Alcohol and cognitive control: implications for regulation of behavior during response conflict

Impact of Acute Alcohol Consumption on Sexuality: A Look at Psychological Mechanisms

Alcohol's link with sexuality is long-standing and prominent. While research continues to document robust associations between drinking and sexual behavior, scientific attention now centers primarily on evaluating mechanisms and attendant theoretical frameworks to advance our understanding of how alcohol exerts a causal impact. We describe four domains with reliable evidence of alcohol effects: sexualized social perceptions, sexual arousal, sexual risk taking, and sexual assault. We consider three contextual frames: distal factors associated with encountering opportunities for alcohol-involved sex, proximal factors associated with alcohol's acute effects, and distal-proximal interactions. We then examine the empirical support for mechanisms embedded within four theoretical frameworks: alcohol disinhibition, alcohol expectancy, alcohol myopia, and emotion regulation. Support for disinhibition mechanisms is evident with sexual arousal only. Expectancy and myopia mechanisms enjoy support across domains and make up bases for integrative expectancy-myopia causal explanations. Emotion regulation mechanisms evidence preliminary support in risk taking and sexual assault. Implications and future directions are considered.

Ventral prefrontal network response to alcohol in young adults with bipolar disorder: a within-subject randomized placebo-controlled alcohol administration study

Bipolar disorder co-occurs with alcohol use disorder at a rate 3-5 times higher than the general population. We recently reported that individuals with bipolar disorder differ in the positive stimulating and anxiolytic effects of alcohol compared with healthy peers. This study used a randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over, within-subject alcohol administration design to investigate neurobiological mechanisms within ventral prefrontal cortical (vPFC) systems that may underlie altered sensitivity to alcohol in bipolar disorder (NCT04063384). Forty-seven young adults (n = 23 with bipolar disorder, 64% women) completed clinical assessment and two beverage administration sessions (alcohol and placebo, counter-balanced). Participants were dosed to 0.08 g% breath alcohol concentration during the alcohol condition and completed measures of subjective response to alcohol and an emotional processing fMRI task during the ascending limb. Timing during the placebo condition mirrored the alcohol session. Acute alcohol was associated with reduced functional connectivity between the insula - subcallosal cingulate cortex, and increased connectivity between the left nucleus accumbens - ventromedial PFC in bipolar disorder, but with no change in functional connectivity between these regions in healthy peers. Alcohol-related increases in nucleus accumbens - ventromedial PFC functional connectivity was associated with greater positive stimulating effects of alcohol in bipolar disorder and heavier recent alcohol use. Results suggest vPFC brain systems respond differently to acute alcohol during emotional processing in young adults with bipolar disorder compared with healthy peers, and that vPFC system responses relate to the subjective experience of intoxication and recent alcohol use.

Imaging the brain's immune response to alcohol with [11C]PBR28 TSPO Positron Emission Tomography

In humans, the negative effects of alcohol are linked to immune dysfunction in both the periphery and the brain. Yet acute effects of alcohol on the neuroimmune system and its relationships with peripheral immune function are not fully understood. To address this gap, immune response to an alcohol challenge was measured with positron emission tomography (PET) using the radiotracer [11C]PBR28, which targets the 18-kDa translocator protein, a marker sensitive to immune challenges. Participants (n = 12; 5 F; 25-45 years) who reported consuming binge levels of alcohol (>3 drinks for females; >4 drinks for males) 1-3 months before scan day were enrolled. Imaging featured a baseline [11C]PBR28 scan followed by an oral laboratory alcohol challenge over 90 min. An hour later, a second [11C]PBR28 scan was acquired. Dynamic PET data were acquired for at least 90 min with arterial blood sampling to measure the metabolite-corrected input function. [11C]PBR28 volume of distributions (VT) was estimated in the brain using multilinear analysis 1. Subjective effects, blood alcohol levels (BAL), and plasma cytokines were measured during the paradigm. Full completion of the alcohol challenge and data acquisition occurred for n = 8 (2 F) participants. Mean peak BAL was 101 ± 15 mg/dL. Alcohol significantly increased brain [11C]PBR28 VT (n = 8; F(1,49) = 34.72, p > 0.0001; Cohen's d'=0.8-1.7) throughout brain by 9-16%. Alcohol significantly altered plasma cytokines TNF-α (F(2,22) = 17.49, p < 0.0001), IL-6 (F(2,22) = 18.00, p > 0.0001), and MCP-1 (F(2,22) = 7.02, p = 0.004). Exploratory analyses identified a negative association between the subjective degree of alcohol intoxication and changes in [11C]PBR28 VT. These findings provide, to our knowledge, the first in vivo human evidence for an acute brain immune response to alcohol.

Subjective response to alcohol: Interactive effects of early life stress, parental risk for mood and substance use disorders, and drinking context

Early life stress, specifically childhood maltreatment, and parental risk for mood and substance use disorders (SUDs) are associated with increased risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD). There is limited data on how these factors interact to contribute to alcohol-related outcomes. Prior work has suggested early life stress may increase sensitivity to psychostimulants and that subjective response to alcohol is heritable. It is unclear if early life stress alters sensitivity to alcohol and interacts with parental risk for mood/SUDs, which in turn may act as a risk factor for AUD. The current study uses within-subjects placebo-controlled alcohol administration methods to investigate the effects of childhood maltreatment on subjective response to alcohol in young adults with and without parental risk of mood/SUDs. Additionally, we explored interactions with drinking context (i.e., drinking in a bar vs. non-bar context). Within individuals with parental risk for mood/SUDs, there was a positive relation between total Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) score and how drunk individuals reported feeling across both alcohol and placebo conditions (parental risk group-by-CTQ interaction p = .01; main effect of CTQ within individuals with parental risk for mood/SUDs p = .005). When exploring interactions with drinking context (bar vs. non-bar context), we observed a significant drinking context-by-parental risk-by-CTQ interaction (p = .03), with CTQ score positively associated with greater positive valence/positive arousal feelings in the parental risk group if they consumed their beverages in the bar context (p = .004) but not if they consumed their beverages in the non-bar context. Results suggest childhood maltreatment may contribute to variation in subjective response to the positive effects of alcohol-possibly mediated by alcohol cues and/or expectancies-in young adults with parental risk for mood/SUDs.

Contributions of Demand/Withdraw Processes and Alcohol Consumption on Emotional Flooding in Distressed Violent versus Distressed Non-Violent Couples

Purpose

Although alcohol-related intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health problem, the mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood. For instance, prior research has shown differences in distressed violent (DV) and distressed nonviolent (DNV) couples' demand/withdraw communication and the extent to which they become emotionally flooded (i.e., physiologically aroused) in response to conflict. Additionally, alcohol use is associated with increased demand/withdraw communication, IPV, and emotional flooding. Therefore, the present study sought to clarify the association between demand/withdraw communication and emotional flooding among relationally couples who use alcohol and who do and do not experience IPV.

Methods

Relationally distressed couples (Mage =30.1 years) reported on their physical aggression, demand/withdraw communication, emotional flooding, and total number of drinks during the past six months. Couples were denoted as DV (N = 58) if at least one partner reported IPV and DNV (N = 29) if neither partner reported IPV. Actor-partner interdependence modeling was used to test whether couple type (DV versus DNV) moderates the link between demand/withdraw behavior and emotional flooding.

Results

With one exception, alcohol use was unrelated to any of the processes under investigation in the current study. Moreover, men's and women's report of a woman-demand/man-withdraw pattern and man-demand/woman-withdraw pattern, respectively, were positively associated with each partner's own emotional flooding. Couple type (DV vs DNV) did not moderate these associations.

Conclusions

The present results highlight the need for sensitive measures that can capture the nuanced processes that underlie IPV in couples who use alcohol.

Disentangling between- and within-person alcohol and expectancy effects on acute alcohol craving

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol craving is a predictor of continued drinking and a diagnostic criterion for alcohol use disorder. Rewarding subjective effects potentiate craving, but it remains unclear if relations are expectancy-driven vs. alcohol-induced. In addition, it remains unclear if relations operate solely at the person level, or if there is also within-person dynamic change.

METHODS

Participants (N = 448) come from a placebo-controlled alcohol administration study. Participants in the alcohol condition reported subjective effects and alcohol craving on ascending (BAC = .068), peak (BAC = .079), and descending (BAC = .066) BAC limbs. Participants in the placebo condition were yoked to alcohol condition participants. Multilevel models tested whether (1) within-person deviations in subjective effects predicted within-person deviations in craving, (2) between-person levels of subjective effects predicted between-person levels of craving, and (3) effects were dependent upon experimental condition.

