Effects of alcohol on the response to hyperventilation of participants high and low in anxiety sensitivity

BACKGROUND

Previous research suggests that high levels of anxiety sensitivity (AS; fear of anxiety symptoms) may constitute a risk factor for alcohol abuse. The present study evaluated the hypothesis that high AS levels may increase risk for alcohol abuse by promoting a heightened sober reactivity to theoretically relevant stressors and heightened sensitivity to alcohol's emotional reactivity dampening effects, which would negatively reinforce drinking in this population.

METHODS

One hundred and two undergraduate participants (51 high AS, 51 low AS) with no history of panic disorder were assigned to either a placebo, low-dose alcohol, or high-dose alcohol beverage condition (17 high AS, 17 low AS per beverage condition). After beverage consumption and absorption, participants underwent a 3 min voluntary hyperventilation challenge.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

High-AS/placebo participants displayed greater affective and cognitive reactivity to the challenge than low-AS/placebo participants, which indicated increased fear and negative thoughts (e.g., "losing control") during hyperventilation among sober high AS individuals. Dose-dependent alcohol dampening of affective and cognitive reactivity to hyperventilation was observed only among high-AS participants, which suggested that high-AS individuals may be particularly sensitive to alcohol-induced reductions in their degree of fear and negative thinking in response to the experience of physical arousal sensations. In contrast, dose-dependent alcohol dampening of self-reported somatic reactivity was observed among both high- and low-AS participants. We discuss implications of these results for understanding risk for alcohol abuse in high-AS individuals, as well as directions for future research.

Validation of a system of classifying female substance abusers on the basis of personality and motivational risk factors for substance abuse

This study explored the validity of classifying a community-recruited sample of substance-abusing women (N = 293) according to 4 personality risk factors for substance abuse (anxiety sensitivity, introversion-hopelessness, sensation seeking, and impulsivity). Cluster analyses reliably identified 5 subtypes of women who demonstrated differential lifetime risk for various addictive and nonaddictive disorders. An anxiety-sensitive subtype demonstrated greater lifetime risk for anxiolytic dependence, somatization disorder, and simple phobia, whereas an introverted-hopeless subtype evidenced a greater lifetime risk for opioid dependence, social phobia, and panic and depressive disorders. Sensation seeking was associated with exclusive alcohol dependence, and impulsivity was associated with higher rates of antisocial personality disorder and cocaine and alcohol dependence. Finally, a low personality risk subtype demonstrated lower lifetime rates of substance dependence and psychopathology.

Does the social concerns component of the anxiety sensitivity index belong to the domain of anxiety sensitivity or the domain of negative evaluation sensitivity?

The present study utilized an exploratory factor-analytic approach (i.e. principal-components analysis; PCA) to investigate whether the Social Concerns component of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI [Peterson, R. A., & Reiss, S. (1992). Anxiety Sensitivity Index manual (2nd ed.). Worthington, OH: International Diagnostic Systems.]) is best conceptualized as belonging to the domain of anxiety sensitivity (AS) and/or the domain of negative evaluation sensitivity (NES). A sample of university students (N = 216) was administered measures of both NES (i.e. Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation scale; Leary, 1983) and AS (i.e. ASI). Participants' responses to the items comprising these measures were subjected to a PCA with oblique rotation. Factors representing the NES construct and the three lower-order AS constructs (i.e. AS Physical, Psychological and Social Concerns) were obtained. Subscales derived from these four factors were positively and significantly correlated with one another and loaded on a single higher-order factor labeled Threat Sensitivity. Thus, the present findings suggest that the AS Social Concerns factor is distinct from NES and the other lower-order components of AS. However, correlational analyses and higher-order PCA indicated that the AS Social Concerns factor taps a blend of AS and NES as well as something unique and distinct from both global AS and NES.

Efficacy of brief coping skills interventions that match different personality profiles of female substance abusers

Female substance abusers recruited from the community were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 brief interventions that differentially targeted their personality and reasons for drug use. The 90-min interventions were: (a) a motivation-matched intervention involving personality-specific motivational and coping skills training, (b) a motivational control intervention involving a motivational film and a supportive discussion with a therapist, and (c) a motivation-mismatched intervention targeting a theoretically different personality profile. Assessment 6 months later (N = 198) indicated that only the matched intervention proved to be more effective than the motivational control intervention in reducing frequency and severity of problematic alcohol and drug use and preventing use of multiple medical services. These findings indicate promise for a client-treatment matching strategy that focuses on personality-specific motives for substance abuse.

