Contextual characteristics of adults’ drinking occasions and their association with levels of alcohol consumption and acute alcohol‐related harm : a mapping review

Background and Aims There is a growing literature using event‐level methods to estimate associations between contextual characteristics of drinking occasions, consumption levels, and acute harms. This literature spans many research traditions and has not been brought together as a whole. This mapping review aimed to identify and describe the theoretical approaches to conceptualising drinking occasions, study designs, predictors, and outcome measures used in existing research with a view to identifying dominant approaches, research gaps and areas for further synthesis. Methods Eligible papers studied adults’ drinking occasions using quantitative event‐level methods and considered one or more contextual characteristics (e.g. venue, timing, or company) and at least one event‐level consumption or acute alcohol‐related harm outcome. We systematically searched Ovid MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and the Web of Science Social Sciences Citation Index, extracting data on studies’ theoretical approach, data collection methods, settings, populations, drinking occasion characteristics, and outcome measures. Results Searches identified 278 eligible papers (from 1975 to 2019), predominantly published after 2010 (n=181; 65.1%). Most papers reported research conducted in the United States (n=170; 61.2%) and half used student participants (n=133; 47.8%). Papers typically lacked a stated theoretical approach (n=203; 73.0%). Consistent with this, only 53 (19.1%) papers studied three or more occasion characteristics and most used methods that assume occasion characteristics do not change during an occasion (n=189; 68.0%). The most common outcome type considered was consumption (n=224; 80.6%) and only a few papers studied specific acute harm outcomes such as unprotected sex (n=24; 8.6%), drink driving (n=14; 5.0%) or sexual violence (n=9; 3.2%). Conclusions Studies from 1975 to 2019 using event‐level methods to estimate associations between contextual characteristics of drinking occasions, consumption levels, and acute harms were largely focused on students and consumption outcomes and most have considered a limited range of contextual characteristics

‘20 tins of Stella for a fiver’: The making of class through Labour and Coalition government alcohol policy

Alcohol use in the UK has been a key concern to both the Labour and Coalition governments, and commands considerable attention in the media and academic discussions. This article analyses how recent government policy discussions have defined particular forms of drinking as problematic, and how these definitions and associated policy initiatives can be seen as part of a wider symbolic economy through which people come to be valued differently, incorporating ideas of economic, cultural and social capital. Therefore, I argue that government policies and discussions of drinking are a key way in which class is constituted in contemporary Britain

The social construction of violence among Northern Plains tribal members with antisocial personality disorder and alcohol use disorder

Whereas recent reports from national studies have presented extremely high rates for many personality disorders in American Indian communities, persistent concerns about the meaning of these symptoms have left many troubled by these reports. American Indians as a group are known to suffer disproportionately from a number of violent experiences, but the dynamics of this violence have received little attention. This paper examines perspectives on violence in the lives of 15 northern plains tribal members who met criteria for antisocial personality disorder and comorbid alcohol use disorder. It explores how study participants constructed and understood their own violent encounters, as well as the motivations they described (characterized here as reputation, leveling, retaliation, catharsis, and self-defense). Violence was gendered in this study, with men generally presenting as perpetrators and women as victims. Men often described themselves as ready participants in a violent world, while women were quite clear that aggression for them was often simply required as they tried to defend themselves from male violence. While this analysis does not replace clinical analyses of violence in antisocial personality disorder, it does reveal an underlying cultural logic that may play a role in shaping the recourse to violence for that minority of individuals for whom it appears to be the obvious choice.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

The Consumption, Production and Regulation of Alcohol in the UK: The Relevance of the Ambivalence of the Carnivalesque

Alcohol consumption in 21st-century Britain is of significant interest to government, media and academics. Some have referred to a ‘new culture of intoxication’ or ‘calculated hedonism’, fostered by the drinks industry, and enabled by a neoliberal policymaking context. This article argues that the ‘carnivalesque’ is a better concept through which to understand alcohol’s place in British society today. The concept of the carnivalesque conveys an earthy yet extraordinary culture of drinking, as well as ritual elements with a lack of comfort and security that characterise the night-time economy for many people. This night-time carnival, as well as being something experienced by participants, is also a spectacle, with gendered and classed dynamics. It is suggested that this concept is helpful in making sense of common understandings of alcohol that run through the spheres not only of alcohol consumption but also production and regulation

Understanding English alcohol policy as a neoliberal condemnation of the carnivalesque

Much academic work has argued that alcohol policy in England over the past 25 years can be characterised as neoliberal, particularly in regard to the night-time economy and attempts to address “binge” drinking. Understanding neoliberalism as a particular “mentality of government” that circumscribes the range of policy options considered appropriate and practical for a government to take, this article notes how the particular application of policy can vary by local context. This article argues that the approach of successive governments in relation to alcohol should be seen as based on a fear and condemnation of the carnivalesque, understood as a time when everyday norms and conventions are set aside, and the world is – for a limited period only – turned inside out. This analysis is contrasted with previous interpretations that have characterised government as condemning intoxication and particular forms of pleasure taken in drinking. Although these concepts are useful in such analysis, this article suggests that government concerns are broader and relate to wider cultures surrounding drunkenness. Moreover, there is an ambivalence to policy in relation to alcohol that is better conveyed by the concept of the carnivalesque than imagining simply a condemnation of pleasure or intoxication

Heterogeneity in drinking practices in England and Wales and its association with violent behaviour: a latent class analysis

Background: Crude single-item consumption metrics, such as ‘binge drinking’ measures, mask the complexity and heterogeneity in young people’s drinking; thus limiting our understanding of young people’s drinking patterns as well as how alcohol drinking is associated with violent outcomes. Objectives: The current study employed a range of consumption and contextual indicators to explore heterogeneity in young people’s (16-29 years) drinking practices, giving due consideration to their social nature. It also assessed to what extent heterogeneity in drinking practices was associated with violent outcomes. Methods: Employing data from the 2006 Offending Crime and Justice Survey, three measures of alcohol consumption and nine drinking context indicators were utilised within latent class analysis to create typologies of drinking practices amongst current drinkers in England and Wales (n=2,711) and examine their association with violent outcomes. The validity of the typologies was also assessed on age, sex and socio-economic status. Results: Three discernible drinking profiles were identified: ‘regular social drinkers’ (48%), ‘regular pub binge drinkers’ (32%), and ‘moderate drinkers’ (20%). The ‘regular pub binge drinkers’ were found to be more than twice as likely to commit an assault offence (odds ratio = 2.8 95% CI [1.3, 6.2]) when compared to ‘moderate drinkers’. Interaction analyses demonstrated a stronger risk of violence among ‘regular social drinkers’ of low socio-economic status. Conclusions: Interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related violence ought to give due consideration to the social context of drinking, the levels of consumption, as well as the socio-economic characteristics of the drinker

Spared unconscious influences of spatial memory in diencephalic amnesia

Spatial memory is crucial to our daily lives and in part strongly depends on automatic, implicit memory processes. This study investigates the neurocognitive basis of conscious and unconscious influences of object–location memory in amnesic patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome (N = 23) and healthy controls (N = 18) using a process-dissociation procedure in a computerized spatial memory task. As expected, the patients performed substantially worse on the conscious memory measures but showed even slightly stronger effects of unconscious influences than the controls. Moreover, a delayed test administered after 1 week revealed a strong decline in conscious influences in the patients, while unconscious influences were not affected. The presented results suggest that conscious and unconscious influences of spatial memory can be clearly dissociated in Korsakoff’s syndrome