RESULTS

At the within-person level, increases in high arousal positive/stimulant effects were associated with within-person increases in alcohol craving, regardless of experimental condition. At the between-person level, interactions were observed between high arousal positive/stimulant (and low arousal positive/relaxing) effects and condition. Probing suggested that the association between person-level high arousal positive/stimulant effects and craving was statistically significant in the alcohol but not the placebo condition. Conversely, the association between person-level low arousal positive/relaxing effects and craving was positive and statistically significant in the placebo but negative in the alcohol condition.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest expectancy-like relations among high arousal positive/stimulant effects and craving within-person. However, alcohol-induced positive reinforcement (i.e., stimulation) facilitated heightened person-level craving, whereas expectancy-like negative reinforcement (i.e., relaxation) attenuated person-level craving.

Alcohol-induced changes in mesostriatal resting-state functional connectivity are linked to sensation seeking in young adults

BACKGROUND

Studies in animals and humans suggest that greater levels of sensation seeking and alcohol use are related to individual differences in drug-induced dopamine release. However, it remains unclear whether drug-induced alterations in the functional synchrony between mesostriatal regions are related to sensation seeking and alcohol use.

METHODS

In this within-subject masked-design study, 21-year-old participants (n = 34) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure ventral tegmental area (VTA) resting-state functional connectivity to the striatum after receiving alcohol (target blood alcohol concentration 0.08 g/dL) or placebo. Participants also completed the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale to assess sensation seeking, the Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire, and self-reported patterns of alcohol and drug use.

RESULTS

Voxel-wise analyses within the striatum demonstrated that during the alcohol condition (compared with placebo) young adults had less connectivity between the VTA and bilateral caudate (p < 0.05 corrected). However, young adults exhibiting smaller alcohol-induced decreases or increases in VTA-left caudate connectivity reported greater sensation seeking.

CONCLUSION

These findings provide novel information about how acute alcohol impacts resting-state connectivity, an effect that may be driven by the complex pre and postsynaptic effects of alcohol on various neurotransmitters including dopamine. Further, alcohol-induced differences in VTA connectivity represent a plausible mechanistic substrate underlying sensation seeking.

Heart rate variability may index emotion dysregulation in alcohol-related intimate partner violence

Introduction

Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem that costs the United States more than $4.1 billion in direct medical and mental health costs alone. Furthermore, alcohol use contributes to more frequent and more severe intimate partner violence incidents. Compounding this problem is treatments for intimate partner violence have largely been socially informed and demonstrate poor efficacy. We argue that improvements in intimate partner treatment will be gained through systematic scientific study of mechanisms through which alcohol is related to intimate partner violence. We hypothesize that poor emotional and behavioral regulation as indexed by the respiratory sinus arrythymia measure of heart rate variability is a key mechanism between alcohol use and intimate partner violence.

Method

The present study is a placebo-controlled alcohol administration study with an emotion-regulation task that investigated heart rate variability in distressed violent and distressed nonviolent partners.

Results

We found a main effect for alcohol on heart rate variability. We also found a four-way interaction whereby distressed violent partners exhibited significant reductions in heart rate variability when acutely intoxicated and attempting to not respond to their partners evocative stimuli.

Discussion

These findings suggest that distressed violent partners may adopt maladaptive emotion regulation strategies such as rumination and suppression when intoxicated and attempting to not respond to partner conflict. Such strategies of emotion regulation have been shown to have many deleterious emotional, cognitive and social consequences for individuals who adopt them, possibly including intimate partner violence. These findings also highlight an important novel treatment target for intimate partner violence and suggest that novel treatments should focus on teaching effective conflict resolution and emotion-regulation strategies that may be augmented by biobehavioral treatments such as heart rate variability biofeedback.

Problem Drinking is Associated with Intimate Partner Cyber Abuse Perpetration but is Buffered by High Relationship Satisfaction

Purpose

Intimate partner cyber abuse (IPCA) is a prevalent form of intimate partner violence (IPV) that has detrimental effects on victims' well-being. Although research has documented associations with other forms of IPV perpetration, additional research is needed to identify IPCA perpetration risk factors. One of the most common risk factors for offline IPV is perpetrators' alcohol use; however, less is known about how this translates to online contexts. There is also a need to identify protective factors that mitigate the effects of alcohol.

Methods

This study evaluated associations between drinking, relationship satisfaction, and IPCA perpetration via self-report questionnaires within a longitudinal framework. Participants included 544 adults in an intimate relationship (n = 296 at T2).

Results

Results indicated that relationship satisfaction buffered the effects of problem drinking on IPCA perpetration at T1, but not at T2. Further, 20.2% of individuals who perpetrated IPCA at T1 drank alcohol during at least one incident, and these individuals reported more problem drinking and more frequent IPCA perpetration compared to those who reported IPCA without alcohol.

Conclusion

Results from this study provide insight into both risk and protective factors for IPCA perpetration among adults and have the potential to guide concurrent prevention strategies that target intersections between problem drinking, IPCA, and offline IPV, and promote healthy and satisfying intimate relationships.

Acute alcohol intoxication and alcohol expectancy effects on women's memory for consensual and non-consensual sexual activity

Objective

To test whether acute alcohol intoxication and alcohol expectancy affects how accurately women remember consensual and non-consensual sexual activity that occurred during an interactive hypothetical dating scenario.

Design

A balanced placebo randomized study that varied alcohol dose (mean Breath Alcohol Content; BrAC = 0.06%) and alcohol expectancy prior to participants encoding a hypothetical interactive rape scenario was implemented. Participants could elect to consent to sexual activity with a male partner in the hypothetical scenario. If they stopped consenting, non-consensual sexual intercourse (i.e., rape) was described. Seven days later, participants' memory for consensual and non-consensual sexual activity in the scenario was tested.

Main outcome measures

Memory accuracy, confidence, and feelings of intoxication.

Results

A total of 90 females (M age = 20.5, SD = 2.2) were tested regarding their memory accuracy for the consensual and non-consensual sexual activities in the scenario. A multi-level logistic regression predicting memory accuracy for the perpetrator's behaviors during the rape indicated no effect of alcohol intoxication. However, a main effect of alcohol expectancy was found, whereby participants who expected to consume alcohol, compared to those who did not, recalled the perpetrator's behaviors during the rape more accurately. A second regression predicting memory accuracy for consensual sexual activity found no main effects for alcohol intoxication or alcohol expectancy. Participants recalled consensual sexual activity with a high degree of accuracy. Calibration analyses indicated that accuracy increased with confidence level, regardless of intoxication level or alcohol expectancy condition, but that women tended to be overconfident in general.

Conclusion

This study provides an important test of how accurately women remember consensual and non-consensual sexual activities. The accuracy of this information is important for forensic medical examinations and police investigations following an allegation of sexual assault. Increased memory accuracy was found for offence details when participants expected to consume alcohol, suggesting there may be important differences in attentional processes (e.g., hypervigilance) depending on whether threat is present. Further research is necessary to investigate memory for sexual violence in real-world settings and to test methods for ascertaining the most complete and reliable accounts.

Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on Sexual Decision-Making among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM): Alcohol's Influences on Self-Control Processes

This experiment tested mechanisms linking alcohol intoxication and analogue determinants of condomless anal intercourse (CAI) in a sample of 257 men who have sex with men (MSM). The two mechanisms tested were implicit approach biases toward CAI stimuli and executive working memory. Participants were randomized to 3 conditions (water control, placebo, or alcohol) and following beverage administration completed a working memory task, an Approach Avoidance Task of sexual vs. condom stimuli, and two video role-play vignettes of high-risk sexual scenarios. Sexual arousal and CAI intentions were assessed by self-report, and behavioral skills and risk exposure were derived from participants' role-play behavior. Estimation of four path models showed that the hypothesized mechanisms were supported for the CAI intention outcome, but the findings for the skills and risk exposure outcome were mixed. Implications for development and enhancement of HIV prevention interventions were discussed.

The Drunk Utilitarian Revisited: Does Alcohol Really Increase Utilitarianism in Moral Judgment?

The "drunk utilitarian" phenomenon suggests that people are more likely to accept harm for the greater good when they are under the influence of alcohol. This phenomenon conflicts with the ideas that (a) acceptance of pro-sacrificial harm requires inhibitory control of automatic emotional responses to the idea of causing harm and (b) alcohol impairs inhibitory control. This preregistered experiment aimed to provide deeper insights into the effects of alcohol on moral judgments by using a formal modeling approach to disentangle three factors in moral dilemma judgments and by distinguishing between instrumental harm and impartial beneficence as two distinct dimensions of utilitarian psychology. Despite the use of a substantially larger sample and higher doses of alcohol compared with the ones in prior studies, alcohol had no significant effect on moral judgments. The results pose a challenge to the idea that alcohol increases utilitarianism in moral judgments.