Validation of a system of classifying female substance abusers on the basis of personality and motivational risk factors for substance abuse

This study explored the validity of classifying a community-recruited sample of substance-abusing women (N = 293) according to 4 personality risk factors for substance abuse (anxiety sensitivity, introversion-hopelessness, sensation seeking, and impulsivity). Cluster analyses reliably identified 5 subtypes of women who demonstrated differential lifetime risk for various addictive and nonaddictive disorders. An anxiety-sensitive subtype demonstrated greater lifetime risk for anxiolytic dependence, somatization disorder, and simple phobia, whereas an introverted-hopeless subtype evidenced a greater lifetime risk for opioid dependence, social phobia, and panic and depressive disorders. Sensation seeking was associated with exclusive alcohol dependence, and impulsivity was associated with higher rates of antisocial personality disorder and cocaine and alcohol dependence. Finally, a low personality risk subtype demonstrated lower lifetime rates of substance dependence and psychopathology.

Anxiety sensitivity mediates the relationships between childhood learning experiences and elevated hypochondriacal concerns in young adulthood

OBJECTIVE

the present study investigated childhood learning experiences potentially associated with the development of elevated hypochondriacal concerns in a non-clinical young adult sample, and examined the possible mediating roles of anxiety sensitivity (i.e., fear of anxiety-related symptoms) and trait anxiety (i.e., frequency of anxiety symptoms) in explaining these relationships.

METHOD

197 university students participated in a retrospective assessment of their childhood instrumental (i.e., parental reinforcement) and vicarious (i.e., parental modeling) learning experiences with respect to arousal-reactive (e.g., dizziness) and arousal-non-reactive (e.g., lumps) bodily symptoms, respectively. Childhood learning experiences were assessed using a revised version of the Learning History Questionnaire (LHQ), anxiety sensitivity levels with the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), trait anxiety levels with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait (STAI-T) scale, and degree of hypochondriacal concerns with the Illness Attitudes Scale (IAS)-Total score.

RESULTS

consistent with earlier findings [Watt MC, Stewart SH, Cox BJ. A retrospective study of the learning history origins of anxiety sensitivity. Behav Res Ther 1998; 36: 505-525.], elevated anxiety sensitivity levels were associated with increased instrumental and vicarious learning experiences related to both arousal-reactive and arousal-non-reactive bodily symptoms. Similarly, individuals with elevated hypochondriacal concerns also reported both more instrumental and vicarious learning experiences around bodily symptoms than did students with lower levels of such concerns. However, contrary to the hypothesis, the childhood learning experiences related to hypochondriacal concerns were not specific to arousal-non-reactive symptoms, but instead involved parental reinforcement and modeling of bodily symptoms in general (arousal-reactive and -non-reactive symptoms alike). Anxiety sensitivity, but not trait anxiety, partially mediated the relationships between childhood learning experiences and elevated hypochondriacal concerns in young adulthood.

CONCLUSIONS

elevated anxiety sensitivity appears to be a risk factor for the development of hypochondriasis when learning experiences have involved both arousal-reactive and arousal-non-reactive bodily symptoms.

Relations between dietary restraint and patterns of alcohol use in young adult women

The present study examined relations between dietary restraint and self-reported patterns of alcohol use, including separate assessment of quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption. One hundred seventy-six female university undergraduates completed the Restraint Scale (RS) and measures of their usual quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption over the past year. Quantity and frequency self-reports were scored separately and were also used to calculate 3 additional drinking variables: a composite weekly alcohol consumption score (drinks per week), a binge drinking categorical variable (where participants were classified as either binge drinkers or non-binge drinkers), and a yearly excessive drinking score (number of times in the past year that each participant consumed at least 4 alcoholic beverages per drinking occasion). RS scores were significantly positively correlated with scores on 4 of the 5 drinking behavior measures (i.e., quantity, drinks per week, binge drinking, and yearly excessive drinking, but not frequency). Thus, chronic dieting appears to be related to a relatively heavy drinking pattern that can be characterized as potentially risky, due to its established associations with adverse health and social consequences.

