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Peterson H, Rejeski WJ, Fanning J, Porges SW, Heilman KJ, Laurienti PJ, Gauvin L. Differential Momentary Reports of Stress and Affect Associated With Alcohol Consumption in Middle-Aged Versus Younger Adults. Subst Use Misuse 2023; 58:666-675. [PMID: 36852426 PMCID: PMC10089298 DOI: 10.1080/10826084.2023.2177967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/01/2023]
Abstract
Background: Stress is a motivator to consume alcohol, a well-documented relapse risk, and is known to differentially affect biological and psychological processes as people age.Objectives: Because alcohol consumption is known to acutely decrease stress and increase affect, this study examined differences in ratings of stress and affect in middle-aged versus younger adults who regularly consume alcohol.Methods: A sample of younger (n = 17) and middle-aged (n = 18) drinkers was studied during a 3-day period of typical alcohol consumption. Resting levels of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were measured during a baseline study visit since RSA is a well-documented biomarker of stress and is known to decrease with age. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) survey ratings (n = 1,598) were modeled using hierarchical regression to assess differences in stress and affect throughout the day between the two age groups.Results: As anticipated, middle-aged participants had lower RSA than those who were younger. Although the middle-aged adults showed overall lower stress, generally they also experienced higher affect than the younger adults. Middle-aged adults experienced a significant reduction in stress following drinking while no such effect was observed in the younger adults.Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first investigation using EMA methodology to examine stress and affect between younger and middle-aged adults who habitually consume alcohol. These cross-sectional data suggest potential momentary stress relief to engaging with moderate alcohol consumption in a middle-aged population. Future work must address this important motivational process in curtailing maintenance of alcohol consumption and preventing escalation of consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hope Peterson
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, USA
- Laboratory for Complex Brain Networks, Wake Forest Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, USA
| | - W. Jack Rejeski
- Department of Health and Exercise Science, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, USA
| | - Jason Fanning
- Department of Health and Exercise Science, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, USA
| | - Stephen W. Porges
- Kinsey Institute Taumatic Stress Research Consortium, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, USA
| | - Keri J. Heilman
- Department of Psychiatry, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, USA
| | - Paul J. Laurienti
- Laboratory for Complex Brain Networks, Wake Forest Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, USA
- Department of Radiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Wisnton-Salem, USA
| | - Lise Gauvin
- Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
- Health Innovation and Evaluation Hub, Centre de recherche du CHUM, Montréal, Canada
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Peterson H, Laurienti PJ, Rejeski WJ, Fanning J, Gauvin L. Childhood neglect is associated with low affect and high stress in habitual alcohol drinkers. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG RESEARCH 2022; 10:3-14. [PMID: 36875154 PMCID: PMC9979972 DOI: 10.7895/ijadr.399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Adverse childhood experiences, ranging from childhood trauma to neglect or mistreatment, show associations with alcohol dependence in adulthood. Alcohol researchers have not yet clearly demonstrated the potential impact of childhood maltreatment on everyday drinking in alcohol consumers who do not have an alcohol use disorder (AUD). This study examined whether a history of childhood neglect results in differential ratings of stress, affect, and desire to drink, during typical alcohol consumption in moderate to heavy drinkers without an AUD. METHODS The parent study from which these analyses were generated recruited overall healthy, albeit moderate to heavy alcohol users who fell above National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) classifications for low-risk drinking. Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) responses were collected, and real-time surveys were collected in participants' natural environments approximately every three hours between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. using iPhones equipped with a study-created application probing stress, affect, and desire for alcohol, while participants followed their typical drinking routine (3 days) and during a brief period of imposed abstinence (3 days). RESULTS Thirty-six participants averaging 41 years of age and consuming an average of 17 (±5) drinks per week participated in this study. CTQ responses showed low prevalence of childhood abuse, but moderate to high emotional (M = 17.39, SD = 6.77) and physical neglect (M = 11.11, SD = 3.31) scores. Multilevel modeling revealed significantly higher stress and lower affect ratings among participants reporting higher physical neglect. Alcohol consumption was significantly associated with decreased stress, and increased affect and desire for alcohol. A significant interaction showed that as childhood physical neglect ratings increased, the benefits observed following drinking (of decreased stress, and increased affect and desire for alcohol) were reduced. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that moderate to heavy healthy daily drinkers with histories of greater childhood physical neglect experience poorer mood and higher stress on a daily basis, with smaller improvement experienced from drinking alcohol. Among moderate to heavy daily drinkers without an AUD, those with greater childhood physical neglect experience poorer mood and higher stress on a daily basis, and have smaller improvements in stress, affect and desire while/following drinking alcohol than those with less childhood physical neglect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hope Peterson