The effect of alcohol consumption on workplace aggression: What's love (and job insecurity) got to do with it?

Purpose

The authors tested whether the effect of alcohol consumption during work hours on workplace aggression was influenced by the combined impact of individuals' job insecurity and love of the job.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employed a time-lagged design whereby 325 working adults (166 men; 159 women) provided data at two time points. Respondents were asked to report their typical alcohol consumption volume in a workday, the extent to which they loved their job, and how insecure they felt about their job. Approximately one week later, respondents completed a workplace aggression measure.

Findings

A substantial positive relationship was observed between the volume of alcohol consumed during work hours and the likelihood of aggressive acts. Beyond this preliminary finding, the authors found evidence for a three-way interaction. It appears that the fear of losing a beloved job creates a condition under which the drinking-aggression relationship is particularly strong.

Practical implications

Besides formal rules deterring alcohol consumption during work hours, managers may look to implement measures that nurture a sense of job love and job security, which can be beneficial in preventing aggression resulting from drinking in the workplace.

Originality/value

By examining alcohol consumption during a typical workday, the study captures the contextual and proximal effects of drinking, which are often not observed in workplace-focused studies that operationalize alcohol consumption in general terms. The findings also suggest that if employees who drink during work hours are afraid of losing the job they love, a particularly stressful situation is created in which workplace aggression is more likely to happen.

Early Trauma and Later Sexual Victimization in College Women: A Multiple Mediation Examination of Alexithymia, Impulsivity, and Alcohol Use

Childhood abuse and sexual violence against women are prevalent in the United States. However, researchers have not fully explored the intersection among important predisposing factors that predict recent sexual violence experienced by women who are also survivors of childhood abuse. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among early childhood trauma, alexithymia, impulsivity, alcohol use severity, and sexual victimization in later life among female college students from the United States (n = 1,178). Participants were part of a larger cross-cultural study, conducted between 2012 to 2014, which examined sexual aggression and victimization in the context of alcohol use. The current study aimed to examine if: (a) early trauma, impulsivity, alexithymia, and alcohol use severity impact sexual victimization in later life, and (b) if impulsivity, alexithymia, and alcohol use severity mediate the relationship between early trauma and victimization in later life. It was hypothesized that impulsivity, alexithymia, and alcohol use severity would significantly mediate the relationship between early trauma and sexual victimization in later life. Using a multiple mediation path analysis, results indicated that early childhood trauma was significantly linked with impulsivity, alcohol use severity, and sexual victimization in later life. A partial mediation through impulsivity and alcohol use severity was observed. Alexithymia did not produce mediation effects. These findings align with previous research examining how early childhood trauma influences the occurrence of sexual victimization in later life and provides further recommendations for helping professionals as they attempt to stifle the sexual victimization rates among female college students.

Cognitive impairment in the co-occurrence of alcohol dependence and major depression: neuropsychological assessment and event-related potentials analyses

To evaluate the putative detrimental effect of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) on the cognitive impairment associated with Alcohol Dependence (AD), we contrasted the neuropsychological profile and behavioral responses of AD subjects, MDD individuals, and in those with a co-occurring AD-MDD diagnosis (DD). Patients and healthy subjects completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and were recorded for P200, P300, and N450 event-related potentials during memory and Stroop tasks. AD subjects exhibited a generalized detrimental neuropsychological performance; in contrast, in MDD individuals, impairment was limited to discrete domains. Notably, the deficits were distinctive in DD cases. A P200 increased amplitude in MDD, a decrease in P300 amplitude in AD, and increased latency of P300 in DD patients were the overt electrophysiological abnormalities identified. Dual patients also exhibited a distinct pattern of behavioral responses, particularly apparent during high-demand cognitive tasks. Specific ERP adjustments were associated with the short-term fluoxetine treatment in DD and MDD subjects; the SSRI also improved altered baseline performance in learning and cognitive flexibility in DD subjects. In conclusion, the neuropsychological and behavioral alterations detected in the co-occurrence of AD-MDD did not seem to be merely the sum of the negative contributions of the independent disorders.

•

Dual diagnosis (DD) patients exhibited a distinctive pattern of cognitive impairments compared to single diagnosis subjects.

•

The ERP alterations identified were not shared among affected groups.

•

Dual patients exhibited idiosyncratic behavioral responses.

•

Impaired executive functions in DD subjects improved with SSRI medication.

•

Neuropsychological and behavioral alterations are not explained as the sum of negative contributions of individual diagnosis.

Theta oscillatory dynamics of inhibitory control, error processing, and post-error adjustments: Neural underpinnings and alcohol-induced dysregulation

BACKGROUND

Alcohol intoxication impairs inhibitory control, resulting in disinhibited, impulsive behavior. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays an essential role in a range of executive functions and is sensitive to the effects of alcohol, which contributes to the top-down cognitive dysregulation. This study used a multimodal approach to examine the acute effects of alcohol on the neural underpinnings of inhibitory control, inhibition failures, and neurobehavioral optimization as reflected in trial-to-trial dynamics of post-error adjustments.

METHODS

Adult social drinkers served as their own controls by participating in the Go/NoGo task during acute alcohol and placebo conditions in a multi-session, counterbalanced design. Distributed source modeling of the magnetoencephalographic signal was combined with structural magnetic resonance imaging to characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of inhibitory control in the time-frequency domain.

RESULTS

Successful response inhibition (NoGo) elicited right-lateralized event-related theta power (4 to 7 Hz). Errors elicited a short-latency increase in theta power in the dorsal (dACC), followed by activity in the rostral (rACC), which may underlie an affective "oh, no!" orienting response to errors. Error-related theta in the dACC was associated with subsequent activity of the motor areas on the first post-error trial, suggesting the occurrence of post-error output adjustments. Importantly, a gradual increase of the dACC theta across post-error trials closely tracked improvements in accuracy under placebo, which may reflect cognitive control engagement to optimize response accuracy. In contrast, alcohol increased NoGo commission errors, dysregulated theta during correct NoGo withholding, and abolished the post-error theta enhancement of cognitive control.

CONCLUSIONS

Confirming the sensitivity of frontal theta to inhibitory control and error monitoring, the results support functional and temporal dissociation along the dorso-rostral axis of the ACC and the deleterious effects of alcohol on the frontal circuitry subserving top-down regulation. Over time, alcohol-induced disinhibition may give rise to compulsive drinking and contribute to alcohol misuse.

Acute Alcohol Intoxication, State Anger, and Sexual Assault Perpetration: The Role of State Emotion Regulation

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol-involved sexual assault remains a pervasive problem, with extensive individual- and societal-level costs. Emotion regulation (ER), the process through which an individual modulates emotional states, remains an understudied predictor of sexual assault perpetration, with past research focusing on general ER tendencies (e.g., trait ER) as predictors of sexual assault perpetration. This study sought to examine the associations between state ER on sexual assault perpetration in the context of state anger and acute alcohol intoxication.

METHOD

Single, male social drinkers aged 21-30 with a history of sexual risk-taking (N = 92) participated in an alcohol administration paradigm and were randomly assigned to an alcohol condition [sober control vs. intoxicated (BrAC = .10%)]. Intoxicated and sober participants completed a sexual assault analogue that assessed state anger, state ER, and sexual assault perpetration intentions against a hypothetical female partner.

RESULTS

Path analysis demonstrated interactive effects of state ER and state anger on sexual assault perpetration intentions. Relative to men with low and moderate levels of anger, state ER was associated with lower intentions to perpetrate sexual assault for men with high levels of anger. Alcohol intoxication did not directly predict state ER, state anger, or sexual assault perpetration intentions.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggested that state ER may be protective against sexual assault perpetration for men who experience anger in response to a partner's expression of non-consent. Because replication is necessary, the results carry tentative implications for state ER as an intervention target for sexual assault prevention programming.

Neurobiological mechanisms of control in alcohol use disorder - moving towards mechanism-based non-invasive brain stimulation treatments

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is characterized by excessive habitual drinking and loss of control over alcohol intake despite negative consequences. Both of these aspects foster uncontrolled drinking and high relapse rates in AUD patients. Yet, common interventions mostly focus on the phenomenological level, and prioritize the reduction of craving and withdrawal symptoms. Our review provides a mechanistic understanding of AUD and suggests alternative therapeutic approaches targeting the mechanisms underlying dysfunctional alcohol-related behaviours. Specifically, we explain how repeated drinking fosters the development of rigid drinking habits and is associated with diminished cognitive control. These behavioural and cognitive effects are then functionally related to the neurobiochemical effects of alcohol abuse. We further explain how alterations in fronto-striatal network activity may constitute the neurobiological correlates of these alcohol-related dysfunctions. Finally, we discuss limitations in current pharmacological AUD therapies and suggest non-invasive brain stimulation (like TMS and tDCS interventions) as a potential addition/alternative for modulating the activation of both cortical and subcortical areas to help re-establish the functional balance between controlled and automatic behaviour.