Relations between dietary restraint and patterns of alcohol use in young adult women

The present study examined relations between dietary restraint and self-reported patterns of alcohol use, including separate assessment of quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption. One hundred seventy-six female university undergraduates completed the Restraint Scale (RS) and measures of their usual quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption over the past year. Quantity and frequency self-reports were scored separately and were also used to calculate 3 additional drinking variables: a composite weekly alcohol consumption score (drinks per week), a binge drinking categorical variable (where participants were classified as either binge drinkers or non-binge drinkers), and a yearly excessive drinking score (number of times in the past year that each participant consumed at least 4 alcoholic beverages per drinking occasion). RS scores were significantly positively correlated with scores on 4 of the 5 drinking behavior measures (i.e., quantity, drinks per week, binge drinking, and yearly excessive drinking, but not frequency). Thus, chronic dieting appears to be related to a relatively heavy drinking pattern that can be characterized as potentially risky, due to its established associations with adverse health and social consequences.

Relationships between drinking motives and drinking restraint

Relationships between drinking motives (self-perceived reasons for drinking alcohol) and drinking restraint (preoccupation with controlling alcohol intake) were examined in a nonclinical young adult sample. Ninety-seven undergraduate university drinkers completed the Temptation and Restraint Inventory (Collins & Lapp, 1992), the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (Cooper, Russell, Skinner, & Windle, 1992), and measures of demographics (age and gender) and social desirability. Results indicated that after accounting for the influences of demographic and social desirability information, Coping Motives and Enhancement Motives scores from the Drinking Motives Questionnaire were significant predictors of Cognitive and Emotional Preoccupation scores on the Temptation and Restraint Inventory, and Coping Motives scores were a significant predictor of Cognitive and Behavioral Control scores on the Temptation and Restraint Inventory. Social Motives scores on the Drinking Motives Questionnaire did not significantly predict either Cognitive and Emotional Preoccupation or Cognitive and Behavioral Control scores. Further analyses suggested that actual behavioral attempts at alcohol restriction on the Temptation and Restraint Inventory were predicted by Enhancement Motives scores, whereas cognitive concerns about drinking were predicted by Coping Motives scores. Results are discussed in terms of implications for risk for excessive and problem drinking in enhancement and coping-motivated young adult drinkers.

Illness Attitudes Scale dimensions and their associations with anxiety-related constructs in a nonclinical sample

The Illness Attitudes Scale (IAS) is a self-rated measure that consists of nine subscales designed to assess fears, attitudes and beliefs associated with hypochondriacal concerns and abnormal illness behavior [Kellner, R. (1986). Somatization and hypochondriasis. New York: Praeger; Kellner, R. (1987). Abridged manual of the Illness Attitudes Scale. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico]. The purposes of the present study were to explore the hierarchical factor structure of the IAS in a nonclinical sample of young adult volunteers and to examine the relations of each illness attitudes dimension to a set of anxiety-related measures. One-hundred and ninety-seven undergraduate university students (156 F, 41 M; mean age = 21.9 years) completed the IAS as well as measures of anxiety sensitivity, trait anxiety and panic attack history. The results of principal components analyses with oblique (Oblimin) rotation suggested that the IAS is best conceptualized as a four-factor measure at the lower order level (with lower-order dimensions tapping illness-related Fears, Behavior, Beliefs and Effects, respectively), and a unifactorial measure at the higher-order level (i.e. higher-order dimension tapping General Hypochondriacal Concerns). The factor structure overlapped to some degree with the scoring of the IAS proposed by Kellner (1986, 1987), as well as with the factor structures identified in previously-tested clinical and nonclinical samples [Ferguson, E. & Daniel, E. (1995). The Illness Attitudes Scale (IAS): a psychometric evaluation on a nonclinical population. Personality and Individual Differences, 18, 463-469; Hadjistavropoulos, H. D. & Asmundson, G. J. G. (1998). Factor analytic investigation of the Illness Attitudes Scale in a chronic pain sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 1185-1195; Hadjistavropoulos, H. D., Frombach, I. & Asmundson, G. J. G. (in press). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic investigations of the Illness Attitudes Scale in a nonclinical sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy; Speckens, A. E., Spinhoven, P., Sloekers, P. P. A., Bolk, J. H. & van Hemert, A. M. (1996). A validation study of the Whitley Index, the Illness Attitude Scales and the Somatosensory Amplification Scale in general medical and general practice patients. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 40, 95-104]. The Fears, Beliefs and Effects lower-order factors and the General Hypochondriacal Concerns higher-order factor, were shown to be strongly associated with anxiety sensitivity, even after accounting for trait anxiety and panic history. Implications for understanding the high degree of comorbidity between the diagnoses of panic disorder and hypochondriasis, as well as future research directions for exploring the utility of various IAS dimensions in predicting responses to lab-based bodily symptom-induction procedures, are discussed.

