|
New this Month - September 2005
Below are citations/abstracts of recently published articles and publications
that have been authored and/or co-authored by Pacific Institute staff.
Berkeley
Paul Gruenewald
Gruenewald, P.J.; Searles, J.; Helzer, J.; and Badger, G.J. "Exploring
drinking dynamics using interactive voice response technology,"
Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66(4):571-576, July 2005.
Objective: Neurocognitive models of alcohol use and mathematical models
of drinking patterns suggest that levels of drinking on one day should
affect probabilities of drinking on subsequent days. However, there has
been no demonstration in the alcohol literature that these structured
temporal dependencies appear in daily patterns of alcohol use. A model
of daily drinking is presented that relates probabilities of drinking
on any day to amounts consumed 1 day and 1 week before. It is assumed
that positive and negative experiences with alcohol shape drinking levels
and probabilities of subsequent drinking. The model predicts that nonmonotonic
functions will relate drinking levels to subsequent drinking probabilities.
Maxima of these functions represent optimal drinking levels that provide
greatest positive returns from any drinking occasion for each drinker.
Method: Interactive Voice Response technology was used to obtain annual
time series of daily drinking levels from 33 drinkers sampled from public
establishments in Vermont. Two predictions from the model were tested:
(1) Temporal dependencies exist between the onset of drinking events over
time; and (2) these dependencies are nonmonotonically related to prior
drinking levels. Dynamics were separately assessed for each drinker using
bootstrapped logistic regression models. Results: Thirty respondents provided
data suitable for analysis. Time series data from five of these respondents
exhibited no temporal dynamics (17%). Data from 25 respondents exhibited
either daily or weekly dynamics (83%). Data from 18 respondents exhibited
the expected nonmonotonic relationship between drinking levels and subsequent
drinking events (60%). Conclusion: Daily probabilities of drinking were
conditional upon and nonmonotonically related to prior drinking levels
among a majority of respondents. The results of the study support models
of daily drinking in which positive and negative experiences with alcohol
shape daily drinking patterns.
Bridget Freisthler
Freisthler, B.; Gruenewald, P.J.; Johnson, F.W.; Treno, A.J.; and LaScala,
E.A. "An exploratory study examining the spatial dynamics
of illicit drug availability and rates of drug use," Journal
of Drug Education, 35(1):15-27, 2005. [with P.J. Gruenewald, F.W. Johnson,
and A.J. Treno of PRC/Berkeley]
This study examines the spatial relationship between drug availability
and rates of drug use in neighborhood areas. Responses from 16,083 individuals
were analyzed at the zip code level (n = 158) and analyses were conducted
separately for youth and adults using spatial regression techniques. The
dependent variable is the percentage of respondents using drugs in the
past year. Neighborhood drug availability (the major independent variable)
was measured by the percentage of non-drug users who had been approached
to purchase drugs. Data were obtained as part of the Fighting Back community
evaluation. For youth (aged 12 to 18), drug sales in adjacent and surrounding
areas were positively associated with self-reported drug use in areas
where youth were residents. For adults, drug sales within the neighborhood
were negatively associated with drug use, while drug sales in immediately
adjacent neighborhoods were positively related to self-reports of drug
use. Findings suggest that the areas where rates of drug users are greatest
are not necessarily the same area where drugs are sold. Designing strategies
to reduce the supply of drugs should receive input from city and regional
planners and developers, as well as law enforcement and public health
professionals.
Freisthler, B.; Needell, B.; and Gruenewald, P.J. "Is the
physical availability of alcohol and illicit drugs related to neighborhood
rates of child maltreatment?," 29(9):1049-1060, 2005. [with
P.J. Gruenewald of PRC/Berkeley]
Objective: This study examines how the availability of alcohol and illicit
drugs (as measured by alcohol outlet density and police incidents of drug
sales and possessions) is related to neighborhood rates of child abuse
and neglect, controlling for other neighborhood demographic characteristics.