Reassessing Fitness-to-Drive in Drinker Drivers: The Role of Cognition and Personality

Drunken driving is among the main challenges for road safety by causing worldwide motor-vehicle crashes with severe injuries and deaths. The reassessment of fitness-to-drive in drivers stopped for drunken driving includes mainly psychological examinations. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and the consistency of selected variables of different psychological driving-related dimensions (i.e., cognitive skills and personality) in discriminating 90 male drinker drivers (DD) from matched non-drinkers controls. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Mental Rotation Test (MRT), and the Perspective-Taking Test (PT) were administered to assess overall cognitive functioning, and object- and self-based spatial transformation abilities, respectively. Participants completed a computerized test measuring resilience of attention (DT), reaction times (RT), and perceptual speed (ATAVT). The Personality Psychopathology Five scales (i.e., PSY-5: Aggressiveness-AGGR, Psychoticism-PSYC, Disconstraint-DISC, Negative-Emotionality-NEGE, and Introversion-INTR) the validity scale (L) and the dissimulation index (F-K) were scored from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2). A logistic binomial regression analysis (backward subtraction method) was used to identify discriminant predictors. A prediction analysis (ROC curve method) was performed on the final model. Results showed that the scores obtained in MRT, DT, and the personality measures of PSYC, DISC, NEGE, and INTR significantly discriminated DD from their matched controls with moderate-to-good values of accuracy (0.79), sensitivity (0.80), and specificity (0.79), as well as a good AUC value (0.89). In some cases, the personality dimensions provided—reliable—unexpected results. Low scores of PSYC, NEGE, and INTR were found to predict the membership to the DD group; results are discussed with reference to response management. Personality measures should be assessed with particular attention in a forensic context because they are more prone to be feigned than cognitive ones. Overall, the present study confirmed the relevance of integrating different driving-related psychological dimensions in the evaluation of fitness-to-drive showing the usefulness of standardized tools for the reassessment of drinker drivers.

How Alcohol Influences Mechanisms of Sexual Risk Behavior Change: Contributions of Alcohol Challenge Research to the Development of HIV Prevention Interventions

This paper examines the contributions of laboratory-based alcohol challenge research (ACR) to the development of HIV prevention interventions. Following a brief overview of HIV prevention interventions and related health behavior change models, we discuss how alcohol may influence mechanisms of behavior change. The paper highlights the value of ACR for: (1) elucidating mechanisms of action through which alcohol affects sexual risk behavior, (2) testing how alcohol may influence mechanisms thought to underlie HIV prevention interventions, (3) clarifying moderators of the causal influences of alcohol, (4) identifying novel intervention targets, and (5) developing strategies to reduce sexual risk among those who consume alcohol. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of using experimental research to identify mechanisms of behavior change that are specific to populations at high risk for HIV and outline some key implications for developing HIV prevention interventions that integrate the role of alcohol.

A 21st century cognitive portrait of the Himba, a remote people of Namibia

This research sketches the cognitive portrait of the Himba, a remote population from Northern Namibia living in a non-industrial society almost completely devoid of modern artefacts. We compared the Himba sample to a French sample, exploring cognitive reflection, moral judgement, cooperative behaviour, paranormal beliefs, and happiness. We looked for both differences and similarities across cultures, and for the way cognitive functioning is associated with a range of demographic variables. Results showed some important group differences, with the Himba being more intuitive, more religious, happier, and less utilitarian than the French participants. Further, the predictors of these beliefs and behaviours differed between the two groups. The present results provide additional support to the recent line of research targeting cultural variations and similarities, and call for the need to expand psychology research beyond the Western world.

Combined smoking and alcohol cues: Effects on craving, drug-seeking, and consumption

BACKGROUND

Alcohol and cigarettes are commonly used together, but little is known about their joint motivational impact. Cue reactivity studies have customarily examined alcohol and smoking cues in isolation, despite the potential for cues to elicit stronger motivational responses when combined. This study used a validated cue reactivity procedure (Choice Behavior Under Cued Conditions) systematically to disentangle the separate and joint effects of alcohol and cigarette cues on substance use motivation.

METHODS

Participants were 110 adults (M_age  = 34.0, SD = 10.8) who consumed both cigarettes and alcohol. Participants completed 40 cue reactivity trials with four in vivo cue types: water, alcohol, cigarette, and combined cigarette and alcohol. Participants rated their craving prior to receiving opportunities to spend real money to gain access to the cues. Spending larger amounts of money increased the probability that the substance(s) would be available for consumption. When granted access, participants took one cigarette puff and/or sip of the beverage. A multimethod approach assessed three key motivational indices: craving, drug-seeking (spending, latency to access the cue), and consumption (puff duration, alcohol consumed). Effects of cue type and rates of substance use (cigarettes per day, drinks per day, relative frequency of co-use) were assessed using hierarchical linear models.

RESULTS

Both alcohol and smoking cues enhanced cue-specific craving but not craving for the alternative substance. In a novel finding, combined cues elicited higher craving and greater spending than single-drug cues. All drug cues elicited greater spending than water cues, and spending was moderated by the relative frequency of co-use.

CONCLUSIONS

We found that combined alcohol and cigarette cues provoke more powerful craving and drug-seeking responses and, therefore, may be more motivationally potent among individuals who use multiple substances.

Reward drinking and naltrexone treatment response among young adult heavy drinkers

AIMS

Theory-driven, exploratory study to: (i) identify a reward drinking phenotype in young adults; (ii) evaluate this phenotype as a predictor of naltrexone response; and (iii) examine mechanisms of naltrexone in reward drinkers.

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

SETTING

USA.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 128 young adult (ages 18-25) heavy drinkers.

INTERVENTIONS

Naltrexone versus placebo.

MEASUREMENTS

Daily surveys assessed affect, urge, drinking, and context. The Drinking Motives Questionnaire was used to identify phenotypes based on reward (enhancement motives) and relief (coping motives) drinking.

FINDINGS

We identified three profiles: "Low reward/Low relief" (14.1%; low enhancement/low coping motives); "Reward drinkers" (62.2%; high enhancement/low coping motives); and "High reward/High relief" (22.7%; high enhancement/high coping motives). Among reward drinkers (versus low profile), naltrexone significantly reduced percent days drinking to intoxication (blood alcohol concentration [BAC] ≥0.08) (PDI) (d = 0.56; 95% CI [0.17, 0.96]) and percent high intensity drinking days (PHID) (8/10 drinks for women/men) (d = 0.32; 95% CI [0.01, 0.68]). Among the high reward/high relief profile drinkers (versus low profile), naltrexone reduced PHID (d = 0.69; 95% CI [0.02, 1.50]). Using profile-informed cutoffs and observed scores (for clinical applicability): (i) among cutoff-derived reward drinkers, we found a medium-to-large (d = 0.66; 95% CI [0.24, 1.16]) and small effect (d = 0.28; 95% CI [0.04, 0.72]) of naltrexone in reducing PDI and PHID, respectively; and (ii) among the cutoff-derived high reward/high relief subgroup, we found a medium-to-large effect (d = 0.63; 95% CI [0.05, 1.1]) of naltrexone in reducing PHID. Among reward drinkers (not other profiles), naltrexone reduced drinking on days a drinking event occurred by weakening the within-day association between positive affect and urges (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Naltrexone has pronounced effects in reducing risky drinking among young adult reward drinkers (high reward/low relief) by reducing urges on days when individuals have higher positive affect and are exposed to a drinking event. Naltrexone also appears to reduce risky drinking among young adult high reward/high relief drinkers, but not via the same mechanism.

Mixing Misery and Gin: The Effect of Alcohol Administration on Ostracism Response

Williams's need-threat model proposes that ostracism responses are reflexive and, because of their evolutionary significance, difficult to diminish. Alcohol is widely consumed in social contexts and for reasons of coping with social stress, and major theories of alcohol propose that intoxication disrupts cognitive appraisal of environmental threats, leading to stress relief. Surprisingly, though, no well-powered experimental research has examined the impact of alcohol intoxication on distress from social ostracism. In three studies across two independent laboratories (N = 438), participants were randomly assigned to receive either an alcoholic or nonalcoholic (i.e., no-alcohol control or placebo) beverage and were exposed to an ostracism (or social inclusion) manipulation. Results, which emerged as remarkably consistent across all studies, indicated strong and consistent effects of ostracism on mood and needs satisfaction among both intoxicated and sober participants. Findings have important implications for ostracism theory and speak to boundary conditions for alcohol's ability to relieve stress.

