Contribution of Time of Drinking Onset and Family History of Alcohol Problems in Alcohol and Drug Use Behaviors in Argentinean College Students

Aims: The aim of the study was to analyze independent and potential interactive effects of age at drinking onset and family history of alcohol abuse on subsequent patterns of alcohol drinking, alcohol-related problems and substance use. Methods: Participants were college students (60.3% females, mean age = 20.27 ± 2.54 years) from the city of Córdoba, Argentina. Several measures were used to assess alcohol, tobacco and drug use. The Spanish version of the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire was used to assess alcohol-related problems. Factorial analyses of variance, or its non-parametric equivalent, were performed to explore differences in substance use behaviors and alcohol-related problems in subjects with early or late drinking onset and with or without family history of alcohol abuse. Chi-square tests were conducted to analyze the association between these two risk factors and categorical measures of alcohol, tobacco and drug use. Results: Early onset of drinking was associated with amount of consumption of alcohol including up to hazardous levels, as well as tobacco and drug use. However, the frequency of alcohol problems and frequency of episodes of alcohol intoxication were only related to age of onset in those with a positive family history of alcohol problems. Conclusion: Delaying drinking debut is particularly important in the prevention of future alcohol problems in those adolescents who have a family history of such problems.Fil: Pilatti, Angelina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Caneto, Florencia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Garimaldi, Javier Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Vera, Belén del Valle. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Pautassi, Ricardo Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; Argentin

Acute effects of alcohol intoxication on decision making and impulsivity in at-risk gamblers with or without problematic drinking

The study analyzed decision making under ambiguity and risk, impulsivity, and acute effects of alcohol intoxication on these processes in subjects exhibiting either one, both, or none of these conditions: problem drinking and at-risk gambling involvement. Subjects (N = 110, ages 18-57; 57.3% men) were evaluated on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994), the Game of Dice Task (GDT; Brand et al., 2005) and the Go-Stop Impulsivity Paradigm (GoStop; Dougherty, Mathias, & Marsh, 2003) before and after the ingestion of an alcohol (inducing≈0.45 g/kg) or a placebo drink. At-risk gamblers (ARG+) showed better performance on the IGT than not-at-risk gamblers and nongamblers (ARG-). ARG+ and subjects intoxicated with alcohol picked more cards than their respective controls from the high frequency of punishment decks. ARG+ without problematic drinking exhibited greater impulsivity in the GoStop (i.e., exhibited a significantly lower percentage of response inhibition at the 50-ms latency) after the ingestion of alcohol. GDT scores were unaffected by gambling, problem drinking, or acute alcohol dosing. The study confirmed the facilitatory effect of acute alcohol on impulsivity. A new and important finding was the altered IGT performance in ARGs. This is particularly striking when considering that these are not pathological gamblers. Apparently, even this low level of gambling severity is sufficient to alter decision making. The lower level of sensitivity to frequency of punishment apparently improved performance in this population, but it can present risk for the development of more severe gambling behaviors, particularly when considering that the acute alcohol treatment increased their impulsivity and had an independent effect upon sensitivity to punishment.Fil: Vera, Belén del Valle. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pilatti, Angelina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Garimaldi, Javier Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Pautassi, Ricardo Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; Argentin

Prevalence of gambling, depressive symptoms and cognitive distortions in university students

The aim of this paper was to analyze the presence of depressive symptoms and cognitive distortions in a sample of undergraduate students and investigate the possible relationship with severity of gambling disorders. To this aim, a sample of 277 local students (66.8 % women) between 18 and 35 years completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), a Gambling Prevalence Questionnaire, the Gambling Belief Questionnaire Spanish Version (GBQ-S) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). No differences in depression symptoms were found depending on gambling frequency and SOGS´s scores. The presence of cognitive distortions in less severe forms of gambling disorders was corroborated. Cognitive distortions’ levels increased with increasing severity and frequency of gambling

Prevalencia de juegos de apuestas, síntomas depresivos y distorsiones cognitivas en jóvenes universitarios

