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Southeast > News > Prevention News > Aug 06 News this Month

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New this Month - August 2006

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

Albuquerque

Sandra Lapham, Janet C'de Baca, & Garnett McMillan

Lapham, S. C., Kapitula, L. R., C'de Baca, J., & McMillan, G. P. (2006). Impaired-driving recidivism among repeat offenders following an intensive court-based intervention. Accident; Analysis And Prevention, 38(1), 162-169.

PURPOSE: Repeat impaired-drivers resist successful rehabilitation. This paper describes and evaluates an innovative court-based intervention for repeat impaired-driving offenders, the driving under the influence (DUI) Intensive Supervision Program (DISP) developed in Multnomah County, Oregon. METHODS: The hazard of re-offending was compared between DISP participants (N=460) and a comparison group (N=497). The stratified Cox proportional hazards model was used to model the hazard of re-offense, adjusting for matching criteria and stratified by county of residence. RESULTS: Adjusted hazard of DUI re-offense for DISP participants was 0.52 that of comparison offenders (95% CI=0.36-0.76). DISP clients also had lower arrest rates for driving while revoked/suspended and for all other traffic offenses. CONCLUSION: Preliminary results suggest the DISP is an effective means of reducing recidivism among repeat impaired-driving offenders.

Lapham, S. C., C'de Baca, J., McMillan, G. P., & Lapidus, J. (2006). Psychiatric disorders in a sample of repeat impaired-driving offenders. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(5), 707-713.

Objective: This study was conducted to assess alcohol- and drug-use disorders and other psychiatric disorders in a sample of repeat driving under the influence (DUI) offenders. Method: We interviewed offenders to estimate lifetime and 12-month prevalence of psychiatric disorders as designated by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (alcohol and drug abuse and dependence, major depressive or dysthymic disorder, bipolar disorder, post- traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], and obsessive-compulsive disorder). The offenders interviewed (385 men, 74 women) were those who had been adjudicated in the Multnomah County, OR, Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants Intensive Supervision Program. Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results: The majority of respondents (53.8%) were alcohol dependent. Sixty-five percent of men and 79.7% of women had at least one lifetime disorder comorbid with alcohol abuse or dependence. The most prevalent lifetime non-substance-use disorder was major depressive or dysthymic disorder (30.9%) followed by PTSD (15.3%). Approximately 40% of subjects reported meeting criteria for lifetime nonalcohol drug abuse for at least one drug type, and 30% were drug dependent for at least one drug type; overall, 54% of all offenders had drug abuse or dependence disorders. Conclusions: Assessment and treatment services for repeat alcohol-impaired driving offenders should be sufficiently comprehensive to provide care for drug-use disorders and other psychiatric problems.

Garnett McMillan

Kramer, K. L., & McMillan, G. P. (2006). The effect of labor-saving technology on longitudinal fertility changes. Current Anthropology, 47(1), 165-172.

In many subsistence communities worldwide, labor-saving technologies such as mechanized water pumps and grain mills are introduced during the first stages of economic acculturation. These technological changes affect the efficiency with which resources are acquired and processed. If women can produce the same amount of a good in less time and if the time savings is reallocated to less energetically costly activities, the positive shift in women's energy balance can affect fertility in a number of ways. Reproductive histories collected over the past ten years show that since the introduction of labor-saving technology Xculoc Maya women begin childbearing at a significantly younger age and have a greater annual probability of giving birth and higher age-specific and completed fertility. Access to wage labor, education, and the market economy remains limited. When a change in labor efficiency takes place under these conditions, parents appear to reallocate the saved time to reproduction rather to production. Such conditions may have significant implications for the rapid population growth occurring in many small-scale societies during the early stage of economic acculturation.

Cathleen Willging & Miria Kano

Willging, C. E., Salvador, M., & Kano, M. (2006). Brief reports: Unequal treatment: Mental health care for sexual and gender minority groups in a rural state. Psychiatric Services, 57(6), 867-870.