Relations between anxiety sensitivity and dimensions of alexithymia in a young adult sample

This study was conducted to assess the relations between anxiety sensitivity (AS) and dimensions of alexithymia in a nonclinical sample. We also sought to determine whether these relations persist after controlling for trait anxiety levels and panic attack history, and after controlling for item redundancy between the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) and the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). A sample of 238 undergraduate students completed the ASI, the TAS-20, and measures of trait anxiety and panic. A group of high AS participants (n=36) was found to have a significantly higher TAS-20 total score than a group of low AS participants (n=41), both before and after conceptually redundant TAS-20 items were removed. ASI scores were found to be significantly positively correlated with scores on the two TAS-20 subscales suspected of sharing a functional relation with AS (i.e., difficulty identifying emotions; difficulty describing emotions), whereas ASI scores were not significantly correlated with scores on the TAS-20 subscale believed to be functionally unrelated to AS (i.e., external-oriented thinking). This pattern of correlations between ASI scores and alexithymia dimensions persisted following the removal of conceptually redundant TAS-20 items, suggesting that the relation between AS and alexithymia is not merely an artifact of item redundancy. ASI scores remained significantly correlated with scores on the TAS-20's difficulty identifying emotions subscale, and marginally correlated with scores on the TAS-20's difficulty describing emotions subscale, after accounting for the influences of trait anxiety and panic history. The results also revealed that individuals who both experience frequent anxiety and who greatly fear their anxiety symptoms report the greatest difficulties identifying and describing emotional states. Implications for understanding the alexithymia construct, as well as potential clinical implications of the findings, are discussed.

An examination of differences in the time course of oxazepam's effects on implicit vs explicit memory

The present study was designed to examine the effects of oxazepam on implicit vs explicit memory processes, as a function of this drug's time course. The effects of oxazepam (30 mg) or placebo on directly comparable tests of implicit memory (word stem completion) and explicit memory (cued recall) were examined at three time points: 100 min post-drug administration (prior to the theoretical peak plasma concentration of oxazepam; i.e.'pre-peak' condition), 170 min post-drug (close to theoretical peak; i.e. 'peak' condition) or 240 min post-drug (following theoretical peak: i.e. 'post-peak' condition). Sixty healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to either the drug condition or the placebo condition in a double-blind design and were tested on both memory tests at one of the three time points. In the 'pre-peak' condition, oxazepam impaired cued recall performance relative to placebo but did not impair priming. In the 'peak' condition, oxazepam impaired performance on both memory tasks. In the 'post-peak' condition, cued recall performance in the oxazepam group remained significantly impaired relative to placebo. However, oxazepam-induced impairments in priming were only marginal, suggesting that oxazepam-induced impairments in implicit memory processes begin to wane following theoretical peak drug concentrations. The fact that oxazepam-induced priming impairments were significant only when the word stem completion task was administered close to peak plasma concentrations, supports the hypothesis that benzodiazepines exert time-dependent effects on implicit memory processes. The results also support the theoretical distinction between implicit and explicit memory processes, since the directly comparable implicit and explicit tasks showed different impairment curves over time.

Functional associations among trauma, PTSD, and substance-related disorders

This review article presents several potential functional pathways which may explain the frequent co-occurrence of PTSD and substance abuse disorders in traumatized individuals. Emerging empirical studies which have examined these potential pathways are reviewed, including studies on relative order of onset, PTSD patients' perceptions of various drug effects, comparisons of PTSD patients with and without comorbid substance use disorders, and correlational studies examining the relations between severity of specific PTSD symptom clusters and substance disorder symptoms. Research on the acute and chronic effects of alcohol and other drugs on cognitive and physiological variables relevant to PTSD intrusion and arousal symptoms is reviewed to highlight ways in which these two sets of PTSD symptoms might be functionally interrelated with substance abuse. Finally, based on these findings, recommendations are made for the treatment of individuals with comorbid PTSD-substance use disorders.