Method: Data from substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect in
304 block groups in a northern California city were analyzed using spatial
regression techniques. Results: This study found that higher concentration
of bars (B = 6.66, p < .05) and higher numbers of incidents of drug
possession (B = .53, p < .001) were positively related to rates of
child maltreatment in neighborhoods when controlling for neighborhood
demographic characteristics. Thus, areas with more bars and drug possession
incidents per 1000 population have higher rates of child maltreatment.
Conclusions: The presence of more bars per population may represent a
lack of resources available to residents, may increase the stress on neighborhoods
by "attracting" populations prone to participating in dangerous
activities, or increase the frequency of alcohol use that then leads to
maltreatment. Areas with more drug possession incidents may also contribute
to the overall level of neighborhood stress and disorganization or act
as a marker for drug use that leads to maltreatment. These results suggest
that the neighborhood substance availability may deserve special attention
when developing preventive interventions to reduce child abuse and neglect
in neighborhood areas.
Rob Lipton
Lipton, R. and Ødegaard, T. "Causal thinking and
causal language in epidemiology: It's in the details," Epidemiologic
Perspectives & Innovations, 2(8), July 2005.
Although epidemiology is necessarily involved with elucidating causal
processes, we argue that there is little practical need, having described
an epidemiological result, to then explicitly label it as causal (or not).
Doing so is a convention which obscures the valuable core work of epidemiology
as an important constituent of public health practice. We discuss another
approach which emphasizes the public health "use value" of research
findings in regard to prediction and intervention independent from explicit
metaphysical causal claims. Examples are drawn from smoking and lung cancer,
with particular focus on the original 1964 Surgeon General's report on
smoking and the new version released in 2004. The intent is to help the
epidemiologist focus on the pertinent implications of research, which,
from a public health point of view, in large part entails the ability
to predict and to intervene. Further discussion will center on the importance
of differentiating between technical/practical uses of causal language,
as might be used in structural equations or marginal structural modeling,
and more foundational notions of cause. We show that statistical/epidemiological
results, such as "smoking two packs a day increases risk of lung
cancer by 10 times" are in themselves a kind of causal argument that
are not in need of additional support from relatively ambiguous language
such as "smoking causes lung cancer." We will show that the
confusion stemming from the use of this latter statement is more than
mere semantics. Our goal is to allow researchers to feel more confident
in the power of their research to tell a convincing story without resorting
to metaphysical/unsupportable notions of cause.
Marcia Russell
Russell, M. "Screening in general health care,"
Alcohol Research & Health, 28(1):17-22, 2004/2005.
The article "Screening for Alcohol Problems" by Connors and
Stewart and other articles in this issue and the companion issue of Alcohol
Research & Health examine in detail how screening can be used in a
variety of settings to detect harmful alcohol use. The purpose of this
sidebar is to provide a broader view of screening and its role in general
health care. Identifying appropriate conditions for screening and developing
accurate tools for their diagnosis is an ongoing and important area of
research. Here, chronic hepatitis C infection is used as an example of
an alcohol-related health problem for which research on screening is urgently
needed.
Calverton
John Allen
Allen, J.P.; Cross, G.; Swanner, J.M. (2005). Suicide in the
Army: A review of current information. Military Medicine, 170(7),
580-584.
This article summarizes findings on demographic factors, distal risk factors,
and proximal risk factors for suicide and reports recent data on suicide
by Army personnel. In addition, the article offers recommendations to
reduce the risk of suicide and suicide attempt in the Armed Services and
suggests possible directions for future research on suicide in the military.
Doug Hill
Gruber, E.L.; Thau, H.; Hill, D.L.; Fisher, D.A.; Gruber, E.L. (2005).
Alcohol, tobacco, and illicit substances in music videos: A content
analysis of prevalence and genre. Journal of Adolescent Health,
37(1), 81-83. [with D. A Fisher of PIRE/Calverton]
Content analyses examined mention of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit substances
in music videos (n = 359) broadcast in 2001, as well as genre and presence
of humor. Findings indicated that references to illicit substances were
more prevalent than tobacco in music videos. Humor was 2.5 times as likely
to appear in videos containing references to substances than those without
substances.