OBJECTIVE: This qualitative study examined the social dynamics of communities and clinic settings that impede the delivery of culturally relevant services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people living in rural areas. METHODS: Ethnographic interviews were conducted with 20 providers in rural areas to document their perceptions of LGBT mental health care. RESULTS: A majority of rural providers claimed that there is no difference between working with LGBT clients and non-LGBT clients. This neutral therapeutic posture may be insufficient when working with rural LGBT clients. Despite providers' claims of acceptance, lack of education about LGBT mental health issues, and homophobia influenced services for rural LGBT people. LGBT clients had been denied services, discouraged from broaching sexuality and gender issues by providers, and secluded within residential treatment settings. CONCLUSIONS: The challenges of ensuring access to quality care for this population are magnified by provider discourses of "therapeutic neutrality."

Willging, C. E., Salvador, M., & Kano, M. (2006). Pragmatic help seeking: How sexual and gender minority groups access mental health care in a rural state. Psychiatric Services, 57(6), 871-874.

OBJECTIVE: This qualitative study examined how lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in rural areas of the poor and multiethnic state of New Mexico access secular (professional and lay) and sacred (indigenous and Christian) mental health care resources. METHODS: In-depth, semistructured interviews were used to document the help-seeking processes of 38 rural LGBT people. RESULTS: Obtaining assistance was complicated by the ideal of self-reliance and the view of mental illness as a sign of weakness. Financial considerations and a lack of and community-based LGBT social networks also exerted substantial influence on help seeking. Many LGBT people would strategically remain silent about their sexuality or gender status and rely on their family ties to access the range of secular and sacred resources that are most commonly available in medically underserved rural communities. CONCLUSIONS: Although persons from sexual and gender minority groups often experience positive outcomes as a result of help seeking, some LGBT people remain vulnerable to anti-LGBT sentiments that persist within secular and sacred sectors of rural health care systems.

Berkeley

Beth Bourdeau

Stevens, S., Leybas-Amedia, V., Bourdeau, B., McMichael, L., & Nyitray, A. (2006). Blending prevention models: An effective substance use and HIV prevention program for minority youth. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 23(1), 4-23.

Illicit drug use and rates of HIV infection among youth have increased over the past decade, indicating the need effective substance use and HIV prevention programs. Particularly at risk are minority youth living in poor urban environments. This study examines effectiveness of an innovative prevention program that blends the "All Star" substance abuse prevention model with the "Popular Opinion Leader" model for HIV prevention. In general, the results indicate non-significant increases in drug and sex risk, behavior and significant positive changes and trends in related areas (i.e., changes in perception, self esteem) thought to be related to drug use and risky sexual behavior.

Meng-Jinn Chen & Joel Grube

Austin, E. W., Chen, M.-J., & Grube, J. W. (2006). How does alcohol advertising influence underage drinking? The role of desirability, identification and skepticism. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38(4), 376.

Purpose: To investigate, using an information processing model, how persuasive media messages for alcohol use lead to concurring beliefs and behaviors among youths. Methods: Data were collected in 2000-2001 using computer-assisted, self-administered interviews with youths aged 9-17 years (n = 652). Results: Latent variable structural equations models showed that skepticism was negatively associated with positive affect toward alcohol portrayals and positively with the desire to emulate characters portrayed in alcohol advertisements. These, in turn, predicted expectancies and liking of/desire for beer toys and brands, which predicted alcohol use. Parental guidance decreased alcohol use directly and indirectly by lessening influences of positive affect toward advertising. Conclusions: Media alcohol portrayals influence children's drinking through a progressive decision-making process, with its influence underestimated by typical exposure-and-effects analyses.

Meng-Jinn Chen, Joel Grube, & Mallie Paschall

Chen, M. J., Paschall, M. J., & Grube, J. W. (2006). Motives for malt liquor consumption in a sample of community college students. Addictive Behaviors, 31(8), 1295-1307.