Anxiety sensitivity and situation-specific drinking

To assess the typical drinking situations of high anxiety sensitive individuals, relative to low anxiety sensitive individuals, a large sample of university student drinkers (N = 396) completed the 42-item version of the Inventory of Drinking Situations (IDS-42) and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). As hypothesized, ASI scores were significantly positively correlated with drinking frequency on the higher order IDS-42 factor of negatively reinforcing drinking situations and not significantly correlated with drinking frequency on the higher order factor of positively reinforcing drinking situations. Also, ASI scores were significantly positively correlated with drinking frequency on the lower order drinking situations factors of Conflict with Others, Unpleasant Emotions, and Physical Discomfort. ASI scores were also unexpectedly significantly correlated with more frequent drinking on the higher order factor of temptation drinking situations and with more frequent drinking on the lower order drinking situations factor of Testing Personal Control. These results have important implications for designing early prevention and intervention programs for high anxiety sensitive university student drinkers by helping them to develop alternatives to drinking in those situations (e.g., negatively reinforcing drinking situations) which place them at greatest risk for alcohol misuse.

A further examination of the time-dependent effects of oxazepam and lorazepam on implicit and explicit memory

Until recently, research indicated that all benzodiazepines impair explicit memory, while only lorazepam impairs priming. Stewart and associates provided preliminary data which indicated that both oxazepam and lorazepam may impair implicit memory, but in a time-dependent fashion. The present study was designed to replicate Stewart et al.'s findings after overcoming several limitations of the original study. Thirty subjects were administered an acute dose of lorazepam (2 mg), oxazepam (30 mg) or a placebo and were tested with an implicit (word-stem completion) test and an explicit (cued recall) test. However, subjects were only tested at 170 min post-drug (close to oxazepam's theoretical peak concentration) to rule out the possible "explicit memory contamination" explanation of the Stewart et al. implicit memory findings. Consistent with previous research, both drugs impaired explicit memory relative to placebo. Also, both lorazepam and oxazepam impaired priming performance, supporting the "time-dependence" interpretation of the Stewart et al. findings. The results also indicate that episodic memory is impaired by both benzodiazepines in a time-dependent fashion even when the research methodology used involves everyday memory demands.

Examination of the short form of the Inventory of Drinking Situations (IDS-42) in a young adult university student sample

The 42-item version of the Inventory of Drinking Situations (IDS-42) assesses relative frequency of drinking behavior across eight categories of drinking situations and was originally developed as a method for identifying high-risk situations in alcoholic samples. This study was designed to examine the psychometric properties of the IDS-42 in a sample of university students in order to assess its suitability as an assessment tool in the non-clinical population. Three hundred and ninety-six students (111 M, 283 F, 2 with missing gender data) completed the IDS-42 and a well established measure of drinking motives, the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ). Confirmatory factor analysis of the IDS-42 established a hierarchical factor structure with eight lower-order factors and three higher-order factors of negatively-reinforcing situations, positively-reinforcing situations, and temptation situations. The eight lower-order IDS-42 factors demonstrated moderate to high internal consistency and excellent concurrent validity with conceptually-similar DMQ subscale scores. Non-parametric analyses revealed that male students reported a higher drinking frequency overall as compared to female students, particularly in IDS-42 situations involving Social Pressure to Drink, Pleasant Times with Others, Testing Personal Control, and Urges and Temptations. Across the entire sample of university student drinkers, a higher drinking frequency was reported in positively-reinforcing situations as compared to negatively-reinforcing situations and temptation situations, as predicted. Results suggest the IDS-42 possesses good psychometric properties and support its utility as a tool in identifying situation-specific antecedents to drinking among university students.