Alexithymia, Prior Trauma, Alcohol Use, and Sexual Aggression Perpetration: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of a Moderated Mediation Model

In this study, we examined the relationships between prior trauma, alexithymia, and sexual aggression perpetration among 610 U.S. college students and 107 college students from the Philippines utilizing a cross-sectional retrospective design. We tested a moderated mediation model with alexithymia as the mediator between prior trauma and sexual aggression perpetration, and alcohol use as a moderator of the alexithymia-sexual aggression link. Moreover, given that cultural norms may influence these relationships, we also examined the structural invariance of the proposed moderated mediation model. Path analyses and multiple group analysis were used to examine the moderated mediation model, and examine model differences between samples. We did not find evidence for alexithymia as a mediator, but there was a significant interaction between alcohol use severity and alexithymia on sexual aggression perpetration across both samples. Alexithymia is a key variable in understanding the alcohol use-sexual aggression perpetration relationship. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are also discussed.

Alcohol and Neural Dynamics: A Meta-analysis of Acute Alcohol Effects on Event-Related Brain Potentials

BACKGROUND

An understanding of alcohol's acute neural effects could augment our knowledge of mechanisms underlying alcohol-related cognitive/motor impairment and inform interventions for addiction. Focusing on studies employing event-related brain potential methods, which offer a direct measurement of neural activity in functionally well-characterized brain networks, we present the first meta-analysis to explore acute effects of alcohol on the human brain.

METHODS

Databases were searched for randomized laboratory alcohol-administration trials assessing brain activity using event-related potentials. Hedges' g coefficients were pooled using 3-level random-effects meta-regression.

RESULTS

Sixty independent randomized controlled trials met inclusion (total N = 2149). Alcohol's effects varied significantly across neural systems, with alcohol leading to reductions in event-related potential components linked with attention (P3b), g = -0.40, 95% CI (-0.50, -0.29), automatic auditory processing (mismatch negativity), g = -0.44, 95% CI (-0.66, -0.22), and performance monitoring (error-related negativity), g = -0.56, 95% CI (-0.79, -0.33). These effects were moderated by alcohol dose, emerging as significant at doses as low as 0.026% blood alcohol concentration and increasing to moderate/large at 0.12%. In contrast, irrespective of dose, relatively small or nonsignificant alcohol effects emerged in other processing domains, including those linked to executive control (N2b responses) and stimulus classification (N2c responses).

CONCLUSIONS

Contrary to traditional conceptualizations of alcohol as a "dirty drug" with broad central nervous system depressant effects, results instead support accounts positing targeted alcohol effects in specific processing domains. By identifying alcohol effects on brain systems involved in performance monitoring and attention, results move toward the identification of mechanisms underlying alcohol-related impairment as well as factors reinforcing addiction.

Cognitive-emotional mechanisms of alcohol intoxication-involved HIV-risk behavior among men who have sex with men (MSM)

Alcohol use is a key risk factor for HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM), primarily because it interferes with condom use. However, little is known about the cognitive-emotional mechanisms through which alcohol influences decisions to use condoms with high-risk partners among MSM. In this study, we tested whether alcohol-related deficits in inhibitory control and attention bias toward sexual cues (vs. condoms and neutral cues) accounted for increases in condomless anal sex (CAS) intentions after drinking among MSM. Heavy-drinking, high-risk MSM (N = 83) were randomly assigned to receive (a) alcohol, (b) placebo, or (c) control beverages before behavioral tasks assessing inhibitory control and attention bias, and a video-based sexual risk scenario that assessed several aspects of sexual decision making. Results showed that inhibitory control and attention bias to sexual cues did not mediate associations between intoxication and CAS intentions. Inhibitory control deficits also did not moderate the indirect effects of intoxication on CAS intentions through attention bias. Three-way interactions between alcohol/placebo condition, inhibitory control, and attention bias were also not significant. Together, these findings provide little evidence that these two processes play a significant role in alcohol-involved HIV risk, at least as assessed by the specific tasks used in this study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Contextual influences on subjective alcohol response

Prior research demonstrates contextual influences on drug responses in both animals and humans, although studies in humans typically focus on only one aspect of context (e.g., social) and examine a limited range of subjective experiences. The current study sought to address these limitations by examining the impact of both social and physical context on the full range of subjective alcohol effects. The sample included 448 young adult social drinkers (57% male, 66.5% White) randomly assigned to consume alcohol (target blood alcohol concentration of .08 g%) or placebo in 1 of 4 contexts (solitary lab, group lab, solitary bar, group bar). Results indicated that high arousal positive (HAP) effects of alcohol (e.g., talkative, lively) were stronger in nonbar relative to bar contexts and that low arousal positive (LAP) effects (e.g., relaxed, calm) were only present in the group lab context. There were also main effects of social context such that high arousal effects (both positive and negative) were stronger in group contexts, regardless of beverage condition. These findings highlight the importance of considering context when examining alcohol effects. Studies designed to isolate pharmacological HAP effects may benefit from a nonbar setting, and studies of LAP effects might be most effective in a simulated living room or home environment, although future studies are needed to directly address this possibility. Further, studies with an explicit focus on expectancies or that need strong control for expectancies might benefit from a group context, particularly when studying high arousal effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Reduced attentional capture by reward following an acute dose of alcohol

RATIONALE

Previous research has shown that physically salient and reward-related distractors can automatically capture attention and eye gaze in a visual search task, even though participants are motivated to ignore these stimuli.

OBJECTIVES

To examine whether an acute, low dose of alcohol would influence involuntary attentional capture by stimuli signalling reward.

METHODS

Participants were assigned to the alcohol or placebo group before completing a visual search task. Successful identification of the target earned either a low or high monetary reward but this reward was omitted if any eye gaze was registered on the reward-signalling distractor.

RESULTS

Participants who had consumed alcohol were significantly less likely than those in the placebo condition to have their attention captured by a distractor stimulus that signalled the availability of high reward. Analysis of saccade latencies suggested that this difference reflected a reduction in the likelihood of impulsive eye movements following alcohol.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that alcohol intoxication reduces the capacity to attend to information in the environment that is not directly relevant to the task at hand. In the current task, this led to a performance benefit under alcohol, but in situations that require rapid responding to salient events, the effect on behaviour would be deleterious.

Context, acute tolerance, and subjective response affect alcohol-impaired driving decisions

RATIONALE

Alcohol intoxication produces effects that can impair judgment and increase engagement in risky behaviors, including alcohol-impaired driving (AID). Real-world AID decisions are informed by contextual circumstances and judgments of associated risk. How individuals vary in their AID decision-making across contexts and whether subjective alcohol responses (stimulation, sedation, acute tolerance) differentially affect AID decisions are critical, but under-studied research questions.

OBJECTIVES

We systematically investigated predictors of AID decisions at different hypothetical driving distances across the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) curve.

METHODS

Young adults (n = 40; 55% female) completed two laboratory sessions in a within-subjects alcohol/placebo design. At multiple points along the BAC curve (M peak BAC = 0.101 g%), participants rated their subjective intoxication, stimulation, sedation, and perceived dangerousness of driving prior to indicating their willingness to drive distances of 1, 3, and 10 miles. Multilevel mixed models assessed within- and between-person predictors of the maximum distance participants were willing to drive at matched BACs on the ascending and descending limb.

RESULTS

Under intoxication (but not placebo), participants were willing to drive greater distances on the descending versus ascending limb. At the momentary level, participants were willing to drive further when they felt less intoxicated, stimulated, and sedated, and perceived driving as less dangerous.

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals differed in the distance they were willing to drive as a function of indicators of intoxication, implicating driving distance as an important contextual factor relevant to AID decisions. Individuals may simultaneously perceive themselves as "unsafe" to drive, but "safe enough" to drive short distances, particularly when BAC is falling.

Using machine learning for real-time BAC estimation from a new-generation transdermal biosensor in the laboratory

BACKGROUND

Transdermal biosensors offer a noninvasive, low-cost technology for the assessment of alcohol consumption with broad potential applications in addiction science. Older-generation transdermal devices feature bulky designs and sparse sampling intervals, limiting potential applications for transdermal technology. Recently a new-generation of transdermal device has become available, featuring smartphone connectivity, compact designs, and rapid sampling. Here we present initial laboratory research examining the validity of a new-generation transdermal sensor prototype.