Health and community advocates have raised concerns about consumption of malt liquor, a high alcohol content beverage, among youth. Research on malt liquor use is, however, very limited, leaving unanswered questions about what strategies may effectively prevent this use. This study employed qualitative and quantitative research methods with ethnically diverse college samples to explore and identify motives associated with consumption of malt liquor. Of the motives examined, those representing social facilitation and mood enhancement were the most important predictors of malt liquor use. Anticipation of quick intoxication and economic considerations were also uniquely associated with increased consumption of malt liquor after controlling for other motives and background variables. Coping motives and availability of malt liquor, although being significantly related to malt liquor use in bivariate analyses, were not significantly associated with increased consumption of malt liquor in multivariate analyses. Conformity motives were endorsed by few malt liquor drinkers. Study findings suggest that raising the price and lowering the alcohol content of malt liquor may help reduce consumption of this beverage by young people.

Bridget Freisthler

Freisthler, B. (2006). Understanding the ecology of child maltreatment: A review of the literature and directions for future research. Child Maltreatment, 11(3), 263.

Studies examining neighborhood characteristics in relation to social problems, including child maltreatment, have proliferated in the past 25 years. This article reviews the current state of knowledge of ecological studies of child maltreatment. Taken as a whole, these 18 studies document a stable ecological relationship among neighborhood impoverishment, housing stress, and rates of child maltreatment, as well as some evidence that unemployment, child care burden, and alcohol availability may contribute to child abuse and neglect. The authors include a discussion of methodological difficulties in conducting research at the neighborhood level and present a set of recommendations for future research that emphasizes movement from a simple examination of neighborhood-level characteristics toward a theoretically driven explication of processes and mechanisms supported by appropriate multilevel modeling techniques. The final goal of such efforts would be to enable practitioners to develop evidence-based neighborhood interventions that would prevent and reduce child abuse and neglect.

Paul Gruenewald

Gruenewald, P. J. (2006). Licensed premises: Law and practice. Addiction, 101(3), 431-458.

The article reviews the book Licensed premises: Law and practice edited by Philip Kolvin. Haywards Heath, West Sussex, Tottel Publishing, 2004, 1461 pp, £70.00, ISBN 1845 92023 6.

Paul Gruenewald & Fred Johnson

Gruenewald, P. J., & Johnson, F. W. (2006). The stability and reliability of self-reported drinking measures. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(5), 738-745.

Objective: Estimated test-retest reliabilities of self-reported drinking measures are affected by the extent to which respondents provide consistent reports of their own behaviors (reliability) and the extent to which the behaviors reported are stable over time (stability). Unstable behaviors may be reliably reported but correlate poorly over time. This study tests whether an estimate of the stability of drinking patterns is related to test-retest reliabilities of drinking measures. Method: Data were from a general population telephone survey given twice, 1 month apart, to 307 adult drinkers. Drinking measures included age of onset, and graduated frequency measures used to estimate drinking frequencies, average quantities, and total alcohol consumption. Measures of drinking stability were estimated using a well-tested model for the analysis of drinking patterns (i.e., variances in drinking quantities and frequencies). Heteroscedastic regression models were used to partition covariances in self-reports between Times 1 and 2 into components related to stability and reliability, providing a more accurate picture of the reliability of drinking measures for different drinking groups. Results: Overall test-retest reliabilities were good, ranging from a low of .65 for drinking quantities to a high of .85 for drinking frequencies. The stability of quantity measures had a large impact on estimated test- retest reliabilities. Stable drinking patterns were associated with much greater test-retest reliabilities. Conclusions: Data on alcohol use from general population telephone surveys are generally reliable. However, observed reliability is a function of the stability of drinking patterns. Ostensibly unreliable self-reports may be highly reliable but may reflect unstable drinking patterns.

Paul Gruenewald & Andrew Treno

Gruenewald, P. J., & Treno, A. (2006). Understanding the prevention paradox: Drinkers and drinking. A comment on Skog (2006). Addiction, 101(2), 162-163.

Harold Holder

Andreasson, S., Holder, H. D., Norstrom, T., Osterberg, E., & Rossow, I. (2006). Estimates of harm associated with changes in Swedish alcohol policy: Results from past and present estimates. Addiction, 101(8), 1096-1105.