Paul Marques
Marques, P. (Ed.). (2005). Alcohol Ignition Interlock Devices—Volume
II: Research, Policy and Program Status 2005. Oosterhout, The Netherlands:
International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety.
This second report of the Interlock Working Group of the International
Council of Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety is an edited volume that
summarizes ignition interlock/alcolock activity in both mature and developing
programs. This 2005 Volume II, while not comprehensive, does describe
some successes, problems, and new directions underway around the world
in the past four years. It includes contributions from mature programs
in Canada, Sweden, and the USA as well as reports from pilot programs
and implementation issues in Australia, Belgium, Norway, Spain and Germany.
In general, Volume II fills in some of the detail that was lacking in
the 2001 Volume I interlock program overview.
This document can be found online at http://www.icadts.org/reports/AlcoholInterlockReport2.pdf.
Bob Voas
Voas, R. B.; Roth, J.;Marques, P. R. (2005). The hard suspension
barrier: Does New Mexico's interlock licensing law solve the problem?
In P. R. Marques (Ed.), Alcohol Ignition Interlock Devices—Volume
II: Research, Policy, and Program Status 2005 (pp. 62–73). Oosterhout,
The Netherlands: International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety.
[with P.R. Marques of PIRE/Calverton]
This paper describes the problems presented by the use of interlocks
as a control system for reducing driving while intoxicated (DWI) recidivism
by federal and state laws mandating minimum periods of full or “hard”
suspension for multiple DWI offenders. Federal legislation (TEA -21) imposed
a fund transfer penalty on states that do not require a minimum of 1-year
suspension on second DWI offenders. Although many courts maintain authority
over DWI offenders for only 1 year, this requirement prevented the imposition
of an interlock program on second offenders. The state of New Mexico passed
unique legislation that allows any suspended DWI offender to apply for
a license provided they bring a vehicle with an interlock installed to
the department of motor vehicles (DMV) at the time of their application.
The program to evaluate this legislation is described. Of particular interest
is to what extent offenders who have been suspended for long periods of
time will take advantage of this legislation.
Chapel Hill
Denise Hallfors
Hallfors DD; Waller MW; Bauer D; Ford CA; Halpern CT., Which
comes first in adolescence-sex and drugs or depression? American
Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2005 Oct;29(3):163-70.[with M. Waller
of PIRE Chapel Hill]
Abstract: BACKGROUND: The notion that adolescents "self-medicate"
depression with
substance use and sexual behaviors is widespread, but the temporal ordering
of
depression and these risk behaviors is not clear. This study tests whether
gender-specific patterns of substance use and sexual behavior precede
and
predict depression or vice versa. METHODS: Data are from the National
Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, weighted to produce population
estimates. The sample includes 13,491 youth, grades 7 to 11, interviewed
in 1995
and again 1 year later. Multivariate logistic regression analyses, conducted
in
2004, tested temporal ordering, controlling for covariates. The main outcome
measures were depression, as measured by a modified Center for Epidemiological
Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), and three behavior patterns: (1) abstaining
from sexual intercourse and drug use, (2) experimental behavior patterns,
and
(3) high-risk behavior patterns. RESULTS: Overall, sex and drug behavior
predicted an increased likelihood of depression, but depression did not
predict
behavior. Among girls, both experimental and high-risk behavior patterns
predicted depression. Among boys, only high-risk behavior patterns increased
the
odds of later depression. Depression did not predict behavior in boys,
or
experimental behavior in girls; but it decreased the odds of high-risk
behavior
among abstaining girls (RRR=0.14) and increased the odds of high-risk
behavior
(RRR=2.68) among girls already experimenting with substance use. CONCLUSIONS:
Engaging in sex and drug behaviors places adolescents, and especially
girls, at
risk for future depression. Future research is needed to better understand
the
mechanisms of the relationship between adolescent behavior and depression,
and
to determine whether interventions to prevent or stop risky behaviors
will also
reduce the risk of later depression.
Felton
Jim Mosher
Mosher, JF, EDITORIAL: Transcendental alcohol marketing: rap
music and the youth market.
Addiction, Vol 100, No. 9, Sept, 2005, pp. 1203-04.
