scholarly journals Cultural Differences in Tweeting about Drinking Across the US

Author(s):  
Salvatore Giorgi ◽  
David B. Yaden ◽  
Johannes C. Eichstaedt ◽  
Robert D. Ashford ◽  
Anneke E.K. Buffone ◽  
...  

Excessive alcohol use in the US contributes to over 88,000 deaths per year and costs over $250 billion annually. While previous studies have shown that excessive alcohol use can be detected from general patterns of social media engagement, we characterized how drinking-specific language varies across regions and cultures in the US. From a database of 38 billion public tweets, we selected those mentioning “drunk”, found the words and phrases distinctive of drinking posts, and then clustered these into topics and sets of semantically related words. We identified geolocated “drunk” tweets and correlated their language with the prevalence of self-reported excessive alcohol consumption (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; BRFSS). We then identified linguistic markers associated with excessive drinking in different regions and cultural communities as identified by the American Community Project. “Drunk” tweet frequency (of the 3.3 million geolocated “drunk” tweets) correlated with excessive alcohol consumption at both the county and state levels (r = 0.26 and 0.45, respectively, p < 0.01). Topic analyses revealed that excessive alcohol consumption was most correlated with references to drinking with friends (r = 0.20), family (r = 0.15), and driving under the influence (r = 0.14). Using the American Community Project classification, we found a number of cultural markers of drinking: religious communities had a high frequency of anti-drunk driving tweets, Hispanic centers discussed family members drinking, and college towns discussed sexual behavior. This study shows that Twitter can be used to explore the specific sociocultural contexts in which excessive alcohol use occurs within particular regions and communities. These findings can inform more targeted public health messaging and help to better understand cultural determinants of substance abuse.

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Viviane Colares ◽  
Jonathan Lopes de Lisboa ◽  
Patricia Maria Pereira de Araújo Zarzar ◽  
Carolina da Franca Bandeira Ferreira Santo ◽  
Paula Andréa de Melo Valença ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of cigarette use among adolescents and to identify associated health risk behaviors. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study with a representative sample, composed of 1059 adolescents between 13 and 19 years old, enrolled in primary and secondary public schools of Olinda, Pernambuco, in 2014. Information was obtained through self-administered questionnaires (validated version of YRBS 2007). Cigarette experimentation was defined as smoking at least once in life. Adolescents who smoked at least one day within 30 days prior to the survey were considered current smokers. Most students were female and 16 years old or older. RESULTS: Almost 30% used it in life and about 10% smoked within the 30 days before the survey. Suicidal ideation (PR = 1.51, 95%CI 1.25–1.82), alcohol use (PR = 1.41, 95%CI 1.03–1.92), marijuana (PR = 1.64, 95%CI 1.37–1.96), excessive alcohol consumption (PR = 1.57, 95%CI 1.15–2.16) and sexual experience (PR = 1.78, 95%CI 1.43–2.21) have increased the risk of using cigarettes. Feelings of sadness (PR = 1.70, 95%CI 1.22–2.36), alcohol use (PR=2.40, 95%CI 1.12–5.12), excessive alcohol consumption (PR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.24–5.38), marijuana (PR = 2.31, 95%CI.57–3.39) and cocaine (PR = 1.99, 95%CI.32–3.01) increased the risk of cigarette use within the 30 days before the survey. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarette use among adolescents from Olinda was high, being considered higher than the national prevalence. Possible factors associated with cigarette use were drug use (alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine) and behaviors related to sexual experience, feelings of sadness and suicidal ideation.  


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Elisabet R Hillesund ◽  
Nina C Øverby ◽  
Erlend L Valen ◽  
Dagrun Engeset