Aims: (i) To compare actual developments of alcohol-related harm in Sweden with estimates derived prior to major policy changes in 1995 and (ii) to estimate the effects on consumption and alcohol-related harm of reducing alcohol prices in Sweden. Design Alcohol effect parameters expressing the strength of the relationship between overall alcohol consumption and different alcohol-related harms were obtained from ARIMA (Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average) time-series analyses. Measurements Measures of Swedish alcohol-related mortality (liver cirrhosis, alcoholic psychosis, alcoholism and alcohol poisoning), accident mortality, suicide, homicide, assaults and sickness absence from 1950 to 1995. Findings Previous estimates of alcohol-related harm based on changes in alcohol consumption for the period 1994-2002 for Sweden were, in some cases (e.g. violent assaults and accidents), relatively close to the actual harm levels, whereas in other cases (e.g. homicides, alcohol-related mortality and suicide) they diverged from observed harm levels. A tax cut by 40% on spirits and by 15% on wine is estimated to increase total per capita alcohol consumption by 0.35 litre. This increase is estimated to cause 289 additional deaths, 1627 additional assaults and 1.6 million additional sickness absence days. Conclusions: The estimates of future changes in harm based upon even relatively modest increases in alcohol consumption produce considerable negative effects, with large economic consequences for the Swedish economy. The additional alcohol-related deaths, for instance, amount to more than half the number of yearly traffic fatalities in Sweden.

Mallie Paschall & Bob Saltz

Paschall, M. J., Kypri, K., & Saltz, R. F. (2006). Friday class and heavy alcohol use in a sample of New Zealand college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(5), 764-769.

Objective: This study examined the association between scheduling at least one Friday class and the pattern and levels of alcohol use and heavy drinking in a sample of New Zealand college students. Method: Two waves of survey data were collected from 866 college students in New Zealand in the first and second semesters of the 2000 academic year. Descriptive and regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between scheduling Friday class in the second semester, levels of alcohol use and heavy drinking in the past month, and alcohol use on different weeknights. We hypothesized that (1) heavier-drinking students would be less likely to schedule any Friday classes, (2) having at least one Friday class would be inversely related to concurrent alcohol use and heavy drinking when adjusting for potential confounders, and (3) having Friday class would be inversely related to alcohol use and heavy drinking on Thursdays and prior week- nights. Results: Analysis results supported the hypothesis that heavier- drinking students would be less likely to schedule Friday classes but did not support the hypothesis that scheduling at least one Friday class would be inversely related to concurrent alcohol use and heavy drinking when adjusting for potential confounders. Having Friday class also was not associated with typical drinking on Thursday or Friday, but having Friday class was inversely associated with Thursday as the biggest drinking day when controlling for background variables. Conclusions: Findings of this study indicate that heavier-drinking students are less likely to schedule Friday classes. Scheduling at least one Friday class may reduce the likelihood of heavy drinking on Thursdays but may have no effect on the overall levels of alcohol use and heavy drinking among college students.

Mike Todd

Karoly, P., Ruehlman, L. S., Aiken, L. S., Todd, M., & Newton, C. (2006). Evaluating chronic pain impact among patients in primary care: Further validation of a brief assessment instrument. Pain Medicine, 7(4), 289-298.

Objective. To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Profile of Chronic Pain: Screen (PCP:S) in primary care. The PCP:S is a brief assessment device designed to gauge pain severity, interference, and emotional burden. Design. Questionnaire survey with short-term reliability and validity follow-up. Methods. Two hundred and forty-four outpatients (52% female) with chronic pain recruited from five primary care settings completed the 15-item PCP:S at an initial testing session. Approximately 1 week later, two subgroups participated in a retest reliability and validity follow-up. The battery of follow-up questionnaires included a measure of social desirability response bias and several instruments designed to provide convergent validity for the PCP:S. Results. Retest reliability, internal consistency, factor structure, and social desirability bias were all found to be acceptable. Likewise, preliminary evidence suggests that, by virtue of its correlation with established measures of pain adjustment, the PCP:S is a valid pain assessment device. Conclusions. Although the PCP:S was initially developed and validated using a national community sample of adults with chronic pain who provided data via telephone interviews, the present findings support its use as a brief and psychometrically sound paper-and-pencil measure for the assessment of three key components of chronic pain in primary care.

