Alcohol-Related Emergency Department Visits Associated With Collegiate Football Games

Abstract

Objective: In 2003, after several post–college football game riots, multiple strategies including strict enforcement of open container laws were instituted by the authors’ city and university. The authors compared alcohol-related visits to the on-campus emergency department (ED) associated with home football games in 2002 and 2006, hypothesizing that alcohol-related visits should decline. Participants: ED patients during home game weekends. Methods: Retrospective cohort study comparing the 2002 and 2006 home games—similar seasons wherein the team went undefeated. Logistic regression assessed the impact of environmental and patient characteristics on the likelihood of an ED visit being alcohol related. Results: In total 2,220 visits in 2002 and 2,146 visits in 2006 were reviewed. Alcohol-related visits increased from 2002 (7.9%) to 2006 (9.5%, p = .06). Despite community interventions, the odds of an ED visit being alcohol related increased (odds ratio [OR] 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI₉₅] 1.06–1.64). Conclusions: Community measures did not reduce alcohol-related visits to the ED.     

Drinking Game Participation Among Undergraduate Students Attending National Alcohol Screening Day

Abstract

Objectives, Participants, Methods: Drinking game participation has increased in popularity among college students and is associated with increased alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. The current study investigated drinking game participation among 133 undergraduates attending National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) in April of 2007. Results: A large percentage of the sample reported lifetime (77%) and recent (52%) drinking game participation. Males were more likely to report recent participation and reported higher levels of consumption while playing drinking games. Drinking game participants were more likely to experience a range of alcohol-related problems, and the relationship between drinking game participation and alcohol-related problems was mediated by weekly alcohol consumption. Conclusions: These results suggest that drinking game participation is a risk factor for elevated levels of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Programs should be developed to educate students about the risks of drinking game participation, and prevention programs like NASD should address drinking games.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Experiential Avoidance,Alcohol Use Disorders,and Alcohol-Related Problems Among First-Year College Students

Abstract

Objective: This study explored the relationship of experiential avoidance (eg, the tendency to avoid, suppress, or otherwise control internal experiences even when doing so causes behavioral harm) to alcohol use disorders and alcohol-related problems. Participants: Cross-sectional data were collected from 240 undergraduate college students in their first year in college between December 2009 and April 2010. Methods: Participants completed a diagnostic interview and online self-report survey. Results: Students with a history of alcohol abuse or dependence had significantly higher levels of experiential avoidance relative to students with no alcohol use disorder diagnosis. A hierarchical linear regression analysis found that experiential avoidance significantly predicted alcohol-related problems, even after controlling for gender and psychological distress. Furthermore, experiential avoidance mediated the relationship of psychological distress to alcohol-related problems. Conclusions: These findings suggest that experiential avoidance may play a role in problematic alcohol use among college students.     

Grandiose and vulnerable narcissism: Associations with alcohol use,alcohol problems and problem recognition

Objective: This study fills a gap in the literature by examining the relationship between two types of narcissism, vulnerable and grandiose, and five alcohol-related outcomes (ie, alcohol use, alcohol problems, evaluation and expectancies of problems, and readiness to change).

Participants: 345 college students (28% men, 72% women) from a Midwestern university were recruited from undergraduate psychology courses from April 2015 to October 2016.

Methods: Participants completed an online survey with questionnaires measuring the variables of interest. Multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses.

Results: Grandiose narcissism was a positive predictor of alcohol consumption and a positive (ie, good) evaluation of alcohol-related problems. Vulnerable narcissism was a positive predictor of alcohol-related problems, problem recognition (ie, readiness to change), and problem expectancies.

Conclusions: The results speak to the effects that different types of narcissism have on alcohol use, alcohol problems and attitudes towards alcohol problems among young adults.     

Exploring College Students’ Use of General and Alcohol-Related Social Media and Their Associations With Alcohol-Related Behaviors

Abstract

Objective: Alcohol marketers have increasingly moved their advertising efforts into digital and social media venues. As a result, the purpose of this study is to investigate associations between students’ use of social media, their exposure to alcohol marketing messages through social media, and their alcohol-related beliefs and behaviors. Participants: Public and private university students (N = 637) participated November and December 2011 and April 2012. Methods: College students completed online surveys to measure their exposure to social and online media generally, as well as their alcohol-related digital media use and alcohol use. Results: Use of social media related to alcohol marketing predicted alcohol consumption and engaging in risky behaviors, whereas the use of social media more generally did not. Conclusions: Students’ use of alcohol-related social media–marketing content associates with their problem drinking. Results have implications for alcohol abuse reduction efforts targeted at college students and suggest the importance of considering social, cultural, and cognitive factors in campaign planning and design.     

The Co-Occurrence of Alcohol Use and Gambling Activities in First-Year College Students

Objective: Both alcohol use and gambling are behaviors that can be problematic for many college students; however, it is not clear whether the relationship between the 2 exists for students who have recently entered college.

