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.

Previous researchers have indicated that alcohol use disorder affects relationships between family members. Exposure to parental alcohol use disorder disrupts important relationship skill-building development between the children of the family, and may impact conflict resolution in later life relationships. The sibling relationship provides a learning opportunity on how to manage conflict, yet little is known about the effects of parental alcohol use disorder on the sibling-to-sibling relationship from the perspective of adult siblings. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological enquiry was to explore the lived experiences of adult siblings who experienced parental alcohol use disorder in their family of origin. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 8 sibling pairs who grew up in the same isolated, remote, and densely populated community, each of whom experienced parental alcohol use disorder. Initial participants were recruited during open 12 Step meetings with subsequent siblings recruited using a snowballing technique. Sixteen audio taped interviews were manually transcribed and then coded for themes using a typology classification system based on key terms, word repetitions, and metaphors. The alcoholic family system was found to be traumatic and abusive, resulting in maladaptive coping behaviors, especially in the area of conflict. Findings also highlighted the strength of the sibling bond in the face of adversity and the opportunity for resilience under challenging circumstances. This study contributes to social change by informing the design of targeted interventions for siblings, specifically, by suggesting a change from the current focus on the identified client to a more holistic approach to treatment.

As many as 50% of full time students are employed for pay while enrolled in secondary education (Condition of Education; Planty et al., 2009). It is well documented that college is a vulnerable time for heavy drinking, and similarly, increased consumption among the workforce continues to rise. Student workers, who occupy both roles, therefore may be particularly at risk. The present research explored potential factors related to this stressful dual role experience, which was hypothesized to be related to increased alcohol consumption. One such factor proposed was the self-conscious emotion of shame. According to Hull's (1981) Self Awareness Model, individuals may drink to decrease levels of self-awareness in light of real or perceived failure or intensely negative emotional experiences. Based on this theory, both state and trait shame (shame-proneness) have been linked with alcohol consumption. In line with the literature, it was hypothesized that individuals higher in shame-proneness would report recent experiences of shame, as well higher levels of alcohol consumption. It was additionally proposed that this process might be exacerbated for individuals experiencing workplace role ambiguity. Role ambiguity obfuscates both the process necessary for achieving favorable work outcomes, as well as whether those outcomes are or are not actually achieved. Therefore, individuals experiencing high levels of role ambiguity may exist in a continuous experience of wondering if they are doing their jobs correctly or well. The relation between shame-proneness (a trait) and experiences of shame (a state) was proposed to be moderated by the experience of role ambiguity. The present study revealed, however, that there were no direct, indirect, or conditional effects. The discussion explores possible reasons for these outcomes, and offers thoughts regarding future research directions for further exploring these questions.

ABSTRACT Background: Alcohol use disorders (AUD) affect health and wellbeing, and have broad societal costs (Bouchery, Harwood, Sacks, Simon, & Brewer, 2011; Rehm et al., 2009; Sudhinaraset, Wigglesworth, Takeuchi, & Tsuker, 2016). While treatments have existed for decades, they are limited in success and expensive to administer. As such, understanding which factors best predict who will benefit most from treatment remains a laudable goal. Prior attempts to predict factors associated with positive treatment outcome are limited by methodology including statistical methods that lead to poor predictive power in new samples. This study aims to use a data-driven approach to clarify the predictors of AUD treatment success (Objective 1) accompanied by a theory-driven analysis assessing the mediation of treatment outcomes through psychological distress (Objective 2). Methods: One hundred forty-five patients seeking treatment for alcohol use problems at the Day One Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program (part of UVM Medical Center) between June 2011 and June 2012 were examined. Variables were extracted through chart review and were categorized using the Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model. First, 20% of the sample was set-aside for model testing, and the remaining 80% was used in an Elastic Net Regularized linear regression, with 10-fold cross validation. Models were tested on the set-aside sample to yield estimates of out-of-sample prediction and repeated models were compared to ensure generalizability. Next, a theoretical model was tested examining a model of psychological distress mediating the relationship between individual predictors and treatment outcome. Results: The models developed from the Elastic Net Regularization approach demonstrated consistency in model strength (mean=0.32, standard deviation=0.03) with models ranging from 14 to 31 included variables. Across the models, 15 variables occurred in >75% of the models, and an additional 7 variables were included in 25% - 75% of the models. Some of the strongest predictors included treatment non-compliance (β=-0.92), ASI Alcohol Composite (β=0.63), treatment dosage (β =-0.36), and readiness to change (β=-0.95). The results of the theory-driven mediation analysis demonstrated several strong direct predictors of outcome frequency of alcohol use, including readiness to change (β=-0.59), initial frequency of alcohol use (β=0.27), and access to a primary care physician (β=-2.20). The theoretical model found that none of the mediation pathways (testing psychological variables) were significantly different from the direct models. Conclusions: This study used both data-driven and theory-driven methods to examine factors affecting treatment of AUDs. The application of data-driven methods provided several predictors of outcome that can guide treatment efforts within Day One IOP treatment, as well as generalized to other abstinence-based treatment settings. For example, focusing on treatment attendance and using motivational interviewing to enhance readiness to change are methods supported by this study. Demographic variables that have been shown to predict treatment outcome in small studies, without cross-validation were not identified by the elastic net regression (e.g., age and gender). It is suspected that this is due to model overfitting in prior studies supporting the importance of using generalizable statistical methods to understand predictors of treatment outcome. This notion is supported by the results of the theory-driven model, which did not yield a strong model of treatment success. Taken together, the results support the use of strong analytic techniques which will guide theory in the future.