Abstract [taken from first 100 words of article]: Denise Herd’s
article, Changes in the prevalence of alcohol use in rap song lyrics,
1979–97, (Herd 2005) offers arare examination of the new world of
alcohol marketing. Herd demonstrates that marketers are operating with
new rules, assumptions, boundaries and goals. Marketing is no longer limited
to promoting a product during advertising breaks on television and radio
programming. The marketers’ new goal is to integrate the program
and the product and to remove the boundaries between entertainment and
advertising. Naomi Klein, in her groundbreaking treatise, analyzes this
new world of marketing (which she terms ‘branding’),where
advertisers seek to embed...
Jernigan, DH; Mosher, JF, Editors' Introduction: Alcohol Marketing
And Youth - Public Health Perspectives.
Journal of Public Health Policy, Volume 26, Number 3, Autumn 2005, 287-376.
[full-text of article is accesible online for a limited time at http://www.palgrave-journals.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/jphp/journal/v26/n3/full/3200042a.html&filetype=pdf
]
Abstract: This special section focuses on a critical aspect of youth
drinking - alcohol marketing and young people - examining the alcohol
industry's sophisticated marketing techniques, their global reach and
their impact on young people. Its purpose is to stimulate discussion and
debate, public health research, and policy reform.
Mosher, JF; Johnsson, D., Flavored Alcoholic Beverages: An International
Marketing Campaign that Targets Youth. Journal of Public Health
Policy, Volume 26, Number 3, Autumn 2005, 326-342. [full-text of article
is accesible online for a limited time at http://www.palgrave-journals.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/jphp/journal/v26/n3/full/3200037a.html&filetype=pdf
]
Abstract: Sweet, relatively low-alcohol content beverages are now marketed
globally, and have been found in several countries to be particularly
appealing to young 'entry-level' drinkers. What can be done to limit their
appeal to young people?
Louisville - No New Citations
Madison - No New Citations
Providence
Skodol, A. E.; Oldham, J. M.; Bender, D. S.; Dyck, I. R.; Stout, R. L.;
Morey, L. C.; Shea, M. T; Zanarini, M. C.; Sanislow, C. A.; Grilo, C.
M.; McGlashan, T. H.; Gunderson, J. G.(2005). Dimensional representations
of DSM-IV personality disorders: Relationships to functional impairment.
American Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 1919-1925.
Abstract: Objective: This study compared three-dimensional representations
of DSM-IV personality disorders and standard categories with respect to
their associations with psychosocial functioning.
Method: Six hundred sixty-eight patients with semistructured interview
diagnoses of schizotypal borderline, avoidant, or obsessive-compulsive
personality disorders or with major depressive disorder and no personality
disorder completed questionnaires assessing three-factor and five-factor
dimensional models of personality. Personality disorder categories, dimensional
representations of the categories based on criteria counts, and three-
and five-factor personality dimensions were compared on their relationships
to impairment in seven domains of functioning, as measured by the Longitudinal
Interval Follow-up Evaluation—Baseline Version.
Results: Both the categorical and dimensional representations of DSM-IV
personality disorders had stronger relationships to impairment in functioning
in the domains of employment, social relationships with parents and friends,
and global social adjustment and to DSM-IV axis V ratings than the three-
and five-factor models. DSM-IV dimensions predicted functional impairment
best of the four approaches. Although five-factor personality traits captured
variance in functional impairment not predicted by DSM-IV personality
disorder dimensions, the DSM-IV dimensions accounted for significantly
more variance than the measures of personality.
Conclusions: Scores on dimensions of general personality functioning do
not appear to be as strongly associated with functional impairment as
the psychopathology of DSM personality disorder. A compromise in the ongoing
debate over categories versus dimensions of personality disorder might
be the dimensional rating of the criteria that comprise traditional categories.
Mueller, T. I.;Pagano, M. E.; Rodriguez, B. F.; Bruce, S. E.; Stout,
R. L.; Keller, Martin B. (2005). Long-term use of Benzodiazepines
in participants with comorbid anxiety and alcohol use disorders.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 29(8), 1411-1415.