Abstract Objective: Excessive alcohol consumption during reproductive years may impact the integrity of developing eggs and sperm, potentially affecting the life-long health of future children. Inadequate diets could aggravate these preconception effects of alcohol. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of excessive alcohol consumption and explore whether weekly alcohol intake is associated with energy and nutrient intake and adequacy of micronutrient intake among students. Design: Cross-sectional survey using a validated and reproducibility-tested FFQ. Setting: University of Agder, Norway, in 2018. Participants: 622 students (71 % female). Results: More than 80 % reported having consumed alcoholic beverages the past 4 weeks. One-third of men and 13 % of women exceeded the upper recommended limit of 14 UK alcohol units/week. An inverse association between increasing alcohol intake and energy-adjusted micronutrient intake was evident for thiamine, phosphate, Fe, Zn and Se in men, and for vitamin A, β-carotene, vitamin E and C, thiamine, vitamin B6, folate, P, Mg, K, Fe, Zn and Cu in women. A substantial proportion had vitamin D, folate, Fe and I intakes below average requirement regardless of alcohol consumption level. The combination of prevalent alcohol use, decreasing micronutrient density of diet across alcohol consumption level and a high probability of micronutrient inadequacy indicate reason for concern in a preconception public health perspective. Conclusions: Our findings call for investigations into young adults’ knowledge, reflections and beliefs regarding diet and alcohol use to understand how these behaviours could be improved ahead of parenthood.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia De Santis ◽  
Patrick Bach ◽  
Laura Pérez-Cervera ◽  
Alejandro Cosa-Linan ◽  
Georg Weil ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlous Tuithof ◽  
Margreet ten Have ◽  
Wim van den Brink ◽  
Wilma Vollebergh ◽  
Ron de Graaf

2015 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 393-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Schröck ◽  
Ana Hernández Redondo ◽  
Marie Martin Fabritius ◽  
Stefan König ◽  
Wolfgang Weinmann

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yann Ehinger ◽  
Nadege Morisot ◽  
Khanhky Phamluong ◽  
Samuel A. Sakhai ◽  
Drishti Soneja ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTFyn kinase in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) of rodents plays a central role in mechanisms underlying excessive alcohol intake. The DMS is comprised of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) that project directly (dMSNs) or indirectly (iMSNs) to the substantia nigra. Here, we examined the cell-type specificity of Fyn’s actions on alcohol use. First, we knocked down Fyn selectively in DMS dMSNs or iMSNs of mice and measured the level of alcohol consumption. We found that downregulation of Fyn in dMSNs, but not in iMSNs, reduces excessive alcohol but not saccharin intake. D1Rs are coupled to Gαs/olf, which activate cAMP signaling. To examine whether Fyn’s actions are mediated through cAMP signaling, DMS dMSNs were infected with GαsDREADD, and the activation of Fyn signaling was measured following CNO treatment. We found that remote stimulation of cAMP signaling in DMS dMSNs activates Fyn and promotes the phosphorylation of the Fyn substrate, GluN2B. In contract, remote activation of GαsDREADD in DLS dMSNs did not alter Fyn signaling. We then tested whether activation of GαsDREADD in DMS dMSNs or iMSNs alters alcohol intake and observed that CNO-dependent activation of GαsDREADD in DMS dMSNs but not iMSNs increases alcohol but not saccharin intake. Finally, we examined the contribution of Fyn to GαsDREADD-dependent increase in alcohol intake, and found that systemic administration of the Fyn inhibitor, AZD0503 blocks GαsDREADD-dependent increase in alcohol consumption. Our results suggest that the cAMP-Fyn axis in the DMS dMSNs is a molecular transducer of mechanisms underlying the development of excessive alcohol consumption.


Medicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Akihiko Shibamoto ◽  
Tadashi Namisaki ◽  
Junya Suzuki ◽  
Takahiro Kubo ◽  
Satoshi Iwai ◽  
...  

: Background: This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (γ-GTP) to assess the single and combined benefits of these biological markers for the detection of chronic excessive alcohol consumption in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. Methods: Biological markers were determined in blood samples from patients with alcoholic cirrhosis (drinking group, n = 35; nondrinking group, n = 81). The prediction accuracy of %CDT alone, γ-GTP alone, and their combination for the detection of excessive alcohol consumption was determined in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. Results: Serum total bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, γ-GTP, and alkaline phosphatase levels and %CDT were significantly higher and serum albumin levels were significantly lower in the drinking group than in the nondrinking group. The combination of %CDT and γ-GTP compared with %CDT or γ-GTP alone showed a higher prediction accuracy. The combination of %CDT and γ-GTP exhibited a higher specificity than γ-GTP alone. However, in terms of sensitivity, no significant difference was found between single or combined markers. Conclusions: The combination of %CDT and γ-GTP is considered a useful biomarker of chronic excessive alcohol consumption in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis.


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