Participants: The sample included 908 first-year college students who were surveyed in fall 2005, approximately 1 month after entering college.

Methods: Participants completed Web-based surveys on alcohol use and gambling behaviors.

Results: Alcohol use and alcohol-related risks were significantly related to both gambling frequency and peak gambling loss.

Conclusions: These findings have implications for researchers and clinicians working in the area of addictive behaviors among college students, suggesting that those presenting with problems in 1 domain may also be at risk for problems in the other.     

A Campus-community Coalition to Control Alcohol-related Problems Off Campus: An Environmental Management Case Study

Abstract

The authors report on the effects of a university and community coalition in preventing problems related to college students' off-campus drinking. The Albany, New York, Committee on University and Community Relations used strategies based on an environmental-management approach that focuses on changing the environment in which individuals make decisions about alcohol consumption and related behaviors. Committee initiatives included improving enforcement of local laws and ordinances, creating a safety-awareness campaign for off-campus students, and developing a comprehensive advertising and beverage-service agreement with local tavern owners. The initiatives were associated with a decline in the number of alcohol-related problems in the community, as indicated by decreases in the number of off-campus noise ordinance reports filed by police and the number of calls to a university-maintained hotline for reporting off-campus problems. An environmental management approach, the authors suggest, has promise as an effective means of preventing alcohol-related problems among college students.     

The College Mental Health Center: A Report After Ten Years

Abstract

The College Center is a unique mental health facility providing care for thousands of students from many colleges in the Greater Boston area. The authors report on data collected during the 1975–76, 1976–77 school years regarding patient variables such as: gender, year in school, academic major, presenting problem, and others. The center's handling of these patients is reported in terms of diagnoses, treatment recommendations, and numbers of visits. Several commonly held staff assumptions and hypotheses are tested, and from the data available in this study, are not generally confirmed. The impressions, however, of a more recent decrease in antisocial acting out behavior and drug abuse (other than alcohol) and an increase in patients presenting with more classical neurotic and adjustment symptoms are confirmed.     

The Infirmary as a Short-Term Psychiatric Facility

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the role of the Oregon State University Infirmary (inpatient unit) in the provision of crisis intervention services for students with emotional problems. The focus was on the working assumptions of the infirmary program, the patient population which utilized the infirmary, the dimensions of treatment, and treatment outcomes.

Data were collected for a three year span on all patients who had contact with the infirmary for problems of an emotional nature. Records were reviewed for demographic variables, presenting symptomatology, diagnosis, treatment, disposition, and outcomes. Comparisons were made between these patients and those who received outpatient services through the Oregon State University Mental Health Clinic.

Demographic data indicated that patients who were treated in the infirmary differed only slightly from either the general student population of the university or from students receiving outpatient services. Presenting symptoms reflected a wide range of emotional problems. The severity of psychopathology was demonstrated by the finding that one-quarter of the patients manifested symptoms of acute psychosis, suicidal preoccupation, acute drug reaction, or toxic alcohol reaction. Consistent with the working assumptions of the program, the focus of treatment was short-term, intensive, and symptom directed. Treatment outcomes as determined by followup data were generally positive.

It was concluded that the infirmary provided an important treatment option which extended rather than duplicated outpatient services. The need for such an option was clearly demonstrated. The study was supportive of the concept that a university infirmary has the potential for utilization as a multipurpose facility.     

An Examination of Risky Drinking Behaviors and Motivations for Alcohol Use in a College Sample

Abstract

Objective: The current study examined (1) drinking motives as a mediator of risky drinking behaviors (ie, pregaming and drinking games) and alcohol-related problems and (2) whether gender moderates the association between risky drinking behaviors and negative consequences. Participants: Participants (N = 368; 68% female) were drinkers aged 18 to 25. Data were collected from September to November 2010 and January to May 2011. Methods: Participants completed measures regarding typical pregaming and drinking game alcohol consumption, drinking motives, and alcohol-related consequences. Results: Social, coping, and enhancement motives partially explained relationships, with enhancement motives explaining the most variance for pregaming (31%) and drinking games (44%). Relationships between risky drinking and consequences were not moderated by gender. Conclusions: Drinking to enhance positive affect may be the most salient motivation for drinking related to pregaming and drinking games for college drinkers. Findings have implications for interventions tailored to students engaging in various heavy drinking practices.     