Abstract: Background: Although the only widely accepted role for benzodiazepines
in alcohol dependence is the treatment of withdrawal syndromes, they are
frequently prescribed outside of this clinical setting. There is little
empirical evidence to guide the rational use of benzodiazepines in the
common clinical situation where anxiety disorders are comorbid with alcohol
use disorders (AUD). Since January 1989, the Harvard Anxiety Research
Program has naturalistically monitored the prospective clinical course
of people with anxiety disorders, some of whom had a history of AUD. Earlier
research showed that the use of benzodiazepines was not significantly
associated with the presence or absence of a history of an AUD over the
first year of follow-up. This report extends that investigation.
Methods: Using standard parametric analytic methods, patterns of benzodiazepine
use (routinely prescribed medication and as-needed [PRN] use) among participants
receiving benzodiazepine treatment was prospectively examined over the
course of 12 years. Differences in benzodiazepine usage patterns were
examined in each year of follow-up between participants who did (n = 120)
and did not (n’ = 425) have a new episode of AUD. Using proportional
hazards regression analysis, benzodiazepine usage levels were examined
as predictors of recovery and recurrence of AUD. Additionally, random-effects
regression analyses were used to examine the patterns of benzodiazepine
use before and after the onset of prospectively observed episode of AUD.
Results: Benzodiazepine usage levels remained stable for the full sample
over the course of the 12 years. Benzodiazepine use did not distinguish
participants who had a new AUD from those who did not. Over the 12 years
of follow-up, participants who had an AUD used more PRN medication in
years five to eight. This difference reached statistical significance
but was not clinically significant. Benzodiazepine usage levels did not
predict recovery or recurrence in AUD subjects. Neither the total dose
nor the PRN usage of benzodiazepines was significantly associated with
the onset of AUD, but when combined into a measure of any benzodiazepine
use, a relationship between increased use and the onset of AUD emerged.
Conclusions: For participants in the Harvard Anxiety Research Program
with comorbid alcohol dependence and anxiety disorders, there was little
association between the use of benzodiazepines and the occurrence of a
new AUD. Neither was there a temporal relationship between the use of
benzodiazepines and the onset of a new AUD. Whether or not this finding
extends to a broader patient population or a group of people who present
to addictions treatment awaits further investigation.
Phillips, K. A.; Grant, J. E.; Siniscalchi, J. M; Stout, R.; Price, L.
H. (2005). A retrospective follow-up study of body dysmorphic
disorder. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 46, 315-321.
Abstract: Background: Although research on body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)
is increasing, no follow-up studies of this disorder’s course of
illness have been published.
Methods: The status of 95 outpatients with BDD treated in a clinical practice
was assessed by chart review. Standard scales were used to rate subjects
at baseline and the most recent clinic visit (mean duration of follow-up,
1.7 ± 1.1; range, 0.5-6.4 years). Ratings were also done at 6-month
intervals over the first 4 years of follow-up.
Results: Allowing for censoring, life table analysis estimated that the
proportion of subjects who achieved full remission from BDD at the 6-months
and/or 12-months assessment was 24.7%; the proportion who attained partial
or full remission at 6 months and/or 12 months was 57.8%. After 4 years
of follow-up, 58.2% had experienced full remission, and 83.3% had experienced
partial or full remission, at one or more 6-month assessment points. Of
those subjects who attained partial or full remission at one or more assessment
points, 28.6% subsequently relapsed. Between baseline and the most recent
assessment, BDD severity and functioning significantly improved: at the
most recent assessment, 16.7% of subjects were in full remission, 37.8%
were in partial remission, and 45.6% met full criteria for BDD. Greater
severity of BDD symptoms and the presence of major depression or social
phobia at baseline were associated with more severe BDD symptoms at study
end point. All subjects received at least one medication trial, and 34.3%
received some type of therapy during the follow-up period.
Conclusions: A majority of treated patients with BDD improved, although
improvement was usually partial. Prospective longitudinal studies are
needed to further elucidate the course of BDD.
