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New this Month - March 2006

Below are citations/abstracts of recently published articles and publications that have been authored and/or co-authored by Pacific Institute staff.

Berkeley

Melina Bersamin, Samantha Walker & Joel Grube

Bersamin, M. M., Walker, S., Fisher, D. A., & Grube J. W. (2006). Correlates of oral sex and vaginal intercourse in early and middle adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 16(1), 59-68. [with Debbie Fisher of PIRE/Calverton]

Abstract: This study examined whether a comprehensive set of psychosocial factors was equally predictive of both adolescent vaginal intercourse and oral sex among 1,105 adolescents aged 12–16. Logistic regressions were used to examine the relationships between parental communication, religiosity, bonding to school, heavy drinking, sex expectancies, normative beliefs, and both oral sex and vaginal intercourse. Age, gender, bonding to school, heavy drinking, and negative health expectancies predicted both oral sex and vaginal intercourse. Parental communication was associated with vaginal intercourse but not oral sex. Behavior-specific normative beliefs were differentially associated with oral and vaginal sex.

Harold Holder

Holder, H. D. (2004/2005). Community prevention of young adult drinking and associated problems. Alcohol Research & Health, 28(4):245-249.

Abstract: This article briefly summarizes three evidence-based community intervention trials sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Designed to reduce alcohol use among youth and young adults, these trials demonstrate the potency of community interventions that can influence the price, availability, drinking context, and perceived risks of heavy drinking among young people. The effectiveness of comprehensive, research-based local prevention efforts is confirmed by research examining other programs to reduce alcohol sales to youth as well as the harm caused by alcohol use among youth and young adults, including alcohol-related traffic accidents and assaults. By restructuring the total alcohol environment in a way that can be self-sustaining, these interventions are more likely to be effective than one-time interventions.

Bob Saltz

Saltz, R. F. (2004/2005). Preventing alcohol-related problems on college campuses. Alcohol Research & Health, 28(4):249-251.

Abstract: College administrators and their prevention staff face numerous challenges when attempting to reduce the prevalence and severity of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm on their campuses. For example, drinking, and particularly binge drinking have been shown to be pervasive and persistent behaviors among college students (Wechsler et al. 2000). In addition, until a few years ago research assessing the effectiveness of various prevention approaches in the college setting was scarce, making it difficult to identify effective measures. In recent years, however, several studies have looked more closely at approaches to preventing college drinking. For example, Dowdall and Wechsler (2002), Borsari and Carey (2001), Perkins (2002a), and Berkowitz (2004) reviewed or analyzed prevention approaches among college populations. Another important contribution was the final report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Task Force on College Drinking (NIAAA 2002), which reviewed epidemiological and intervention research on college drinking and issued recommendations for prevention strategies. This article describes the motivation for focusing on college student drinking and summarizes the Task Force’s findings and recommendations.

Mike Todd

Johnson, L. B., Todd, M., & Subramanian, G. (2005). Violence in police families: Work-family spillover. Journal of Family Violence, 20(1):3-12.

Abstract: This article uses a path model to examine the relationship between violence exposure and domestic violence among police officers with the expectation that the relationships would be both direct and mediated. The mediation factors included burnout, authoritarian spillover, alcohol use, and department withdrawal. The model was tested through an analysis of data collected from 413 officers. Four mediation chains were identified; the most powerful of these was burnout and authoritarian spillover. Suggestions for future research include understanding violence in the context of unique workplace cultures, classifying violence types, and clarifying how this population defines violence and control.

Calverton

Mark Johnson

Lange, J. E., Johnson, M. B., & Reed, M. B. (2006). Drivers within natural drinking groups: An exploration of role selection, motivation, and group influence on driver sobriety. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 32, 1-14.

Mark Johnson & Bob Voas

Lange, J. E., Reed, M. B., Johnson, M. B., & Voas, R. B. (2006). The efficacy of experimental interventions designed to reduce drinking among designated drivers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67, 261-268.

Providence

Bob Stout

Gogineni, A., King, S., Jackson, K., Kramer, J., Bucholz, K., Chan, G., Iacono, W., Kuperman, S., Larkins, J. M., Longabaugh, R., McGue, M., Polgreen L., Sher, K. J., Stout, R., Strong, D., & Woolard R. (2006). Female offspring of alcoholic individuals: Recent findings on alcoholism and psychopathology risks: Symposium presented at the Research Society on Alcoholism, 2004, Vancouver, Aruna Gobineni, Chair. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 30(2), 377-387.

Abstract: In the past decade, significant advances have been made in understanding how genetic and environmental factors contribute to alcoholism and other psychopathology among children of alcoholic individuals. Potential biopsychosocial markers of risk (e.g., low level of response to alcohol, behavioral undercontrol, and family functioning variables) have been identified and indicate that both individual and environmental variables are highly relevant. Despite these advances, studies have predominantly focused on examining outcomes among sons of alcoholic individuals, with the consequence that relatively little is known about the risk for alcoholism and other psychopathology among daughters. Effective prevention and treatment strategies are predicated upon further knowledge of these risks among daughters as well as sons. This symposium presents recent findings using family, prospective, and cross-sectional research to elucidate the biopsychosocial correlates and the moderators of risk for alcoholism and other psychopathology among daughters from developmental trajectories spanning the periods of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

This symposium begins with a presentation by John Kramer in which high risk daughters’ and sons’ alcohol and drug involvement are compared with respect to their predictors, drawn from demographic, familial, and personal domains. Next, Serena King focuses on the correlates of disinhibited behavior in males and females from adoptive and biological families, with an emphasis on parental alcoholism, genetic versus environmental influences, and differences between genders. This talk is followed by a presentation by Kristina Jackson, who examines the predictors of alcohol use disorders among young adults from high-risk and control families, including such factors as family history, negative affect, behavioral undercontrol and childhood stressors. Finally, Aruna Gogineni addresses the familial predictors of adult daughters’ alcohol problems and depression, focusing on the effects of maternal versus paternal alcoholism as well as family density of pathology.

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