scholarly journals Estimating the population effect of maternal alcohol use disorders on the educational achievement of children

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Hafekost ◽  
Sarah Johnson ◽  
Carol Bower ◽  
James Semmens ◽  
Colleen O'Leary
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Educational Outcomes ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorders ◽  
Heavy Alcohol ◽  
Maternal Alcohol ◽  
Heavy Alcohol Use ◽  
Timing Of Exposure

ABSTRACTObjectivesPrevious research has identified that heavy maternal alcohol use impacts on a child’s health and development including poor cognitive and educational outcomes. However, very few studies have used objective measures of heavy alcohol-use and standardised school-based measures. Further, the magnitude of the effect of heavy maternal alcohol use on the educational outcomes of children in Australia is unknown. The primary aim of the project was to examine the association between in-utero and childhood exposure to maternal alcohol use disorder, which provides a proxy for heavy alcohol use, and children’s educational outcomes. ApproachThis Western Australian population cohort study made use of linked administrative data to compare the educational outcomes of a cohort of exposed children born between 1989 and 2007 whose mother had an alcohol related diagnosis recorded on health datasets, with children whose mother did not have a diagnosis. The exposed cohort of mothers was frequency matched on maternal age within Indigenous status, and year of child’s birth with a comparison cohort of mothers without an alcohol-related diagnosis. Records were linked with education records up to 2011, which included the results of standardised state and national testing for children (ages 8-14), and school attendance data (ages 6-18). Mixed multivariate models were used to examine the relationship between exposure, and timing of exposure in relation to pregnancy, and the risk of failure to meet educational benchmarks for reading, writing, spelling, numeracy and school attendance. Separate analyses were run for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. ResultsA higher proportion of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous exposed children failed to reach minimum standards for all domains of testing compared to those in the unexposed cohort. The risk of failure in the exposed cohort remained significant with adjustment for a set of known confounders and there was no consistent relationship between timing of exposure and academic performance. ConclusionThis project provides a unique view of how maternal alcohol use disorders affect a child’s educational outcomes. The use of linked administrative data overcomes the use of retrospective recall of past behaviour, and self-reports of drinking patterns which may be considered socially unacceptable. Results of this project indicate that children whose mothers have an alcohol use disorder are academically at risk. These results suggest that routine monitoring of maternal alcohol use, early identification of at-risk children and intervention at both the school and family level may assist vulnerable children to reach academic benchmarks.

Integrative Approach to Alcohol Use Disorder

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Wilkens ◽  
Shahla J. Modir
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Secondary Prevention ◽  
Medical Treatment ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorders ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Primary And Secondary Prevention ◽  
Dsm 5 ◽  
Heavy Alcohol Use ◽  
The Brain

Integrative medicine has the potential to augment traditional medical treatment of alcohol use disorders (as defined by the DSM-5), while also providing a basis for primary and secondary prevention of alcohol-use disorders (AUD). The chapter provides the reader with a review of the effects of alcohol on the human brain and body—including how chronic heavy alcohol use produces disproportionate changes throughout the brain that may result in the development of AUD, the influence of genetics on an individual’s sensitivity or insensitivity to alcohol, how traditional medicine balances medications that reduce craving for alcohol with psychosocial therapies, and how exercise, healthy diet, meditation, yoga, mindfulness, acupuncture, and neurofeedback may augment traditional medical treatment and contribute to primary and secondary prevention of AUD.

scholarly journals Altered neural dynamics in occipital cortices serving visual-spatial processing in heavy alcohol users

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-253
Author(s):  
Brandon J Lew ◽  
Alex I Wiesman ◽  
Michael T Rezich ◽  
Tony W Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorders ◽  
Spatial Processing ◽  
Neural Dynamics ◽  
Heavy Alcohol ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Identification Test ◽  
Heavy Alcohol Use ◽  
Visual Spatial Processing

