Academic Giftedness and Alcohol Use in Early Adolescence

Studying stimuli and smoking behaviors among self-identified gifted smokers and strategies for customizing cessation support

INTRODUCTION

The aim of the study was to examine smoking habits and triggers among self-identified gifted (inner experiences and awareness qualitatively different from the norm in terms of asynchronous development, advanced cognitive abilities, and heightened intensity) adults in order to customize smoking cessation support.

METHODS

A total of 123 participants were enrolled through Facility-Based and Snowball Sampling. Quantitative analysis focused on the relationship between overexcitabilities, nicotine dependence, motivation to quit, and smoking triggers, using the following questionnaires: the Overexcitability Questionnaire (OEQ-II) an indicator of areas of overexcitability, a heightened response and lowered threshold to stimuli; the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence; a Cessation Motivation Questionnaire; and a Smoking Triggers Questionnaire. Qualitative analysis drew on six semi-structured interviews. Participant experiences of the relationship between smoking behaviors and experiences of multiple areas of overexcitability were analyzed using process coding.

RESULTS

The quantitative data indicate that self-identified gifted smokers who rate themselves as having 3–5 ‘High’ or ‘High Average’ overexcitabilities (OEs), are less likely to smoke in response to pattern, social, and addiction focused triggers than those self-reporting as having 0–2 OEs (Fisher’s exact test, p<0.1). In the interviews, we observed a high level of complexity in stimulation and smoking behavior, with all interviewees explicitly connecting their smoking habits with experiences of overexcitability. Two interviewees had given up smoking prior to the research and of the four who still smoked, three quit within a few days of the interview.

CONCLUSIONS

We found that psychometric testing and interviews designed to increase self-knowledge about the relationship between overexcitabilities and triggers for smoking have the potential to improve outcomes for smoking cessation among the gifted.

Differences in SBP, BMI, and Stress with AUDIT Score in Adolescents

Background:

Consumption of alcohol by adolescents is known to have negative effects on their psychological health (ie.g., depression and stress) and physical health.

Objective:

To investigate factors influencing systolic blood pressure, body mass index, and stress according to Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scores among adolescents.

Methods:

This descriptive study included 535 adolescents younger than 20 years who participated in the Sixth National Health and Nutrition Survey conducted in middle and high schools in 2013. Data collected were analyzed using PASW Statistics version 23.0.

Results:

Mean age of these subjects was 15.20 ± 0.08 years. There were 268 (51.0%) male students and 286 (48.6%) middle-school students. Their systolic blood pressure, body mass index, and stress scores were 108.79 ± 0.54 mmHg, 21.22 ± 0.19 kg/m2, and 2.06 ± 0.04, respectively. In low-risk group (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scores ≤ 7), sex (male) and body mass index explained 22.9% of the variance in systolic blood pressure model (Wald F = 35.28, p < 0.001). Systolic blood pressure was the only significant factor influencing body mass index, with an explanatory power of 16.4% (Wald F = 13.91, p < 0.001). Depression was a significant influencing variable for the stress model, with an explanatory power of 15.1% (Wald F = 16.20, p < 0.001). Stress was the only significant factor influencing the body mass index model in the high-risk group (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scores > 7), with the explanatory power of 14.3% (Wald F = 4.14, p = 0.018).

Conclusion:

This study found that systolic blood pressure was an influencing factor of body mass index model in both groups while depression was the main factor influencing stress in low-risk group adolescents.