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157 USA
- Laboratory for Complex Brain Networks, Wake Forest Health Sciences, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157 USA
| | - Paul J. Laurienti
- Laboratory for Complex Brain Networks, Wake Forest Health Sciences, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157 USA
- Department of Radiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157 USA
| | - W. Jack Rejeski
- Department of Health and Exercise Science, Wake Forest University, 1834 Wake Forest Rd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27106 USA
| | - Jason Fanning
- Department of Health and Exercise Science, Wake Forest University, 1834 Wake Forest Rd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27106 USA
| | - Lise Gauvin
- Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, P.O. Box 6128, Downtown Station, Montréal, H3C 3J5, Canada
- Health Innovation and Evaluation Hub, Centre de recherche du CHUM, 850 rue Saint-Denis, S01-118, Montreal, H2X 0A9, Canada
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Influence of Heart Rate Variability on Abstinence-Related Changes in Brain State in Everyday Drinkers. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11060817. [PMID: 34203005 PMCID: PMC8235786 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11060817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Revised: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Alcohol consumption is now common practice worldwide, and functional brain networks are beginning to reveal the complex interactions observed with alcohol consumption and abstinence. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) has a well-documented relationship with alcohol use, and a growing body of research is finding links between the ANS and functional brain networks. This study recruited everyday drinkers in an effort to uncover the relationship between alcohol abstinence, ANS function, and whole brain functional brain networks. Participants (n = 29), 24-60 years-of-age, consumed moderate levels of alcohol regularly (males 2.4 (±0.26) drinks/day, females 2.3 (±0.96) drinks/day). ANS function, specifically cardiac vagal tone, was assessed using the Porges-Bohrer method for calculating respiratory sinus arrhythmia (PBRSA). Functional brain networks were generated from resting-state MRI scans obtained following 3-day periods of typical consumption and abstinence. A multi-task mixed-effects regression model determined the influences of HRV and drinking state on functional network connectivity. Results showed differences in the relationship between the strength of network connections and clustering coefficients across drinking states, moderated by PBRSA. Increases in connection strength between highly clustered nodes during abstinence as PBRSA increases demonstrates a greater possible range of topological configurations at high PBRSA values. This novel finding begins to shed light on the complex interactions between typical alcohol abstinence and physiological responses of the central and autonomic nervous system.
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Fanning J, Silfer JL, Liu H, Gauvin L, Heilman KJ, Porges SW, Rejeski WJ. Relationships between respiratory sinus arrhythmia and stress in college students. J Behav Med 2019; 43:308-317. [PMID: 31606843 DOI: 10.1007/s10865-019-00103-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between university students' respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) profiles and both retrospective and momentary ratings of stress. Participants were undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory health science course (N = 64). Participants provided RSA data at rest (tonic) and following an orthostatic challenge (phasic), completed the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and completed 6 daily ecological momentary assessments (EMA) of stress for 1 week. Higher tonic RSA was associated with lower perceived stress assessed via PSS and average EMA responses. Those with higher tonic RSA did not differ in their experience of stress across the week, whereas those with lower tonic RSA experienced increased stress across the week, and these trajectories varied as a function of phasic responses. These findings suggest a need for greater emphasis on behavioral strategies for maintaining and enhancing autonomic nervous system health among college students.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Fanning
- Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, 1 Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27103, USA. .,Department of Health and Exercise Sciences, Wake Forest University, Worrell Professional Center 2164B, PO Box 7868, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA.
| | - J L Silfer
- Department of Health and Exercise Sciences, Wake Forest University, Worrell Professional Center 2164B, PO Box 7868, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA
| | - H Liu
- Department of Health and Exercise Sciences, Wake Forest University, Worrell Professional Center 2164B, PO Box 7868, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA
| | - L Gauvin
- Centre de recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l, Université de Montréal (CRCHUM) and Département de médecine sociale et préventive, École de Santé Publique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - K J Heilman
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 101 Manning Dr., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, USA
| | - S W Porges
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 101 Manning Dr., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, USA.,Traumatic Stress Research Consortium, Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Lindley Hall, 150 S Woodlawn Avenue, Bloomington, IN, 47405-7104, USA
| | - W J Rejeski
- Department of Health and Exercise Sciences, Wake Forest University, Worrell Professional Center 2164B, PO Box 7868, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA
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