Sleep Quality and Alcohol Risk in College Students: Examining the Moderating Effects of Drinking Motives

Abstract

Objective: Sleep problems and alcohol misuse are common issues experienced by college students that can have detrimental effects on overall health. Previous work indicates a strong relationship between poor sleep quality and alcohol risk in this population. This study explored the moderating effect of drinking motives in the relationship between global sleep quality and experience of alcohol-related negative consequences. Participants: College students (N = 1,878) who reported past-month drinking. Methods: Participants completed online surveys assessing sleep and alcohol-related behaviors. Results: Poorer sleep quality and higher drinking motives (coping, conformity, and enhancement) predicted greater alcohol-related consequences, controlling for drinking. Further, coping motives moderated the relationship between sleep quality and consequences such that participants reporting poor sleep and high coping motives experienced heightened levels of consequences. Conclusions: These findings advance the understanding of the relationship between sleep problems and alcohol-related risk and provide implications for targeted campus-based health promotion interventions.     

Peer,social media,and alcohol marketing influences on college student drinking

Objective: To investigate how alcohol marketing and peers may promote college students' alcohol use through social media. Participants: College students (N = 682) aged 18 to 22 years from a large Southern university completed paper surveys in April 2014. Methods: Structural equation modeling was used to investigate relationships among variables as well as moderation by gender and race. Results: Drinking behavior was directly related to perceived norms and attitudes toward alcohol that develop, in part, from direct and indirect interactions with their online and offline peers, as well as engagement with alcohol-related content on social media. Gender and ethnicity moderated some effects. Conclusions: College student drinking is influenced by friends' alcohol-related content posted on social networking sites and by greater engagement with traditional and online alcohol marketing. College campus alcohol misuse interventions should include components to counter peer influences and alcohol marketing on social media.     

The Role of Monthly Spending Money in College Student Drinking Behaviors and Their Consequences

Objective: Alcohol use among college students is pervasive and affected by economic factors such as personal income and alcohol price. The authors examined the relationship among students' spending money, drinking rate, and alcohol-related consequences.

Participants: In 2005, the authors conducted a Web-based survey among a random sample of 3,634 undergraduate students from 2 large universities.

Methods: The authors used multiple logistic regression to model drinking behaviors and multiple linear regression to model alcohol-related consequences.

Results: The lowest reported levels of average monthly spending money were associated with reduced levels of drinking and getting drunk. Spending money was independently associated with experiencing alcohol-related consequences caused by a student's own drinking, even after the authors controlled for personal drinking behaviors. The effects for consequences caused by others' drinking were significant for students who had gotten drunk.

Conclusions: These findings have implications for alcohol price and marketing, particularly around colleges, and suggest actions for parents to consider.     

‘Red Devils’: The Botwin company in the Spanish civil war

Zionists “Unmasked”

VTORZHENIE bez ORUZHIYA (Invasion Without Anns), by Vladimir Begun, Moscow, “Molodaya gvardiya”, 1977. 175 pp. 35 kop.

SOVIET JEWISH RESETTLEMENT IN AMERICA

THE SOVIET JEWISH EMIGRE. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE INTEGRATION OF SOVIET JEWS INTO THE AMERICAN JEWISH COM MUNITY, December 26–27, 1976, ed. by Jerome M. Gilison. Baltimore, Baltimore Hebrew College, 1977. 167 pp. Bibl.

INTER‐WAR POLISH JEWRY

ON THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION. JEWS OF POLAND BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD wars, by Celia S. Heller. New York, Columbia University Press, 1977. xi, 369 pp. IIIus. Index. $ 14.95.

EUROCOMMUNIST AMBIGUITIES l'eurocommunisme, by Fernando Claudin. Paris, François Maspero, 1977. 151 pp. (Cahiers libres 336). F.22.00.

EURO‐KOMMUNISMUS, by A. Dalma, J. Rovan, A. Razumovsky, M. Vermeh ren, H. Ramseier. Zürich, Edition Interform AG, 1977. 110 pp. (Texte + Thesen 79). DM 8.00.

THEORIES OF NATIONALISM

NATIONAL LIBERATION REVOLUTIONS TODAY. Part I. Some Questions of Theory, by K. N. Brutents. Moscow, Progress Publishers. 1977. 321 pp. (Problems of the Third World.)

THE EVOLUTION OF NATIONALISM IN ASIA AND AFRICA. MOSCOW, USSR Academy of Sciences, 1976. 204 pp. (Problems of Contemporary World, no. 36.)     

Materials relating to east European Jewish history and culture in the archives of the former Soviet Union

YOM KIPPLTR AND AFTER

YOM KIPPUR AND AFTER. THE SOVIET UNION AND THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS, by Galia Golan. London, Cambridge University Press, 1977. ix + 350 pp. Index. £9.00

LITERARY PORTRAITS OF A BYGONE AGE

OCHERKI I PORTRETY. STAT'I O EVREYSKIKH PISATELYAKH (Essays and Portraits. Articles on Yiddish Writers), by G. Remenik. Moscow, Sovetsky pisatel, 1975. 422 pp.