Karen Friend
Friend, K. B.; Pagano, M. E. (2005). Changes in cigarette consumption
and drinking outcomes: Findings from Project MATCH. Journal of
Substance Abuse Treatment, 29(3), 221-229.
Abstract Individuals in treatment for alcohol use disorders smoke at
rates that exceed that reported in the general population, and most patients
will continue to smoke after treatment completion. A growing body of research
indicates that quitting smoking is associated with better alcoholism treatment
outcomes. Studies that dichotomize participants into smokers and nonsmokers,
however, may be overlooking the possibility that even decreases in cigarette
consumption over time among continuing smokers may also be related to
improved alcohol use outcomes.
The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between cigarette
consumption and alcohol use outcomes using data from Project MATCH. Smokers
were divided into three groups according to whether their cigarette consumption
decreased, increased, or remained constant from baseline to the 15-month
follow-up. Results showed that smokers whose cigarette consumption decreased
were significantly less likely to relapse to alcohol use than those whose
consumption increased or remained unchanged. These findings suggest that
even reductions in tobacco use may be associated with better drinking
outcomes in alcoholism treatment.
New Library Acquisitions
The following materials have recently been added to the PIRE Library
collection. Please contact Pam
Scheuermann or Julie Murphy
if you would like to borrow and/or obtain reprints of these materials.
Author(s): Ahmad, S.
Title: Increasing excise taxes on cigarettes in California: a dynamic
simulation of health and economic impacts.
Journal Preventive Medicine, 41 (1) :276-283
Publication Year: 2005
Location: Ask Calverton Librarian for copy.
Abstract: Background: California raised cigarette excise taxes
in 1999, and may generate additional health and economic benefits by raising
them further.Methods: A dynamic computer simulation model follows births,
deaths, migration, aging, and changes in smoking status for the entire
population of California over 75 years to estimate the cumulative health
and economic outcomes of these changes under several excise tax rate conditions
(up to100% price increase).Results: A 20% tax-induced cigarette price
increase would reduce smoking prevalence from 17% to 11.6% with large
gains in cumulative life years (14 million) and QALY's (16 million) over
75 years. Total spending on cigarettes by consumers would increase by
$270 million in that span (all going to tax revenue), and those who reduce
the number of years spent as a smoker would spend $12.5 billion less on
cigarettes. Total smoking-related medical costs would drop by $188 billion.
These benefits increase greatly with larger tax increases, with which
tax revenues continue to rise even as smoking prevalence falls.
Conclusions: Even considering benefits from the 1999 increase, California
has not yet maximized the potential of excise taxes to lessen the negative
impacts of smoking. Additional tax increases would provide added health
benefits and revenue to the state.
Author(s): Alvarez, J. ;Vanlear, W.
Title: Research on Alcolock implementation in the European Union.
Journal: Addiction, 100 (1) :136-138
Publication Year: 2005
Location: Ask Calverton Librarian for copy
Abstract: The alcolock, or breath-activated alcohol ignition
lock, has been available for several decades. The device is used mainly
in the USA and Canada (with an estimated 65,000 devices in use in North
America as of the year 2000). Their main use has been with offenders convicted
of driving under the influence. The implementation of the alcolock in
the European Union member states is at present very limited, yet interest
is growing everywhere.
Author(s): Ballesteros, M.F.; Jackson, M.L; Martin, M.W.
Title: Working toward the elimination of residential fire deaths: the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's smoke alarm installation
and fire safety education (SAIFE) program
Journal: Journal of Burn Care & Rehabilitation, 26 (5) :434-439
Publication Year 2005
Location: Ask Calverton Librarian for copy.
Abstract: To address residential fires and related injuries,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funds state health departments
to deliver a Smoke Alarm Installation and Fire Safety Education (SAIFE)
program in high-risk homes in 16 states. This program involves recruiting
local communities arid community partners, hiring a local coordinator,
canvassing neighborhood homes, installing long-lasting lithium-powered
smoke alarms, and providing general fire safety education and 6-month
follow-up to determine alarm functionality. Local fire departments are
vital community partners in delivering this program. Since the program’s
inception, more than 212,000 smoke alarms have been installed in more
than 126,000 high-risk homes. Additionally, approximately 610 lives have
potentially beensaved as a result of a program alarm that provided early
warning to a dangerous fire incident.