A retrospective study of the learning history origins of anxiety sensitivity

Anxiety sensitivity (AS; the fear of anxiety-related sensations) has been proposed as a risk factor for the development of panic disorder. The present study involved a conceptual replication of Ehlers' (1993, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31, 269-278) study on childhood learning experiences and panic attacks, but also extended her work by investigating the relationship between early learning experiences and the development of AS, in a non-clinical sample. A sample of 551 university students participated in a retrospective assessment of their childhood and adolescent instrumental and vicarious learning experiences with respect to somatic symptoms (i.e. anxiety and cold symptoms, respectively) using an expanded version of Ehler's (1993) Learning History Questionnaire. AS levels were assessed using the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, and panic history was obtained using the Panic Attack Questionnaire, Revised. Contrary to hypotheses, the learning experiences of high AS individuals were not found to be specific to anxiety symptoms, but involved parental reinforcement of sick-role behavior related to somatic symptoms in general. High AS subjects reported both more anxiety and cold symptoms prior to age 18 than individuals with lower levels of AS. In addition, both cold and anxiety symptoms elicited more special attention and/or instructions from parents for high AS individuals to take special care of themselves. These findings are contrasted with the results for self-reported panickers who reported more learning experiences (modeling and parental reinforcement) specific to anxiety-related symptoms, than the non-panickers. The results suggest that higher-than-normal levels of AS may arise from learning to catastrophize about the occurrence of bodily symptoms in general, rather than anxiety-related symptoms in particular.

Cognitive behavioural therapy and pharmacotherapy: complementary or contradictory approaches to the treatment of anxiety?

Considerable controversy exists regarding the practice of combining Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) with Pharmacotherapy (PT) in the management of anxiety. This paper considers whether these two forms of treating anxiety disorders can be effectively combined to enhance treatment outcome. Despite the theoretical appeal of a combined approach, a critical review of treatment outcome findings across CBT and various anxiolytic medications and their combination, suggests a failure of these treatments to operate in a complementary fashion. A detrimental impact of anxiolytic medication on CBT outcome is particularly salient for high potency benzodiazepines. Low potency benzodiazepines and antidepressants generally have a negligible impact with no clear evidence of treatment enhancement and some negative combined treatment effects on medication withdrawal and at long-term follow-up. Thus, we address potential mechanisms that may explain this treatment noncomplementarity and in some cases, treatment incompatibility. Cognitive factors influencing treatment outcome (catastrophic beliefs, self-efficacy, selective attention, and memory) are highlighted in view of the empirically supported mediating role of these variables in accounting for treatment responsiveness. Potential effects of anxiolytic medication on cognitive change in CBT are postulated. A number of suggestions for future research and clinical practice are proposed on the basis of this review.

Anxiety sensitivity and self-reported reasons for drug use

Two studies examined the relationships between anxiety sensitivity (AS), drug use, and reasons for drug use. In Study 1, 229 university students (57% F) completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) and a drug use survey, assessing use of a variety of drugs within the last month, and coping reasons for drug use. Consistent with a modified tension-reduction hypothesis, ASI scores were positively correlated with the number of both anxiety- and depression-related reasons for drug use endorsed. In Study 2, 219 university students (74% F) completed the ASI and a drug use survey, assessing use of several drugs (e.g., alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, and marijuana/hashish) within the last year, and primary reasons (coping, affiliative, or enhancement) for the use of each drug. Marijuana/hashish users reported lower ASI scores than non-users supporting a negative relation between AS and the use of cannabis. ASI scores were positively correlated with the use of alcohol primarily to cope, and negatively correlated with the use of alcohol primarily to affiliate, among both gender groups, and ASI scores were positively correlated with the use of nicotine primarily to cope among the females. Implications of these findings for understanding risk for abuse of stress-response-dampening drugs by high AS individuals are discussed.

Validation of a measure of excessive drinking: frequency per year that BAL exceeds 0.08%

Although self-report data are generally evaluated as reliable, validity estimates for self-reported drinking behavior are not as favorable. A new method of measurement addressing problems currently associated with the questionable validity of self-report drinking information is introduced. Study 1 tests the correspondence between the new measure (occasions per year blood alcohol level exceeded 0.08%), traditional self-report measures, and laboratory alcohol consumption. The novel measure correlated most strongly with volume of alcohol consumed in the laboratory compared to the traditional measures. In Study 2 the novel measure was favored over a traditional measure when discriminating between the presence and absence of problem-drinking symptoms.