Social anxiety and drinking refusal self-efficacy moderate the relationship between drinking game participation and alcohol-related consequences

Background Participation in drinking games is associated with excessive drinking and alcohol risks. Despite the growing literature documenting the ubiquity and consequences of drinking games, limited research has examined the influence of psychosocial factors on the experience of negative consequences as the result of drinking game participation. Objectives The current event-level study examined the relationships among drinking game participation, social anxiety, drinking refusal self-efficacy (DRSE) and alcohol-related consequences in a sample of college students. Methods Participants (n =976) reported on their most recent drinking occasion in the past month in which they did not preparty. Results After controlling for sex, age, and typical drinking, higher levels of social anxiety, lower levels of DRSE, and playing drinking games predicted greater alcohol-related consequences. Moreover, two-way interactions (Social Anxiety × Drinking Games, DRSE × Drinking Games) demonstrated that social anxiety and DRSE each moderated the relationship between drinking game participation and alcohol-related consequences. Participation in drinking games resulted in more alcohol problems for students with high social anxiety, but not low social anxiety. Students with low DRSE experienced high levels of consequences regardless of whether they participated in drinking games; however, drinking game participation was associated with more consequences for students confident in their ability to resist drinking. Conclusion Findings highlight the important role that social anxiety and DRSE play in drinking game-related risk, and hence provide valuable implications for screening at-risk students and designing targeted harm reduction interventions that address social anxiety and drink refusal in the context of drinking games

The Longitudinal Relationships among Injunctive Norms and Hooking Up Attitudes and Behaviors in College Students

Limited research has explored the influence of perceived injunctive norms for distal (e.g., typical student) and proximal (e.g., close friend and parents) referents on hooking up. The current study examined the longitudinal relationships among perceived injunctive norms, personal approval and hooking up behavior, and the moderating effects of gender in a sample of heavy drinking college students. At Time 1, participants completed web-based assessments of personal approval of hooking up and perceptions of close friend, parent, and typical student approval. Three months later, participants reported on whether they had hooked up. The results of a path analysis indicated that greater perceived friend and parent approval predicted greater personal approval. Further, greater perceived approval by close friends and parents indirectly contributed to hooking up behavior as mediated by participants’ own approval. Multigroup analyses indicated that close friend injunctive norms were a stronger predictor of student approval for males, as compared to females. While previous research has often failed to find an association between perceived injunctive norms and hooking up, the current findings suggest that this may reflect the use of distal referents. The findings underscore that perceptions of close friend and family approval may be useful predictors of hooking up behavior

Absorption/Expulsion of Oligomers and Linear Macromolecules in a Polymer Brush

The absorption of free linear chains in a polymer brush was studied with respect to chain size $L$ and compatibility $\chi$ with the brush by means of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and Density Functional Theory (DFT) / Self-Consistent Field Theory (SCFT) at both moderate, $\sigma_g = 0.25$, and high, $\sigma_g = 1.00$, grafting densities using a bead-spring model. Different concentrations of the free chains $0.0625 \le \phi_o \le 0.375$ are examined. Contrary to the case of $\chi = 0$ when all species are almost completely ejected by the polymer brush irrespective of their length $L$, for $\chi < 0$ we find that the degree of absorption (absorbed amount) $\Gamma(L)$ undergoes a sharp crossover from weak to strong ($\approx 100$) absorption, discriminating between oligomers, $1\le L\le 8$, and longer chains. For a moderately dense brush, $\sigma_g = 0.25$, the longer species, $L > 8$, populate predominantly the deep inner part of the brush whereas in a dense brush $\sigma_g = 1.00$ they penetrate into the "fluffy" tail of the dense brush only. Gyration radius $R_g$ and end-to-end distance $R_e$ of absorbed chains thereby scale with length $L$ as free polymers in the bulk. Using both MC and DFT/SCFT methods for brushes of different chain length $32 \le N \le 256$, we demonstrate the existence of unique {\em critical} value of compatibility $\chi = \chi^{c}<0$. For $\chi^{c}(\phi_o)$ the energy of free chains attains the {\em same} value, irrespective of length $L$ whereas the entropy of free chain displays a pronounced minimum. At $\chi^{c}$ all density profiles of absorbing chains with different $L$ intersect at the same distance from the grafting plane. The penetration/expulsion kinetics of free chains into the polymer brush after an instantaneous change in their compatibility $\chi$ displays a rather rich behavior. We find three distinct regimes of penetration kinetics of free chains regarding the length $L$: I ($1\le L\le 8$), II ($8 \le L \le N$), and III ($L > N$), in which the time of absorption $\tau$ grows with $L$ at a different rate. During the initial stages of penetration into the brush one observes a power-law increase of $\Gamma \propto t^\alpha$ with power $\alpha \propto -\ln \phi_o$ whereby penetration of the free chains into the brush gets {\em slower} as their concentration rises