The aim of this paper was to analyze the presence of depressive symptoms and cognitive distortions in a sample of undergraduate students and investigate the possible relationship with severity of gambling disorders. To this aim, a sample of 277 local students (66.8 % women) between 18 and 35 years completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), a Gambling Prevalence Questionnaire, the Gambling Belief Questionnaire Spanish Version (GBQ-S) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). No differences in depression symptoms were found depending on gambling frequency and SOGS´s scores. The presence of cognitive distortions in less severe forms of gambling disorders was corroborated. Cognitive distortions’ levels increased with increasing severity and frequency of gambling.El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar la presencia de síntomas depresivos y de distorsiones cognitivas en una muestra de estudiantes locales e indagar sobre la posible relación con la severidad en los trastornos relacionados a los juegos de apuestas. Para ello, una muestra de 277 estudiantes universitarios y terciarios (66.8% mujeres) de entre 18 y 35 años, completó el South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), el Cuestionario de Prevalencia de Juegos de Apuestas, el Gambling Belief Questionnare Spanish Version (GBQ-S) y el Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). No se encontraron diferencias significativas en la depresión en función del puntaje en el SOGS y de la frecuencia de juego. Se corroboró la presencia de distorsiones cognitivas en formas menos severas de trastornos de juego y un incremento de las mismas a medida que aumentan la severidad y la frecuencia de juego

Prevalencia de juegos de apuestas, síntomas depresivos y distorsiones cognitivas en jóvenes universitarios

The aim of this paper was to analyze the presence of depressive symptoms and cognitive distortions in a sample of undergraduate students and investigate the possible relationship with severity of gambling disorders. To this aim, a sample of 277 local students (66.8 % women) between 18 and 35 years completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), a Gambling Prevalence Questionnaire, the Gambling Belief Questionnaire Spanish Version (GBQ-S) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). No differences in depression symptoms were found depending on gambling frequency and SOGS´s scores. The presence of cognitive distortions in less severe forms of gambling disorders was corroborated. Cognitive distortions’ levels increased with increasing severity and frequency of gambling.El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar la presencia de síntomas depresivos y de distorsiones cognitivas en una muestra de estudiantes locales e indagar sobre la posible relación con la severidad en los trastornos relacionados a los juegos de apuestas. Para ello, una muestra de 277 estudiantes universitarios y terciarios (66.8% mujeres) de entre 18 y 35 años, completó el South Oaks Gambling Screen(SOGS), el Cuestionario de Prevalencia de Juegos de Apuestas, el Gambling Belief Questionnare Spanish Version (GBQ-S) y el Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). No se encontraron diferencias significativas en la depresión en función del puntaje en el SOGS y de la frecuencia de juego. Se corroboró la presencia de distorsiones cognitivas en formas menos severas de trastornos de juego y un incremento de las mismas a medida que aumentan la severidad y la frecuencia de juego

The Spanish version of the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ): A Rasch Model analysis

The present work was aimed at analyzing the psychometric properties of the Spanish Brief YAACQ in a sample of Argentinean college students applying the Item Response Theory. Participants were 302 college students (59.9% females) who reported drinking alcohol within the last month. The B-YAACQ was translated into Spanish and the psychometric properties of this Spanish version were analyzed applying the Rasch Model, as well as testing group difference and conducting correlational analyses. The verification of the global fit of the data showed adequate indexes for the persons and items. The reliability estimate of the items was very high (.97), while the reliability estimate of the persons was modest (.65). All but one item had adequate fit indexes. B-YAACQ scores were strongly related to measures of hazardous alcohol drinking, including frequency of drunkenness episodes and frequency of heavy episodic drinking, indicating concurrent validity. The item content along the severity continuum was fairly similar to that found with US and Dutch samples. Three items had a gender bias against men and another three items showed a gender bias against women, indicating the presence of differential item functioning cancelation. The map of items and persons suggests that these 24 items do not provide a full coverage of the continuum of alcohol problems at the lower levels of the continuum. Overall, results from the present study suggest that the Spanish B-YAACQ offers a brief and efficient way to identify alcohol problems in Spanish-speaking college students.Fil: Pilatti, Angelina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología. Laboratorio de Psicologia; ArgentinaFil: Read, Jennifer. University at Buffalo. New York; Estados UnidosFil: Vera, Belén del Valle. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología. Laboratorio de Psicologia; ArgentinaFil: Caneto, Florencia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología. Laboratorio de Psicologia; ArgentinaFil: Garimaldi, Javier Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología. Laboratorio de Psicologia; ArgentinaFil: Kahler, Christopher W.. Brown University School of Public Health; Estados Unido