Binge Drinking Research Progress

BINGE DRINKING RESEARCH PROGRESS

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BINGE DRINKING RESEARCH PROGRESS

KEVIN I. DIGUARDE EDITOR

Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

Copyright © 2009 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

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Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.  New York

CONTENTS Preface Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

vii Public and Professional Conceptualisations of Binge Drinking: Are we All Talking the Same Language? John McMahon, John McAlaney, and Fiona Edgar A Trial of Brief Physician Advice for the Treatment of Problem Drinking in Polish Primary Care Practices Linda Baier Manwell, Jan Czeslaw Czabala, Marek Ignaczak and Marlon Mundt The Role of Undergraduate Romantic Partners' Drinking and Binge Drinking in Relationship Quality and Alcohol-Related Problems Jacquelyn D. Wiersma, Judith L. Fischer and Jacki Fitzpatrick

Chapter 4

Binge Drinking in Adolescents: Risk and Protective Factors Lorena M Siquiera and Lee A Crandall

Chapter 5

Paradigms for Alcohol Use and Co-Occurring Behavioral Health Risk Factors among Women of Childbearing Age James Tsai, R. Louise Floyd, and Mary J. O’Connor

1

25

39 63

83

Chapter 6

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: An Overview Kieran D.O’Malley

101

Chapter 7

Binge Drinking - A Commentary Jan Gill, Julie Murdoch and Fiona O’May

125

Chapter 8

Personal Ways of Construing Others: an Application of Personal Construct Theory Methodology in Drug Abuse and Alcoholism Bruce D. Kirkcaldy, Stephanie M. Potter and James A. Athanasou

Chapter 9 Index

Link of Alcoholic Tendency to Motivation Jon L. Karlsson

141

159 167

PREFACE Binge drinking is now usually used to refer to heavy drinking over an evening or similar time span - sometimes also referred to as heavy episodic drinking. Binge drinking is often associated with drinking with the intention of becoming intoxicated and, sometimes, with drinking in large groups. It is sometimes associated with physical or social harm. Chapter 1 - As with elsewhere in the world, the United Kingdom has witnessed an increase in public and academic interest in heavy episodic alcohol consumption - or ‘binge drinking’ as it is often referred. In the British context, binge drinking is frequently cited as a target for intervention in government policy documents, such as the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England, and the Plan for Action on Alcohol Problems. Part of the reason for this concern stems from the apparent rise in alcohol consumption and alcohol related deaths. Indeed, per capita alcohol consumption in the UK has risen steadily since the 1940s. Furthermore, Scotland’s liver cirrhosis mortality rate doubled between 1987 and 2001, while the rate in England rose by two thirds. At the same time, however, it is important to note that discussing this style of alcohol consumption is not quite so straightforward. One of the main reasons for this is that there is growing controversy as to what the term ‘binge drinking’ should actually be used to refer to. As highlighted by Gmel et al., 2003, there are in fact two different versions of the meaning of the phrase ‘binge drinking’ currently in use. The first is the traditional, clinically based definition, which refers to patterns of planned, sustained heavy drinking involving an aspect of alcohol dependence. In this instance, drinking is typically portrayed as occurring over several days or weeks, matching the term of a ‘bender’ as referred to by Jellinek 1952. It is this pattern of drinking which, until recently, ‘binge drinking’ was predominately associated with, and featured in the WHO Lexicon of Alcohol and Drug Terms. On the other hand, the second version of the phrase ‘binge drinking’ refers to excessive drinking in a shorter time period (i.e. in one night) and does not require the individual to have a dependence on alcohol. It is claimed that this latter conceptualization was introduced by the Harvard School of Public Health in the early 1990s, in order to describe the heavy episodic drinking style of college students (Perkins et al. 2001; Goodhart et al. 2003). As Gmel et al. 2003 note, when used in this respect the term ‘binge drinking’ has often been used as a byword for drinking to intoxication in a heavy episodic style At the moment, this more recent conceptualization of ‘binge drinking’ has largely replaced its previous meaning, although both versions do remain in circulation amongst professionals at least. However, there is little known about the extent to which these professional viewpoints concerning ‘binge drinking’ are shared by the wider