Impulsivity and Alcohol-Related Risk among College Students: Examining Urgency, Sensation Seeking and the Moderating Influence of Beliefs about Alcohol\u27s Role in the College Experience

The personality trait of impulsivity is predictive of heavy drinking and consequences among college students. The current study examined how impulsivity—measured via positive urgency, negative urgency, and sensation seeking—and a person\u27s beliefs about the role alcohol plays in the college experience relate to drinking and consequences in a sample of 470 college students (mean age = 19 years, 61.3% female, 59.8% white). In support of hypotheses, sensation seeking independently predicted greater drinking, and both positive and negative urgency predicted greater experience of alcohol-related negative consequences after controlling for consumption level. Moreover, alcohol beliefs moderated the relationship between impulsivity types and alcohol outcomes. Among students high (versus low) in sensation seeking, strong beliefs about alcohol\u27s role in college life were related to significantly greater drinking, and among students high (versus low) in negative urgency, endorsing strong beliefs about alcohol\u27s role in college life were related to greater levels of alcohol-related negative consequences. Overall, findings inform college prevention efforts by highlighting the need to distinguish unique facets of impulsivity and examine how they intersect with students’ beliefs about alcohol in college

Examining the Efficacy of a Brief Group Protective Behavioral Strategies Skills Training Alcohol Intervention With College Women

College students’ use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS; e.g., determining not to exceed a set number of drinks, avoiding drinking games) is related to lower levels of alcohol consumption and problems. The present study evaluated the efficacy of a novel brief, single-session group PBS skills training intervention aimed at increasing college students’ use of PBS and reducing risky drinking and consequences. Participants (N = 226) were heavy-drinking incoming first-year college women randomized to either a PBS skills training intervention or study skills control condition. Participants attended a 45-min group session and completed online surveys pre- and postintervention (1 month and 6 months). We conducted a series of 2 × 2 × 3 repeated-measures ANCOVAs with condition and baseline mental health (anxiety/depression) as the between-subjects factors and time as the within-subjects factor. Intervention participants, relative to controls, reported significantly greater increases in PBS use and reductions in both heavy episodic drinking and alcohol consequences. The intervention was particularly effective in increasing PBS use at 1 month among participants with high anxiety. Further, tests of moderated mediation showed a significant conditional indirect effect of condition on 1-month consequences through PBS use among participants with high levels of anxiety. Findings provide preliminary support for a brief PBS-specific group intervention to reduce alcohol risk among college women, particularly anxious women. Future research is needed to strengthen the long-term effectiveness of the present approach and further explore the moderating effects of mental health

Drug Interactions with Glutaredoxin Orthologues

Glutaredoxin, an enzymatic protein, is an important component of cell viability and function. It catalyzes reactions involved in DNA synthesis and innate immunity [1,4]. Glutaredoxin is also essential in antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacterial species. Pseudomonas aeruginosa in particular is responsible for infecting the lung tissue of its human hosts, resulting in the development of pneumonia and cystic fibrosis [3]. Because glutaredoxin is pertinent in cell proliferation of eukaryotic and bacterial cells alike, medicinal fragments that take advantage of the subtle differences in protein structure of the orthologous proteins can be synthesized and enhanced to bind bacterial glutaredoxins, without inhibiting the function of the human form. This can be accomplished by exploiting the mechanisms of fragment based drug discovery using NMR techniques. A library of small potential medicinal fragments are screened against each protein to determine which interact, or bind most efficiently to the bacterial orthologues with little to no interaction with eukaryotic cells. To confirm the ability of select fragments hits to kill bacterial cells without harming human cells, MTT and MIC assays are performed to determine what concentration of fragment is needed to obtain desired therapeutic results [6,7]. These assays were performed against selected lead fragments, particularly RK207 and RK395, which can be structurally enhanced to bind even more to the bacterial orthologues. This research can potentially lead to the development of drug targets against bacterial orthologues of glutaredoxin to treat life threatening diseases caused by pathogenic species