METHODS

Participants were young drinkers administered alcohol (target BAC = .08 %) or no-alcohol in the laboratory. Participants wore transdermal sensors while providing repeated breathalyzer (BrAC) readings. We assessed the association between BrAC (measured BrAC for a specific time point) and eBrAC (BrAC estimated based only on transdermal readings collected in the immediately preceding time interval). Extra-Trees machine learning algorithms, incorporating transdermal time series features as predictors, were used to create eBrAC.

RESULTS

Failure rates for the new-generation prototype sensor were high (16 %-34 %). Among participants with useable new-generation sensor data, models demonstrated strong capabilities for separating drinking from non-drinking episodes, and significant (moderate) ability to differentiate BrAC levels within intoxicated participants. Differences between eBrAC and BrAC were 60 % higher for models based on data from old-generation vs new-generation devices. Model comparisons indicated that both time series analysis and machine learning contributed significantly to final model accuracy.

CONCLUSIONS

Results provide favorable preliminary evidence for the accuracy of real-time BAC estimates from a new-generation sensor. Future research featuring variable alcohol doses and real-world contexts will be required to further validate these devices.

Acute effects of alcohol on error-elicited negative affect during a cognitive control task

RATIONALE

Alcohol intoxication can dampen negative affective reactions to stressors. Recently, it has been proposed that these acute anxiolytic effects of alcohol may extend to dampening of negative affective reactions to error commission during cognitive control tasks. Nonetheless, empirical verification of this claim is lacking.

OBJECTIVES

Test the acute effect of alcohol on negative affective reactions to errors during an effort-demanding cognitive control task.

METHODS

Healthy, young adult social drinkers (N = 96 [49 women], 21-36 years old) were randomly assigned to consume alcohol (0.80 g/kg; n = 33 [15 female]), active placebo (0.04 g/kg; n = 33 [18 women]), or a non-alcoholic control beverage (n = 30 [16 women]) before completing the Eriksen flanker task. Corrugator supercilii (Corr) activation, a psychophysiological index of negative affect, was tracked across the task. Two neurophysiological reactions to errors, the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe), were also measured.

RESULTS

Erroneous actions increased Corr activation in the control and (to a lesser extent) placebo groups, but not in the alcohol group. Error-induced Corr activation was coupled to ERN and Pe in the control, but not in the alcohol and placebo groups. Error-induced Corr activation was not coupled to post-error performance adjustments in any group.

CONCLUSIONS

The ability of alcohol to dampen error-related negative affect was verified. It was also shown that placebo alone can disrupt coupling of affective and (neuro)cognitive reactions to errors. Although its behavioral relevance remains to be demonstrated, more attention should be paid to the role of affect in action monitoring and cognitive control processes.

Female drinkers are more sensitive than male drinkers to alcohol-induced heart rate increase

The present study examined the acute effect of alcohol and its cues on autonomic and cardiovascular physiology, as indexed by changes in heart rate (HR), in a relatively large sample of healthy young adult men and women. Participants (27-31 years old, final N = 145) were administered an alcoholic beverage (n = 88; 52 women) or a placebo beverage (n = 57; 35 women) in a simulated bar. Target breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) was .08 g%. HR was recorded while participants were seated alone during an initial baseline assessment in a lab room; seated with others during preparation and administration of 2 beverages in a simulated bar; and seated alone in the lab room at ascending, peak, and descending BrAC. HR increased over time for participants in both beverage groups during beverage preparation. During beverage consumption, HR decreased over time in those who drank placebo whereas HR increased over time in those who drank alcohol, increasing at a faster rate in women compared to men. HR remained elevated at the ascending, peak, and descending limb assessments only in participants who drank alcohol with HR increasing over time at ascending BrAC in the women but not men. Sex differences in HR under alcohol were not explained by sex differences in body mass index, BrAC, recent alcohol use, or subjective stimulation. Our findings suggest that women may be more sensitive to alcohol-induced increases in HR, especially in environments where alcohol cues are abundant. This may have implications for cardiovascular risks associated with alcohol. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The neural correlates of Chinese children's spontaneous trait inferences: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence

The results of multiple behavioral investigations indicate that children can develop spontaneous trait inferences (STIs) starting from when they are 8-9 years of age. However, little is known about the neural correlates of STIs when they first develop. In the present study, we measured event-related potentials (ERPs) and event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) using an N400 paradigm. Seventeen 9-year-old Chinese children were first instructed to remember facial photos and paired trait-implying behaviors. Subsequently, they performed a lexical decision task in which faces were used to prime the inferred traits or their antonyms. Compared to the inferred traits, the antonyms exhibited a stronger amplitude on both N400 (370-500 ms) and negative slow wave (NSW; 550-800 ms). However, only N400 showed a right hemispheric dominance of STIs. In addition, ERSP results revealed stronger lower alpha band (7-10 Hz) activity for antonyms than inferred traits over the right parieto-occipital area from 420 ms to 800 ms. These findings, coupled with the electroencephalography (EEG) source localization (standardized low-resolution electromagnetic tomography [sLORETA]), provide evidence for a "monitoring-control" two-stage neural network.

Exploring the complex inter-relations between internalising symptoms, executive functioning and alcohol use in young adults

OBJECTIVE

Globally, the prevalence of hazardous drinking peaks in young adulthood, and there is mixed evidence on whether internalising symptoms and executive functioning deficits are associated with this increased risk. This study tested whether internalising symptoms in interaction with executive functioning deficits are associated with high alcohol use disorder symptoms in emerging adulthood, via drinking motives to cope with negative affect and alcohol consumption.

METHOD

An Australian sample of 155 young adults aged 17 to 24 years (M = 20.97, SD = 2.40) provided self-report data on internalising symptom severity and alcohol-related outcomes (n = 155), and neuropsychological data measuring executive functioning (n = 104). Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to identify two latent variables representing internalising symptoms and executive functions. A series of latent moderated structural equation models and a latent mediated moderation structural equation model examined the inter-relations between internalising symptoms, executive functions and alcohol measures.

RESULTS

High levels of internalising symptoms in interaction with executive functioning deficits were associated with strong drinking motives to cope with negative affect, high past month alcohol consumption and greater alcohol use disorder symptoms. Drinking motives to cope with negative affect and alcohol consumption mediated the relationship between the internalising symptoms and executive functioning latent interaction term with alcohol use disorder symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

This research highlights greater executive functioning resources are associated with low desires to drink hazardous amounts of alcohol as a maladaptive way to cope with negative feelings among young people. It therefore may be useful to target executive functioning ability alongside internalising symptomology in alcohol prevention and intervention initiatives.

Acute alcohol consumption alters the peripheral cytokines IL-8 and TNF-α

BACKGROUND

Acute alcohol consumption triggers release of cytokines, which are immune signaling molecules. Dysregulated cytokine levels are associated with impaired immune function, and peripheral cytokine levels may communicate with the brain to propagate drinking-related behaviors. This exploratory study aims to characterize the peripheral cytokine response to an alcohol challenge in a well-controlled laboratory setting.

METHODS

Moderate alcohol drinkers (n = 17), abstinent for >5 days, consumed alcohol calibrated to achieve blood concentrations of 120 mg/dL. Serum cytokine levels (IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, IFN-γ, TNF-α) were measured prior to drinking, 6 h after drinking, and 24 h after drinking. Linear mixed models evaluated within-subject differences in cytokine levels over time.

RESULTS

The pro-inflammatory chemokine IL-8 significantly increased 6 h after alcohol [F(1,34) = 4.13, p = 0.0002, d' = 0.5]. In contrast, the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α significantly decreased 6 h after alcohol [F(1,34) = -3.07, p = 0.004, d' = 0.3]. No cytokines were significantly different from baseline 24 h after alcohol.

CONCLUSIONS

In our exploratory data, acute alcohol challenge (120 mg/dL) elicits dynamic changes in the pro-inflammatory molecules IL-8 and TNF-α. The findings help inform the temporal profile of cytokine response to alcohol, and identify IL-8 as a cytokine of interest for future studies of periphery-brain immune communication.

Relations Between Acute Effects of Alcohol on Response Inhibition, Impaired Control over Alcohol Use, and Alcohol-Related Problems

BACKGROUND

Alcohol consistently impairs response inhibition in the laboratory, and alcohol impairment of response inhibition may lead to excess consumption or increases in intoxicated risk behavior, both of which contribute to risk for alcohol-related problems. To our knowledge, no prior studies have examined relations between alcohol impairment of response inhibition and either impaired control over alcohol (i.e., inability to adhere to predetermined drinking limits) or real-world alcohol-related problems. The current study addressed this gap in the literature.