MARXISM AND RELIGION: THE STRUGGLE FOR MAN'S SOUL

MARXISM AND RELIGION IN EASTERN EUROPE. Papers presented at the Banff International Slavic Conference, September 4–7, 1974, ed. by R. T. de George and J. P. Scanlan. Dordrecht — Holland; Boston — USA, Reidel, 1976. xvi + 181 pp. Index. (Sovietica 36.) Dfl. 70.00, US $27.00.

ANTIRELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA IN THE SOVIET UNION. A STUDY OF MASS PERSUASION, by David E. Powell. Cambridge, Mass.; London, England, MIT Press, 1975. xi + 206 pp. Illus. Appendices. Bibl. Index. £13.75.

EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE WARSAW GHETTO

LUDZIE Z DZIELNICY ZAMKNIETEJ. ZYDZI W WARSZAWIE W OKRESIE HITLEROWSKIEJ OKUPACJI, PAZDZIERNIK 1939‐MARZEC 1943 (People in the Quarter. Jews in Warsaw During the Nazi Occupation, October 1939‐March 1943?), by Ruta Sakowska. Warsaw, PWN for the Jewish Historical Institute in Poland, 1975. 399 pp. Illus.

A SLANTED HISTORY OF POLISH COMMUNISM

THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF POLAND (Second Edition), by M. K. Dziewanowski. London, 1976. 419 pp. Index. £10.50.     

Exploring the relationship between experiential avoidance, alcohol use disorders, and alcohol-related problems among first-year college students

Abstract Objective: This study explored the relationship of experiential avoidance (eg, the tendency to avoid, suppress, or otherwise control internal experiences even when doing so causes behavioral harm) to alcohol use disorders and alcohol-related problems. Participants: Cross-sectional data were collected from 240 undergraduate college students in their first year in college between December 2009 and April 2010. Methods: Participants completed a diagnostic interview and online self-report survey. Results: Students with a history of alcohol abuse or dependence had significantly higher levels of experiential avoidance relative to students with no alcohol use disorder diagnosis. A hierarchical linear regression analysis found that experiential avoidance significantly predicted alcohol-related problems, even after controlling for gender and psychological distress. Furthermore, experiential avoidance mediated the relationship of psychological distress to alcohol-related problems. Conclusions: These findings suggest that experiential avoidance may play a role in problematic alcohol use among college students.     

The extent and nature of alcohol-related problems in public senior housing

To examine both the extent and nature of alcohol-related problems in senior housing and how management responds to these problems, 100 local housing authorities (LHAs) in Connecticut with responsibility for senior housing were surveyed. The response rate was 90%. Results indicated variability among LHAs regarding their experiences with alcohol misuse among residents. It was evident in the numbers of residents abusing alcohol, the procedures for addressing problems when they occur, and LHAs' assessment of the extent and seriousness of problems. Few LHAs had either staff training regarding alcohol abuse or policies to address alcohol-related problems. Conclusions concerning whether alcohol-related problems were widespread in public senior housing were related to the size of the LHA. Housing specialists, public policymakers, and educators should assist management personnel in developing policies and procedures regarding misuse of alcohol. In addition, resources should be directed to educate housing authority staff about detection of the problem and strategies for intervention.     

Screening for Alcohol Problems Among 4-Year Colleges and Universities

Abstract

Objective: To assess the use of alcohol screening tools across US colleges. Participants: Directors of health services at 333 four-year colleges. Methods: An online survey was conducted regarding the use of alcohol screening tools. Schools reporting use of formal tools were further described in terms of 4 tools (AUDIT, CUGE, CAPS, and RAPS) that the authors judged to be the most favorable based on prior empirical comparative studies. Results: Forty-four percent of colleges reported use of at least 1 formal alcohol screening tool and nearly all of these used a tool appropriate for college students. However, less than half of the 44% of colleges that used a screening tool used 1 of the 4 most favorable tools. Conclusions: Continued efforts are needed to encourage colleges to use the most effective available screening tools to identify alcohol-related problems that require intervention among students.     

Alcohol-Related Vehicular Death Rates for College Students in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Abstract

Objective: Determine rate of college student alcohol-related vehicular traffic fatalities in Virginia during 2007. Participants: Undergraduates at colleges and universities in Virginia. Methods: Institutions with membership in the American College Health Association were invited to participate in a survey. Data collected from institutional reports of student deaths due to vehicular accidents. Results: Twenty-four institutions were invited to participate. Sixteen responded (response rate = 67%), comprising total enrollment of 117,100 for 17- to 24-year-olds (56% of total college population in state). Five traffic deaths were reported, representing 4.3 deaths per 100,000 students. Based on statewide statistics that estimate alcohol contributes to 38.9% of traffic deaths, rate of alcohol-related motor vehicle deaths is 1.7 deaths per 100,000 college students in Virginia, which is 89% lower than leading national estimates. Conclusions: These findings suggest that past estimates of alcohol-related vehicular deaths among college students are overstated.