The Efficacy of a Standalone Protective Behavioral Strategies Intervention for Students Accessing Mental Health Services

Objective Students with poor mental health are at increased risk for problematic alcohol use. These students also tend to underutilize alcohol-related protective behavioral strategies (PBS). Cross-sectional studies indicate that PBS use may be particularly useful for students with mental health challenges; however, it is unclear whether training these students to use PBS is an effective approach for reducing alcohol use and consequences. The current study evaluated the efficacy of a standalone PBS skills training and personalized feedback (PBS-STPF) intervention among students accessing mental health services. Method Participants (N = 251) were randomly assigned to either an individual facilitator-led PBS-STPF intervention or a health-related control condition. Participants completed online follow-up surveys 1- and 6-months post-intervention which included measures of alcohol use, negative consequences and a composite measure of PBS use. Results Relative to control participants, students in the PBS-STPF condition reported significantly greater PBS use, but no differences in alcohol use or consequences. Participants in both conditions reported decreases in drinking outcomes over time. Tests of mediation indicated that the intervention indirectly led to reduction in drinking outcomes at 6 months through increased PBS use. Conclusions Although the intervention resulted in changes in PBS use that were maintained for up to 6 months post-intervention, the effects of the intervention on drinking and consequences were limited. A brief standalone PBS training may need augmentation in order to promote effective use of PBS for substantial decreases in alcohol consequences

A Cross-Lagged Panel Model Examining Protective Behavioral Strategies: Are Types of Strategies Differentially Related to Alcohol Use and Consequences?

Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are skills that can be used to reduce the of risk alcohol-related negative consequences. Studies have shown that, in general, PBS are related to less alcohol consumption and fewer negative consequences; however, other studies have suggested that not all types of PBS (e.g., stopping/limiting drinking [SLD], manner of drinking [MOD] and serious harm reduction [SHR]) are equally effective at reducing alcohol risk. In addition, few studies have explored the longitudinal relationships among PBS, alcohol use and consequences. Using a sample of heavy drinking college students (N = 338), the current study examined PBS use, alcohol consumption and consequences across two time points three months apart. Cross-lagged panel models revealed that MOD predicted a reduction in alcohol use and negative consequences. SHR was longitudinally related to fewer negative consequences, but unrelated to alcohol use. SLD was not associated with drinking or consequences at follow-up. These results highlight the need for future research to examine the effects of different types of PBS and have implications for alcohol intervention programs that incorporate PBS skills training

Gender as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Preparty Motives and Event-Level Consequences

Prepartying is often associated with increased alcohol consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences among college students. General drinking motives are often only weakly related to preparty alcohol use, and few studies have examined the associations between preparty-specific drinking motives and alcohol-related consequences that occur during or after a preparty event. The current study utilizes event-level data to address this gap in the literature by examining the relationship between four types of preparty motives (prepartying to relax or loosen up, to increase control over alcohol use, to meet a dating partner, and to address concerns that alcohol may not be available later) and alcohol consequences as a function of gender. Participants (N = 952) reported on their most recent preparty event in the past month. After controlling for general drinking motives, all four preparty motives predicted greater event-level consequences for both males and females. Further, prepartying to increase control over alcohol consumed was associated with greater consequences for males as compared to females. The findings are consistent with research suggesting that preparty specific motives may further our understanding of prepartying outcomes over and above the use of general drinking motive measures

Individual differences in self-affirmation: distinguishing self-affirmation from positive self-regard

Research into self-affirmation has almost exclusively employed experimental manipulations. In this paper we address individual differences in the tendency to respond to threats with self-affirming cognitions and distinguish this from two overlapping constructs: habitual positive self-thought and trait self-esteem. Items we designed to measure self-affirmation were represented by three first-order factors and loaded on a higher-order factor, creating the Spontaneous Self-Affirmation Measure (SSAM). The SSAM correlated moderately with self-esteem and habitual positive self-thought. In competitive analyses, the SSAM was an independent predictor of a large number of outcomes. The studies provide evidence about the correlates of individual differences in reported spontaneous self-affirmation in response to threat and the contribution made to this response by habitual positive self-thought and trait self-esteem