METHODS

Young adult social drinkers (N = 215, 76% male) participated in a between-subjects, placebo-controlled alcohol challenge study and completed self-reports approximately 2 weeks later. Multilevel models were used to examine the hypothesis that alcohol impairment of response inhibition would indirectly lead to alcohol-related problems through impaired control over alcohol use.

RESULTS

Greater alcohol-induced impairment of response inhibition and impaired control over alcohol use were both significant predictors of alcohol-related problems. However, greater alcohol-induced response inhibition was not a significant predictor of impaired control over alcohol use.

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating relationships between alcohol impairment of response inhibition and real-world alcohol-related problems and the first to address relationships between alcohol impairment of response inhibition and impaired control over alcohol use. These results suggest that impaired control over alcohol use may result from deficits in the trait ability to control behavior rather than deficits in alcohol-induced response inhibition. Regardless, results suggest that alcohol impairment of response inhibition and impaired control over alcohol are both worthwhile intervention targets.

To Infuse or Ingest in Human Laboratory Alcohol Research

Human alcohol laboratory studies use two routes of alcohol administration: ingestion and infusion. The goal of this paper was to compare and contrast these alcohol administration methods. The work summarized in this report was the basis of a 2019 Research Society on Alcoholism Roundtable, "To Ingest or Infuse: A Comparison of Oral and Intravenous Alcohol Administration Methods for Human Alcohol Laboratory Designs." We review the methodological approaches of each and highlight strengths and weaknesses pertaining to different research questions. We summarize methodological considerations to aid researchers in choosing the most appropriate method for their inquiry, considering exposure variability, alcohol expectancy effects, safety, bandwidth, technical skills, documentation of alcohol exposure, experimental variety, ecological validity, and cost. Ingestion of alcohol remains a common and often a preferable, methodological practice in alcohol research. Nonetheless, the main problem with ingestion is that even the most careful calculation of dose and control of dosing procedures yields substantial and uncontrollable variability in the participants' brain exposures to alcohol. Infusion methodologies provide precise exposure control but are technically complex and may be limited in ecological validity. We suggest that alcohol ingestion research may not be the same thing as alcohol exposure research; investigators should be aware of the advantages and disadvantages that the choice between ingestion and infusion of alcohol invokes.

Enhancement of unsafe behaviors in simulated moped-riding performance under the influence of low dose of alcohol

The effects of low levels of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) on motorcyclist performance are still not fully comprehended. The great majority of the studies are, in fact, focused on car driving. So far, it is known that even BAC levels below the legal limit negatively affect riding motor skills correlated with crash rate. In the present study, we used a moped riding simulator to investigate the effects of low alcohol dosages (under the limits established in Italy, and in most European countries) on the defensive riding ability of light drinkers, particularly focusing on the degree of danger characterizing their riding performance. We recruited 24 participants through a double-blind, random distribution, balanced, cross-over design. We administered moderate amounts of alcohol to participants during two sessions of moped riding simulation. The results showed that even though BAC levels were always below (mean value: 0.03 g/dL) the limit allowed by Italian traffic law (0.05 g/dL), alcohol induced a reduction in safe riding behaviors, as indicated by the greater amount of hazardous scenes faced with dangerous riding behaviors when participants were under the influence of alcohol than when they were sober. Moreover, low BAC levels had a greater detrimental influence when a certain amount of learning had already been achieved by the participants (i.e., in the last experimental session). The results suggest that the effect of a low dose of alcohol interacts with participants' self-confidence.

Frontal alpha asymmetry in alcohol-related intimate partner violence

Electroencephalographic (EEG) frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) has been associated with differences in the experience and expression of emotion, motivation and anger in normal and clinical populations. The current study is the first to investigate FAA in alcohol-related intimate partner violence. EEG was recorded from 23 distressed violent (DV) and 15 distressed nonviolent (DNV) partners during a placebo-controlled alcohol administration and emotion-regulation study. The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory 2 was used to evaluate anger experiences and was collected from both participants and their partners. During baseline, acute alcohol intoxication DV partners had significantly greater right FAA, whereas DNV partners showed greater left FAA. Both partner types demonstrated significantly greater right FAA during the placebo beverage condition of the emotion-regulation task when viewing evocative partner displays of contempt, belligerence, criticism, defensiveness and stonewalling, but greater left FAA during acute alcohol intoxication. Although no group differences were found in the emotion-regulation task, partner self-reported anger experiences accounted for 67% of the variance in the FAA of DV participants when intoxicated and viewing evocative stimuli, suggesting dyadic processes are important in understanding alcohol-related IPV. These findings suggest that FAA could index the affective and motivational determinants through which alcohol is related to IPV.

The Impact of History of Aggression and Alcohol Use on Aggressive: Responding in the Laboratory

The current study examines how different levels of past aggression combined with self-reported levels of alcohol use impacted lab-based aggressive responding. Data were collected from 160 male undergraduate college students. Participants completed online measures of drinking (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and past aggression (Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire) prior to a lab session assessing aggressive responding [Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP)]. Regression analyses revealed participants with “high” levels of past alcohol use and a history of “high” aggression were more likely to respond aggressively on the PSAP, a trend primarily driven by those with a history of physical aggression. For proactively aggressive participants, the risk for aggressive responding is greater in individuals with a history of physically aggressive behavior as they report higher alcohol use, relative to those “low” in past aggression. The interaction of alcohol use and past aggression was associated with continued aggressive behavior.

The grey future: Overgenerality of emotional future thinking in alcohol-use disorders

BACKGROUND

While previous research has highlighted the overgenerality of future thinking in alcohol-use disorders (AUD), the emotional characteristics of future thinking were not taken into account. We therefore evaluated the ability to retrieve episodic (i.e., events that happened at a particular place and time and lasted for a day or less) emotional future events in AUD.

METHODS

We invited 36 participants with AUD and 40 control participants to imagine positive, negative and neutral future scenarios and analyzed these scenarios regarding their episodic characteristics (i.e., the ability of participants to imagine future events situated in time and space enriched with phenomenological details).

RESULTS

Analysis demonstrated lower episodic positive, negative and neutral future thinking in participants with AUD than in control participants. Participants with AUD also demonstrated lower episodic positive and negative future thinking compared to episodic neutral future thinking. Interestingly, high depression scores were associated with overgenerality of neutral, positive, and negative future thinking in AUD participants.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings demonstrate overgenerality of both positive and negative future thinking in AUD. This overgenerality may represent an avoidance strategy in which individuals with AUD may try to avoid the hopelessness and/or conflicts that may be activated when constructing future scenarios.

An Event-Related Potential Study of Decision-Making and Feedback Utilization in Female College Students Who Binge Drink

This study investigated the ability to use feedback for decision-making in female college students who binge drink (BD) using the iowa gambling task (IGT) and event-related potentials (ERPs). Twenty-seven binge drinkers and 23 non-binge drinkers (non-BD) were identified based on scores on the Korean version of the Alcohol Use Disorder Test and the Alcohol Use Questionnaire. The IGT consists of four cards, including two cards that result in a net loss, with large immediate gains but greater losses in the long term, and two cards that result in a net gain, with small immediate gains but reduced losses in the long term. Participants were required to choose one card at a time to maximize profit until the end of the task while avoiding losses. The BD group showed a significantly lower total net score than the non-BD group, indicating that the BD group chose more disadvantageous cards. The BD group showed significantly smaller ΔFRN amplitudes [difference in amplitudes of feedback-related negativity (FRN) between gain and loss feedback] but not in P3 amplitudes. Additionally, ΔFRN amplitudes in the fronto-central area were positively correlated with the total net score and net scores for sectors 4 and 5. Thus, total net scores and later performance on the IGT increased as ΔFRN amplitudes from the fronto-central area increased. FRN is known to reflect early feedback evaluation employing a bottom-up mechanism, whereas P3 is known to reflect late feedback processing and allocation of attentional resources using a top-down mechanism. These results indicate that college students who binge drink have deficits in early evaluation of positive or negative feedback and that this deficit may be related to decision-making deficits.

Temporal Dynamics of Transdermal Alcohol Concentration Measured via New-Generation Wrist-Worn Biosensor

BACKGROUND

The development of a transdermal alcohol biosensor could represent a tremendous advance toward curbing problematic drinking. But several factors limit the usefulness of extant transdermal technology, including relatively lengthy delays between blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC), as well as the large/bulky designs of currently available transdermal sensors (e.g., ankle monitors). The current research examined the lag time between BAC and TAC using a prototype of BACtrack Skyn-a new-generation wrist-worn transdermal sensor featuring a compact design and smartphone integration.