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public. It is this gap in knowledge that the current research project aims to address. Before reporting the results of this study, it is important to provide an account of what is already known in relation to both the professional and public conceptualisations of binge drinking. Chapter 2 - Alcohol use disorders, with their numerous adverse health and economic effects, are a worldwide public health concern. Problem drinking is associated with both increased mortality rates and premature mortality. Estimates indicate that 9-22 years of potential life are lost for an individual death from alcoholic liver disease, compared to two years for cancer and four years for heart disease. Fetal alcohol effects occur in one in 1,000 live births. The economic costs of alcohol abuse in the U.S. alone are estimated to have been $184.6 billion in 1998. Poland has one of the highest rates of per-capita alcohol consumption in the world, estimated at 8 ltr/100 persons in 1999. In Poland’s population of almost 40 million, nearly 800,000 persons are dependent on alcohol and an additional 1-1.2 million abuse alcohol. In 1998, alcohol abuse resulted in economic losses of PLN 25 billion, compared to PLN 6.5 billion in revenue generated by alcohol sales. The testing and implementation of effective alcohol abuse prevention strategies has become an important national priority. Researchers in other countries have been testing the use of brief intervention techniques in clinical settings to reduce alcohol use and alcohol-related harm. These clinically-based interventions include assessment and direct feedback, contracting and goal setting, behavioral modification techniques, and the use of written materials such as self-help manuals. Meta analyses performed by Bien, Kahan, and Wilk, found that most brief intervention trials showed a positive effect on reducing consumption levels and suggest that clinicians can expect 10-30% of their patients to change their drinking behaviors as a result of brief intervention. This report presents the results of the first clinical trial conducted in Polish communitybased primary care practices to test the efficacy of brief physician advice for reducing alcohol use by problem drinkers. The research procedures are similar to those utilized in previous trials. Chapter 3 - Even though the majority of students drink alcohol, and many drink excessively [Wechsler, Davenport, Dowdall, Moeykins, & Castillo, 1994], little research has focused on the romantic context of college drinking and binge drinking. Heavy drinking (including binge drinking) is associated with many individual (e.g., legal) problems, but it could also be associated with romantic problems. Relationship quality might not simply be affected by individual drinking, but rather by the compatibility of partners’ drinking habits. The present study examined congruent/discrepant patterns (as perceived by one partner) in unmarried romantic couples. Respondents (50 female, 42 male undergraduates) completed daily diary records on self and partners’ drinking behaviors for 10 days. In addition, respondents completed a questionnaire to assess relationship satisfaction, commitment, alcohol-related problems, and alcohol abuse. Three methods were used to examine discrepancy and congruence in drinking: (1) a cluster analysis of drinking frequency and quantity, (2) absolute difference scores on frequency and quantity, and (3) absolute difference scores on number of binge drinking episodes. Consistent with Roberts and Leonard [1998], this chapter identified five different drinking clusters. Greater differences in binge drinking episodes were related to lower relationship quality (e.g., less commitment). In addition, greater differences in binge drinking were associated with more alcohol-related problems.

Preface

ix

Given the severity of potential drinking consequences for both individuals and relationships, differences in partner drinking patterns merit more empirical attention. Chapter 4 – Alcohol use is associated with the leading causes of death and injury in adolescents (i.e. motor vehicle accidents, homicides and suicides). The purpose of the current study is to examine gender and ethnic differences in the risk and protective factors for binge drinking among Hispanic Florida youth utilizing the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey 2002. We used a subset of 10,690 Hispanic youth from the original sample of 62,934 students surveyed. Risk and protective factors were first examined in each of five domains, then altogether using logistic regression. Sixteen percent of these students admitted to having binged on one or more occasions in the two weeks prior to the survey and the frequency increased with grade level. Males were more likely to have binged (17% vs. 15%, p