Calverson

Bob Voas, Eduardo Romano, Tara Kelley-Baker, & Scott Tippetts

Voas, R. B., Romano, E., Kelley-Baker, T., & Tippetts, A. S. (2006). A partial ban on sales to reduce high-risk drinking south of the border: Seven years later. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(5), 746-753.

Objective: On weekend evenings, thousands of youths (ages 20 and younger) and young adults (ages 21-25) residing in communities along the U.S. border cross into Mexico to patronize all-night bars where the drinking age is 18, rather than 21, and where the price of alcohol is considerably less than in the United States. On January 1, 1999, Juarez, Mexico, implemented a 2 AM (instead of 5 AM) bar-closing policy. The number of crossers and their blood alcohol concentration levels on return were reduced in the year following this policy change. The present study's objective was to determine the long-term (7-year) effect of the earlier-closing bar policy on cross-border drinking in Mexico. Method: Analyzed data (1998 to August 2005) were from quarterly breath-test surveys at the El Paso (Texas)/Juarez (Mexico) border, bar observations in Juarez, and trauma data in El Paso. Results: Bar surveys in Juarez show that the 2 AM closing policy, initiated 7 years ago, continues to be enforced, as has the reduction (89%) in youthful crossers returning after 3 AM. The number of underage youths returning earlier in the evening (before 3 AM), however, unchanged for 2 years after the policy change, has doubled recently. Conclusions: The early closing of bars in Juarez has a continuing positive impact on the reduction of the number of those returning after 3 AM. Although initially there appeared to be no displacement of the late returnees into the early hours (before 3 AM), the number of bar visitors crossing and returning earlier has been steadily increasing. Suggestions for reducing cross-border heavy episodic drinking are described.

Bob Voas, Eduardo Romano, & Ray Peck

Voas, R. B., Romano, E., & Peck, R. (2006). Validity of the passive alcohol sensor for estimating BACs in DWI-enforcement operations. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(5), 714-721.

Objective: The effectiveness of driving while intoxicated (DWI) operations in deterring impaired driving depends on the ability of police officers to detect heavy drinkers. The passive alcohol sensor (PAS), which can detect alcohol in expired breath at a distance of 6 inches from the face, provides a means for detecting heavy drinking within 15-30 seconds. The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of the PAS unit for estimating the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of drivers and study its potential use as a screening device for estimating BAC in relation to several factors related to its use (age, gender, light conditions, and police confidence in the PAS measure). Method: A recent study funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the BAC levels of crash-involved and randomly stopped drivers as a control group for comparison provided 12,587 cases in which both a breath test and a PAS measure of BAC were obtained for each driver studied. This research involved a secondary analysis of that data set using regression and receiver operator curves methodology to determine the accuracy and utility of the PA S for use as a screening device for DWI violations. Results: PAS scores were a strong predictor of a driver's BAC status. The only other variable having a significant and consistent relationship independent of PA S was police confidence. Detection sensitivity and specificity for each PA S cut-point score were estimated. Conclusions: By selecting a PAS cut-point score appropriate to the enforcement operation being undertaken, the PA S can be an effective tool for officers when deciding whether to initiate a DWI investigation..

Bob Voas, Eduardo Romano, Scott Tippetts, & Debra Furr-Holden

Voas, R. B., Romano, E., Tippetts, A. S., & Furr-Holden, C. D. (2006). Drinking status and fatal crashes: Which drinkers contribute most to the problem? Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 67(5), 722-729.