METHODS

Participants (N = 30) received either a dose of alcohol (target BAC 0.08%) or a nonalcoholic beverage in the laboratory while wearing both the AMS SCRAM ankle monitor and a Skyn prototype. Participants were monitored in the laboratory until breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) dropped below 0.025%.

RESULTS

Device failure rates for Skyn prototypes were relatively high (18 to 38%) compared with nonprototype SCRAM devices (2%). Among participants with usable data, both Skyn- and SCRAM-measured TAC showed strong correlations with BrAC, and both Skyn and SCRAM devices detected alcohol within 30 minutes of first alcohol administration. Skyn-measured TAC peaked over 1 hour earlier than SCRAM-measured TAC (54 versus 120 minutes after peak BrAC, respectively), and time-series models suggested that, on average across all measured portions of the BrAC curve, Skyn TAC lagged behind BrAC by 24 minutes, whereas SCRAM TAC lagged behind BrAC by 69 minutes-all differences statistically significant at p < 0.001.

CONCLUSIONS

Results provide preliminary evidence for the validity of a new-generation wrist-worn transdermal sensor under controlled laboratory conditions and further suggest favorable properties of this sensor as they pertain to the latency of transdermal alcohol detection. The prototype version of Skyn employed here displayed a higher failure rate compared with SCRAM, and, in future, more reliable and robust Skyn prototypes will be required suitable to field testing across diverse environmental conditions.

Alcohol Use and Intimate Partner Violence Among Community College Women: An Exploration of Protective Factors

Little is known regarding the association between alcohol use and violence among community college women. Accordingly, this study investigated daily-level associations between alcohol use and intimate partner victimization (IPV) in a sample of young women (ages 18-24) in a community college setting, and the potentially protective role of education aspirations and living with family. Using a calendar-based assessment, women enrolled in a large community college (N = 212) completed past-month surveys of IPV and alcohol use. Unadjusted Generalized Estimating Equations showed nonsignificant positive associations between alcohol consumption (any alcohol use and number of drinks) and IPV at the daily level. Adjusted models showed a slight (but nonsignificant) increase in the odds of experiencing IPV on a drinking day. Those reporting a family income above $20,000 were at increased risk of experiencing violence. Living with family and wanting to attain a master's or doctoral degree reduced the risk of experiencing IPV on drinking days. Although the literature suggests that drinking among 4-year college women elevates the odds of experiencing IPV, our findings suggest the importance of examining contextual variables when understanding risk among community college women. Particularly, the role of family and educational aspirations may serve as protective factors in the association between alcohol use and IPV on a daily basis. As this is the first day-level study of IPV and alcohol use among community college women, further research is warranted to better explicate these findings.

An experimental examination of the effects of alcohol consumption and exposure to misleading postevent information on remembering a hypothetical rape scenario

We experimentally examined the effects of alcohol consumption and exposure to misleading postevent information on memory for a hypothetical interactive rape scenario. We used a 2 beverage (alcohol vs. tonic water) × 2 expectancy (told alcohol vs. told tonic) factorial design. Participants (N = 80) were randomly assigned to conditions. They consumed alcohol (mean blood alcohol content = 0.06%) or tonic water before engaging in the scenario. Alcohol expectancy was controlled by telling participants they were consuming alcohol or tonic water alone, irrespective of the actual beverage they were consuming. Approximately a week later, participants were exposed to a misleading postevent narrative and then recalled the scenario and took a recognition test. Participants who were told that they had consumed alcohol rather than tonic reported fewer correct details, but they were no more likely to report incorrect or misleading information. The confidence-accuracy relationship for control and misled items was similar across groups, and there was some evidence that metacognitive discrimination was better for participants who were told that they had consumed alcohol compared with those told they had tonic water. Implications for interviewing rape victims are discussed.

N2 amplitude modulation across the antisocial spectrum: a meta-analysis

Despite the accumulated knowledge on antisocial behavior and the positive event-related potential peaking around 300 ms (P3), less is known about the preceding negative electrophysiological response around 200 ms (N2). A systematic search of the literature was conducted to analyze the N2 modulation across the antisocial spectrum. Thirty-seven studies (n = 1199) were retrieved to the quantitative analysis. Reduced N2 amplitudes were found in the more severe antisocial manifestations (violent behavior and antisocial personality disorder), which is consistent with previous findings on P3 alterations and N2 reduced amplitudes in externalizing disorders. Findings on psychopathy were mixed, also in accordance with previous P3 results. From a dimensional lens, this supports the heterogeneity of the psychopathic personality structure: impulsivity features are a closer attribute of antisocial behavior and thus may be associated with N2 reduction, while adaptive psychopathic traits may be associated with intact (or even increased) N2 amplitude. The increased N2 amplitudes observed in impulsive behavior challenge, however, the previous meta-analytic findings. As most of the studies on impulsivity include subclinical samples, it leads to the hypothesis that some compensatory mechanisms can still occur at a subclinical level, reflecting the need for heightened allocation of brain resources to yield similar performances. Importantly, inhibition was the core deficit to explain N2 blunted amplitudes, alongside with deficits in the frontal brain region. From our findings, the reduction in P3 amplitude across the antisocial spectrum may be detected in the previous N2 time window.

Helicobacter pylori infection as a risk factor for serum bilirubin change and less favourable lipid profiles: a hospital-based health examination survey

Background

Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with several extragastric conditions including dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to investigate additional metabolic parameters associated with H. pylori infection in a Chinese population.

Methods

Using a case-control approach we studied 617 subjects with ¹³C-urea breath test (¹³C-UBT) values ≥10‰ who were defined as being positive for H. pylori (cases), while 617 sex and age- matched subjects with ¹³C-UBT values ≤1‰ were defined as H. pylori negative (controls) in Beijing Tongren Hospital from March 2016 to May 2017. Biochemical parameters including serum bilirubin and lipids were tested.

Results

A total of 1982 subjects participated in this study. The H. pylori infected subjects had significantly lower serum direct bilirubin concentrations (2.34 ± 0.38 vs. 2.47 ± 0.90 μmol/L, P = 0.008). H. pylori infection was independently associated with lower direct bilirubin levels (OR = 1.497, 95% CI =1.121–1.999, P = 0.006) or total bilirubin levels (OR = 1.322, 95% CI =1.005–1.738, P = 0.046) after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides(TG). In addition, the H. pylori infected subjects had higher LDL-C levels (2.98 ± 0.76 vs. 2.89 ± 0.75 mmol/L, P = 0.033) and lower HDL-C levels (1.39 ± 0.37 vs. 1.44 ± 0.41 mmol/L, P = 0.044). LDL-C was negatively correlated with direct bilirubin concentration (R = − 0.260, P < 0.0001).

Conclusions

Bilirubin has been found to be a potent endogenous antioxidant and negatively associated with metabolic syndrome. Our results suggest that H. pylori infection is an independent risk factor for serum bilirubin reduction and less favorable lipid profiles.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12879-019-3787-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Acute Alcohol Intoxication Inhibits Bystander Intervention Behavior for Sexual Aggression Among Men with High Intent to Help

BACKGROUND

Bystander training programs aim to encourage third-party witnesses to intervene in high-risk sexual situations; however, these programs rarely focus on training bystanders to effectively intervene when intoxicated. This is not surprising due to the limited evidence on the proximal effects of alcohol on bystander intervention for sexual aggression. To this end, the aim of the present study was to test the effects of men's self-reported intent to help strangers and acute alcohol intoxication on the likelihood and speed of sexual aggression intervention.

METHODS

Participants were 74 men who completed a measure of intent to help (Session 1) and were randomly assigned to consume alcohol or a no-alcohol control beverage (Session 2). Next, they engaged in a novel laboratory paradigm in which they and 4 other confederates (2 men, 2 women) watched a female confederate, who reported a strong dislike of sexual content in the media, view a sexually explicit film which they could stop at any time. Bystander intervention was operationalized as whether and how quickly participants stopped the film.

RESULTS

Findings indicated that (i) intent to help strangers predicted faster sexual aggression intervention and (ii) intent to help strangers predicted a higher likelihood and faster rate of sexual aggression intervention among sober, but not intoxicated, men. This latter finding suggests that among men who endorsed a high willingness to intervene in sexual aggression, alcohol intoxication decreased intervention behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

Results demonstrate that alcohol functions as a barrier to intervention for men who would otherwise intervene. Findings are interpreted using an integrative framework for intoxicated sexual aggression intervention and highlight the need for bystander training programs to incorporate alcohol interventions to reduce heavy drinking and psychoeducation to train bystanders how to intervene when intoxicated.