20,013), database was used. A total of 13,867 participants were selected included 56.9% females and 43.1% males. Race and ethnicity were reported as 28.8% non-Hispanic White, 39.1% Black, 20.3% Latino, and 11.9% Asian. Logistic regression analyses tested the associations between early (< =14 years) and later (> =15) age alcohol initiation with suicide ideation and attempts. Alcohol initiation was indexed by self-report of the first time that any alcohol product was consumed. Potential confounders were controlled. Results: Early alcohol initiation was associated with higher odds (AOR = 3.64, 95% CI [2.51, 5.28]) of suicide ideation as compared with adults who had initiated > = age 15 (AOR = 2.11, 95% CI [1.46, 3.04]). Early age initiation was also associated with higher odds (AOR = 3.81, 95% CI [2.02, 7.18]) of lifetime suicide attempt versus later age initiators (AOR = 2.03, 95% CI [1.08, 3.79]). Significant differences were found between early and later age of initiation. Conclusion: Early age of alcohol initiation has profoundly increased odds of suicide ideation or attempt. It is critical that effective prevention programs for children and their caregivers be implemented to prevent or delay alcohol initiation and lessen the risk for future suicidal behaviors.