Objective: The object of this study was to estimate the relative contribution of various classes of drinkers (including those with alcohol-use disorders) to alcohol-related fatal motor vehicle crashes. Method: Using the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions conducted in 2000, the percentage of state residents falling into six nonoverlapping alcohol-user categories-dependent drinkers, abusive drinkers, dependent and abusive drinkers, heavy episodic drinkers, current normative drinkers, and current nondrinkers- was determined based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, classifications. The percentage of residents in each state in each of these user categories and their relationships to the number of drinking drivers involved in fatal crashes in that state were determined through regression analysis using data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Results: The proportion of drinkers in a state in each of the six consumption categories was positively related to the number of drinking drivers in fatal crashes in that state. Conversely, the percentage of the state's population who were current nondrinkers was negatively related to the number of drinking road users in crashes. Conclusions: Although alcohol abusive and heavy episodic drinkers had substantially higher associations with impaired drivers in fatal crashes, half of such drivers were associated with the percentage of current nominative drinkers in the state. Despite the relevancy of these findings, they must be qualified by statistical limitations associated with the use of state as the unit of analysis.

Chapel Hill

Christine Jackson

Thrasher, J. F., Niederdeppe, J. D., Jackson, C., & Farrelly, M. C. (2006). Using anti-tobacco industry messages to prevent smoking among high-risk adolescents. Health Education Research, 21(3), 325-337.

Media campaigns to prevent adolescent tobacco use in the United States increasingly focus on the deceitful practices of the tobacco industry; however, little is known about how adolescents at elevated smoking risk respond to this strategy. This study used data from a nationally representative survey of 10 035 adolescents, ages 12-17 years, in order to test whether reactions to anti-industry advertisements (ads), the attitudes these ads target, and the relationship between these attitudes and smoking differed by social bonding and sensation-seeking risk factors. Results indicated that anti-industry ad reactions and the strength of anti-industry attitudes were comparable between high- and low-sensation seeking adolescents, whereas weakly bonded adolescents had less favorable ad reactions and weaker anti-industry attitudes than strongly bonded adolescents. Social bonding also moderated the influence of sensation seeking on anti-industry ad reactions, such that sensation seeking had a positive influence among more strongly bonded adolescents and no influence among weakly bonded adolescents. Finally, the relationship between anti-industry attitudes and smoking appeared consistent across risk groups, whether risk was defined using social bonding, sensation seeking or the interaction between them. Overall, these results suggest that anti-industry messages are a promising strategy for preventing smoking among high- and low-risk adolescents alike.

Felton

Sue Thomas

Thomas, S. (2006). Women, partisanship, and the Congress. Politics & Gender, 2(1), 133-136.

Book review of Women, partisanship, and the Congress by Jocelyn Jones Evans. New York: Palgrave Macmillian. 2005. 161 pp. $65.00. In Women, Partisanship, and the Congress, Jocelyn Jones Evans brings a fresh perspective to the women officeholder literature. Rather than emphasizing gendered impact on policy and political outcomes, she focuses on elements of the institutional impact on women's professional opportunities. The primary question underlying her analysis is not “What difference do women make?” but “What opportunities do they have for career advancement given the cultures of the two major parties?” In this, the central premise of the book fits within recent scholarly inquiry into the effects of gendered institutions on the experiences and impact of women officeholders. Further, her work serves as a reminder that scholars have not placed sufficient emphasis on female legislators' ability to achieve career success—and that success possibilities differ in each of the two major parties.

Providence

Bob Stout & William Zywiak

Kelly, J. F., Stout, R., Zywiak, W., & Schneider, R. (2006). A 3-year study of addiction mutual-help group participation following intensive outpatient treatment. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 30(8), 1381-1392.

Addiction-focused mutual-help group participation is associated with better substance use disorder (SUD) treatment outcomes. However, little has been documented regarding which types of mutual-help organizations patients attend, what levels of participation may be beneficial, and which patients, in particular, are more or less likely to participate. Furthermore, much of the evidence supporting the use of these organizations comes from studies examining participation and outcomes concurrently, raising doubts about cause-effect connections, and little is known about influences that may moderate the degree of any general benefit.

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