Background: Visual-spatial processing deficits have been previously linked to heavy alcohol use, but the underlying neurological mechanisms are poorly understood. Neuroimaging studies have shown alcohol-related aberrations in occipital cortices that appear to be associated with these neuropsychological deficits in visual-spatial processing, however the neural dynamics underlying this altered processing remains unknown. Methods: Twenty-three adults with high scores on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test – Consumption (male: ⩾5, female: ⩾4) were compared to 30 demographically-matched controls with low Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test – Consumption scores (⩽2). All participants completed a visual-spatial processing task while undergoing high-density magnetoencephalography. Time-frequency windows of interest were determined using a data-driven method, and spectrally-specific neural activity was imaged using a beamforming approach. Permutation testing of peak voxel time series was then used to statistically compare across groups. Results: Participants with heavy alcohol use responded slower on the task and their performance was more variable. The magnetoencephalography data indicated strong theta (4–8 Hz), alpha (10–16 Hz), and gamma (62–72 Hz) responses in posterior brain regions across both groups. Following voxel time-series extraction, significant group differences were found in the left and right visual association cortices from about 375–550 ms post-stimulus, such that adults with heavy alcohol use had blunted alpha responses compared to controls. Conclusion: Individuals with heavy alcohol use exhibited aberrant occipital alpha activity during visual-spatial processing. These data are the first to show spectrally-specific differences during visual-spatial processing related to heavy alcohol use, and highlight alcohol’s effect on systems-level neural activity.

Personality Processes Related to the Development and Resolution of Alcohol Use Disorders

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Sher ◽  
Andrew Littlefield ◽  
Matthew Lee
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorders ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Is Research ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Adult Role ◽  
Static View

This chapter discusses relations between personality and alcohol use disorder (AUD). After reviewing basic terms and concepts in personality research, two major areas of contemporary research are discussed. The first area concerns how personality traits are implicated in etiologic pathways to AUD. This highlights the centrality of personality to conceptualizing AUD and related psychopathology. The second area is research emphasizing movement beyond a static view of personality, recognizing that personality traits are dynamic and change as a function of human development and life transitions. In particular, whereas past research on “maturing out” of AUD emphasized salutary effects of young adult role transitions, recent evidence reveals normative patterns of developmental personality maturation and supports these as additional influences on maturing out. The chapter discusses ways that contextual role effects and personality maturation can perhaps be integrated into a broader model of maturing out of AUD. Implications for future investigation are presented.

Implications of Heterogeneity in Alcohol Use Disorders for Understanding Developmental Pathways and Prevention Programming

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea M. Hussong ◽  
W. Andrew Rothenberg ◽  
Ruth K Smith ◽  
Maleeha Haroon
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Behavioral Control ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorders ◽  
Developmental Pathways ◽  
Prevention Programming ◽  
Preventive Program ◽  
Innovative Methods ◽  
Core Deficit ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing

This chapter discusses current conceptualizations of heterogeneity in alcohol use disorder (AUD), characterizes developmental pathways that lead to different subtypes of AUDs, and discusses how such pathways can inform preventive program design. Specifically, it reviews the “internalizing” and “externalizing” developmental pathways to AUDs. The externalizing pathway is characterized by a core deficit in behavioral control, whereas the internalizing pathway is characterized by a core deficit in emotion regulation. Both pathways predict drinking onset and escalation to AUD for some individuals. The chapter calls for the development of interventions to treat early childhood precursors to AUDs, innovative methods to identify individuals at risk for early emerging AUDs, additional investigation of how core pathway deficits operate across development, and greater consideration of how externalizing and internalizing pathways may interact within and across individuals.

Predictors of Sexual Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Men: A Prospective Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052198973
Author(s):  
Hailee K. Dunn ◽  
Deborah N. Pearlman ◽  
Madeline C. Montgomery ◽  
Lindsay M. Orchowski
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Teen Dating Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Heavy Alcohol ◽  
Peer Approval ◽  
Sexual Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Heavy Alcohol Use

Research demonstrates that both peer socialization and underage drinking play a significant role in teen dating violence. However, less is known about the lasting effects of these risk factors on boys’ ability to form healthy romantic relationships as they get older. The present study examined whether boys who perceived their peers would respect them more for having sex and those who engaged in past year heavy alcohol use would be more likely to perpetrate sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) in young adulthood compared to boys who did not endorse perceived peer approval for sex or report past year heavy drinking. Analyses were conducted using a sample of boys ( n = 1,189) from Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). A logistic regression was conducted to assess the relationship between perceived peer approval to have sex and heavy alcohol use at Wave I and sexual IPV at Wave III, after adjusting for demographic factors and other correlates of sexual IPV at Wave I, including age, race/ethnicity, sexual initiation in adolescence, parental attachment, annual family income, and neighborhood poverty. Boys who believed they would gain peer respect by having sex and boys who reported getting drunk in the last 12 months, regardless of how often, were significantly more likely to report sexual IPV in young adulthood compared to boys who did not endorse either of these factors. Targeting boys’ perceived peer norms regarding sexual activity and heavy alcohol use may therefore be especially important for preventing sexual IPV later in life.

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