Alcoholism is a complex neuropsychiatric disease that is characterized by compulsive alcohol use and intensifying cravings and withdrawals, often culminating in physiologic dependency. Fundamental alterations in brain chemistry underlie the transition from initial ethanol exposure to repetitive excessive use. Key mediators of this adaptation include changes in gene expression and signal transduction. Here we investigated gene expression pathways in prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens following acute or chronic ethanol treatment, to identify genes with potentially conserved involvement in the long-term response of the corticolimbic system to repeated ethanol exposure. We investigated Gsk3b, which encodes glycogen synthase kinase 3-beta, as a highly ethanol responsive gene associated with risk for long-term maladaptive responses to ethanol. On the level of the protein, we found that GSK3B and to a lesser extent the GSK3A isoform showed robust increases in inhibitory phosphorylation following acute ethanol. This inhibition may underlie aspects of the behavioral response to acute ethanol, as pre-treatment with a GSK3B inhibitor (tideglusib) augmented ethanol’s locomotor effects. Following long term ethanol exposure, we re-tested GSK3B phosphorylation and found that its ethanol response is blunted, consistent with molecular tolerance as a corollary to increased consumption. As the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a vital role in the reward pathway via its glutamatergic projections to the nucleus accumbens, we investigated the role of the Gsk3b gene specifically in PFC and in glutamatergic neurons. Overexpression of Gsk3b in the PFC robustly increased ethanol consumption, while deletion in Camk2a-positive neurons significantly attenuated ethanol consumption. Pharmacologic antagonism of GSK3B also decreased drinking in a model of binge-like consumption. Collectively this data implicates GSK3B as a mediator of excessive ethanol intake via its kinase activity, wherein inhibition of the kinase via phosphorylation exerts a protective effect in the context of acute ethanol, but desensitizes with repeated exposure.

Thesis ( M.A. (Media Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2014 / This study investigates the effects of televised alcohol advertisements on the drinking behaviour of youth in Praktiseer community of the Greater Tubatse Municipality. The nature and trends of alcohol consumption in South Africa are examined. The study also focuses on the impact of alcohol exposure, and the costs alcohol abuse can incur on the individual and society at large. The types of advertising models and the regulatory systems in advertising were identified. Data were collected through a self- administered questionnaire. The study hypothesised that the exposure to alcohol advertisements influences alcohol abuse among the youth. However, alcohol industry claims that the youth is not its niche market and hence should not be blamed for any abusive behaviour of alcohol by the youth. Just like the few studies interested in the effects of alcohol advertising, alcohol exposure and alcohol abuse, the present study also reveals that televised alcohol advertisements have a great influence in alcohol consumption among the youth in Praktiseer community.

Substance use during adolescence is of particular concern because it is known to be associated with many undesirable outcomes. When an adolescent discovers that a peer is using substances, he or she is faced with a decision regarding the response to be taken (e.g., use substances with the peer, report it to authorities, tell the peer to stop). Available literature has given little consideration to this issue; therefore, the current study sought to examine the response of adolescents to discovering that a peer is using substances, within an ethnically diverse sample of 139 students from a public high school located in Florida. Since responses taken likely vary based on adolescents' own personal traits and characteristics, this study investigated how adolescents' gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, grade level, and own use or non-use of substances were related to their response to discovering that a peer is using substances. Findings revealed that those students that reported personal marijuana use were more likely to report that they would respond to peer substance use in an undesirable way (e.g., use with the peer, do nothing), and less likely to take a positive action of any sort (e.g., discuss the peer's substance use with a trusted adult, tell the peer to stop). A second purpose of this study was to examine whether or not an adolescent's relationship with the peer using drugs or alcohol (specifically, close friend versus classmate) was related to the action the adolescent takes in response to the peer's substance use. Findings revealed that overall students reported a higher likelihood that they would take a positive action of some sort if the peer using substances was a close friend than a classmate. More specifically, more students reported that they would tell a close friend to stop using substances than tell a classmate the same thing. On the other hand, students also reported that they would be more likely to use substances with a close friend than with a classmate. Implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed.