Author(s): Barrett P.R.; Horne J.A.
Title: Early evening low alcohol intake also worsens sleepiness-related
driving impairment.
Journal: Human Psychopharmacology, 20 (4) :287-290
Publication Year 2005
Location: Ask Calverton Librarian for copy.
Abstract: Following night-time sleep restriction, afternoon driving
performance during the bi-circadian surge in afternoon sleepiness is markedly
worsened by blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) well under most national
driving limits. This study assessed how driving with this same sleep restriction
and BACs (av 40 mg and 28 mg alcohol/100 ml blood at the beginning and
end of drive, respectively) respond during the evening circadian rise
in alertness. In a 2 x 2 (alcohol versus control drink [double blind]
x normal night sleep versus sleep restricted), repeated-measures design,
eight healthy young men drove for 2 h from 18:00 h, in a real-car simulator,
on a monotonous, simulated highway. Driving impairment (lane drifting),
subjective sleepiness and EEG measures of sleepiness were recorded. While
sleep restriction alone produced significant impairments to evening driving
and subjective sleepiness, alcohol alone did not. However, alcohol combined
with sleep restriction significantly worsened all indices, although, this
was less than that found for afternoon driving with identical interventions.
Whereas low BACs may not affect driving in normally alert drivers in the
early evening, the addition of moderate sleep restriction still produces
a dangerous combination. Probably, there is no 'safe' level of alcohol
intake for otherwise sleepy drivers, at any time of the day.
Author(s): Brewer R.D.; Swahn M.H.
Title: Binge drinking and violence.
Journal: JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 294 (5) :616-618
Publication Year: 2005
Location: Ask Calverton Librarian for copy.
Abstract: Excessive consumption of alcohol was responsible for
approximately 75 000 deaths and 2.3 million years of potential life lost
(about 30 years of life lost per death) in the United States in 2001.
Binge drinking, typically defined as the consumption of 5 or more alcoholic
drinks on 1 occasion for a man or 4 or more drinks on a single occasion
for a woman, accounted for more than half of these deaths and for approximately
two thirds of the years of potential life lost. Binge drinking is also
associated with a wide range of serious health and social problems, including
sexually transmitted disease, unintended pregnancy, sudden infant death
syndrome, acute myocardial infarction, and motor vehicle crashes. The
World Health Organization estimates that use of alcohol, including binge
drinking, is responsible for 4% of the global burden of disease, only
slightly less than the burden imposed individually by tobacco use and
high blood pressure.
Author(s): Briggs N.C.; Levine R.S.; Haliburton W.P.; Schlundt
D.G.; Goldzweig I.; Warren R.C.
Title: The Fatality Analysis Reporting System as a tool for investigating
racial and ethnic determinants of motor vehicle crash fatalities.
Journal: Accident Analysis and Prevention, 37 (4) :641-649
Publication Year 2005
Location: Ask Calverton Librarian for copy.
Abstract: The Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) is a
Department of Transportation database in the public domain that contains
detailed information about fatalities resulting from motor vehicle crashes
on public roadways in the United States since 1975. However, data on race
and Hispanic ethnicity were not collected by FARS until 1999. Since then,
completeness of reported racial and ethnic information has varied from
State to State. To assess utility of FARS for investigating race- and
ethnicity- specific risk factors associated with motor vehicle crash mortality,
we examined yearly national and State-specific reporting rates of race
and Hispanic ethnicity for 168,863 motor vehicle crash fatalities from
1999 to 2002. In 1999, national reporting was 85% for race and 78% for
Hispanic ethnicity. Over the 4-year study period, a significant linear
increase in annual reporting for both race and Hispanic ethnicity was
evident at the national level, as reporting by individual States improved
over time. In 2002, national reporting rates reached 90% for race and
88% for Hispanic ethnicity. Our findings indicate that FARS has become
a valuable resource for population-based studies of motor vehicle crash
mortality disparities that exist among racial and ethnic subpopulations
in the United States.