Police culture often valorises 'hard' drinking, and in NSW police label their heavy drinkers 'heroes'. It is queried if there is some relationship between occupational culture and drinking style.It is found that much of the current theorising about the origins and nature of problem drinking, such as psychological theorising about stress, is inadequate to explain and address the extraordinary level of high-risk drinking among police.This thesis explores alternative views such as critical and feminist perspectives on police culture, constructions of masculinity, and mechanisms of 'enabling', to discover whether these might prove more applicable and more productive. The research also explores the matter of whether a case can be made for taking alternative ideas and theories into account in designing intervention programmes for specific occupation contexts, and whether they raise any policy and practical implications for addressing problem drinking within the NSW Police Service. / Master of Science (Hons)

<p>Samtidigt som användningen av alkohol har minskat i den utvecklade delen av världenökar den i utvecklingsländerna. Alkoholanvändningen har både kulturell och social meningmen är samtidigt relaterad till flera hälsoskadliga- och sociala problem. Studiens syfte var attbeskriva hur personer med inflytelserika uppdrag i en massajby i Tanzania uppleveralkoholanvändningen samt dess följder för såväl invånarna som för byn. Vidare var syftet attbeskriva deras upplevelser av religion och traditions betydelse för alkoholanvändningen.Kvalitativa, semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes utifrån en intervjuguide med ettändamålsenligt urval av tio respondenter. Data analyserades med manifest innehållsanalys. Urdataanalysen framkom resultat två teman: faktorer som påverkar alkoholanvändningen; samtfaktorer som alkoholanvändningen påverkar. De största konsekvenserna avalkoholanvändning upplevdes vara kontrollförlust med oförmåga att ta hand om sig själv ochsin familj. Dessutom upplevdes alkoholanvändningen som en olägenhet för byn genombortfall av arbetskraft vilket respondenterna upplevde som påfrestande för hela bynsutveckling. För framtiden föreslås arbete som hjälp till alternativ inkomst föralkoholförsäljande kvinnor samt tydligt ställningstagande från byledningen.</p> / <p>While the use of alcohol has declined in the developed world it is increasing indeveloping countries. Alcohol use has cultural and social meanig, at the same time its isrelated to several adverse health and social problems. This study was designed to describehow people with powerful function in a masai society in Tanzania experience alcohol use andthe consequences of alcohol use for both the individuals and for the village. Furthermore, thepurpose was to describe their experiences of religion and traditions relevancy to alcohol use.Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were carried out based on an interview guide with auseful selection of ten respondents. Data were analyzed with manifest content analysis andresults were found in two main areas: factors that influence alcohol use; and factors asconsequences of alcohol use. The biggest impact found was perceived to be control-loss withinability to take care of him- or herself and his or her family. In addition alcoholuse wasperceived as an inconvenience to the village due to loss of labor. This was percieved asstressful for the village's development. Aid to optional job for alcohol selling women andclear statement on alcohol use from the society leadership is proposed for future development.</p>

Samtidigt som användningen av alkohol har minskat i den utvecklade delen av världenökar den i utvecklingsländerna. Alkoholanvändningen har både kulturell och social meningmen är samtidigt relaterad till flera hälsoskadliga- och sociala problem. Studiens syfte var attbeskriva hur personer med inflytelserika uppdrag i en massajby i Tanzania uppleveralkoholanvändningen samt dess följder för såväl invånarna som för byn. Vidare var syftet attbeskriva deras upplevelser av religion och traditions betydelse för alkoholanvändningen.Kvalitativa, semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes utifrån en intervjuguide med ettändamålsenligt urval av tio respondenter. Data analyserades med manifest innehållsanalys. Urdataanalysen framkom resultat två teman: faktorer som påverkar alkoholanvändningen; samtfaktorer som alkoholanvändningen påverkar. De största konsekvenserna avalkoholanvändning upplevdes vara kontrollförlust med oförmåga att ta hand om sig själv ochsin familj. Dessutom upplevdes alkoholanvändningen som en olägenhet för byn genombortfall av arbetskraft vilket respondenterna upplevde som påfrestande för hela bynsutveckling. För framtiden föreslås arbete som hjälp till alternativ inkomst föralkoholförsäljande kvinnor samt tydligt ställningstagande från byledningen. / While the use of alcohol has declined in the developed world it is increasing indeveloping countries. Alcohol use has cultural and social meanig, at the same time its isrelated to several adverse health and social problems. This study was designed to describehow people with powerful function in a masai society in Tanzania experience alcohol use andthe consequences of alcohol use for both the individuals and for the village. Furthermore, thepurpose was to describe their experiences of religion and traditions relevancy to alcohol use.Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were carried out based on an interview guide with auseful selection of ten respondents. Data were analyzed with manifest content analysis andresults were found in two main areas: factors that influence alcohol use; and factors asconsequences of alcohol use. The biggest impact found was perceived to be control-loss withinability to take care of him- or herself and his or her family. In addition alcoholuse wasperceived as an inconvenience to the village due to loss of labor. This was percieved asstressful for the village's development. Aid to optional job for alcohol selling women andclear statement on alcohol use from the society leadership is proposed for future development.