Author(s): Brook J.S.; Balka E.B.; Rosen Z.; Brook D.W.; Adams
R.
Title: Tobacco use in adolescence: longitudinal links to later problem
behavior among African American and Puerto Rican urban young adults.
Journal: Journal of Genetic Psychology, 166 (2) :133-151
Publication Year 2005
Location: Ask Calverton Librarian for copy.
Abstract: In this study, the authors assessed the relationship
between adolescent tobacco smoking and measures of inner control, deviant
behavior, and associating with deviant peers, which are indicators of
problem behavior. African American (N = 333) and Puerto Rican (N = 329)
early adolescents completed questionnaires in their classrooms in 1990
at Time 1 (T1) and were individually interviewed thereafter when they
were late adolescents in 1995 at Time 2 (T2) and as young adults in 2000
at Time 3 (T3). The authors used ordinary least squares regression analysis
to assess the comparative association of adolescent smoking patterns at
T1 and T2 and the young adult outcomes at T3; they controlled for demographic
variables, level of the outcome measure at T2, and marijuana use at T2.
The analyses suggested that experimental tobacco smokers demonstrated
more problem behaviors than did nonsmokers, and late and continuous smokers
demonstrated more problem behaviors as young adults than did experimental
smokers and nonusers. These findings may provide a useful guide to a next
step that involves translational research.
Author(s): Reddick, D.
Title: Regulating Event Data Recorders: How Should Insurers React to New
State Laws?
Journal: 1 (5) :1-4
Book: National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
Publication Year: July 22, 2005
Series: NAMIC Issue Brief
Location: Ask Calverton Librarian for copy or access electronic copy online.
Online: http://www.namic.org/insbriefs/050722BlackBox.pdf
Abstract: Motor vehicle event data recorders (“EDRs”
or auto “black boxes”) date as far back as 1974 when the federal
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) first began using
these devices to analyze crash data. Over the years, the NHTSA and auto
manufacturers have continued to conduct experiments, so that it is now
widely held that EDRs “offer great potential of improving vehicle
and highway safety.”
Prevention in the News
Links to prevention based news articles and stories. Please note that
not all of the news web sites/sources listed below keep their links active,
thus some of the article links are subject to become inactive without
notice. If you are unable to access a news story listed below, please
contact the library for assistance.
September 29, 2005 - Bigger activist role by MADD worries some -USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-09-28-madd-news-usat_x.htm
September 27, 2005 - Lawmaker uses centuries-old law as DUI defense -
Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12752187.htm
September 26, 2005 - Sex drugs called avenue to HIV - Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2005/09/26/sex_drugs_called_avenue_to_hiv/
September 26, 2005 - J.C. Penney decides T-shirts with beer logos are
for men - New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/26/business/26shirts.html
September 22, 2005 - Study Links Teen Depression to Drug Use, Sex - JoinTogether.org
http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/summaries/reader/0%2C1854%2C578308%2C00.html
September 20, 2005 - NJ governor: Increase age for buying cigarettes
from 18 to 19 - Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12696128.htm
September 20, 2005 - Most ‘problem drinkers’ don’t
get post-DWI help - Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/bal-md.drunk20sep20,1,2261576.story
September 19, 2005 - If the children can drink Uncola, what about Unbeer?
- New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/19/business/worldbusiness/19beer.html
September 18, 2005 - Pass the pinot: Buying wine from home may get harder
- Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/09/18/pass_the_pinot_buying_wine_from_home_may_get_harder/
September 18, 2005 - Vigilance vs. fake IDs, and the kids are crafty -
Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/09/18/vigilance_vs_fake_ids_and_the_kids_are_crafty/
September 14, 2005 - Riverside County OKs $350 tobacco retailing fee -
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rcsupes14sep14,1,3267677.story
September 8, 2005 - After 210 years, Jim Beam discovers the power of
TV - New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/business/media/08adco.html
September 7, 2005 - Study lifts haze over tobacco use - The Los Angeles
Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-smoking7sep07,1,3143506.story
Download this Document 
|
