Factor structure and validity of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in a sample of mentally disordered offenders

Investigations of the factor structure of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) have produced conflicting results. The current study assessed the factor structure of the AUDIT for a group of Mentally Disordered Offenders (MDOs) and examined the pattern of scoring in specific subgroups. The sample comprised 2005 MDOs who completed a battery of tests including the AUDIT. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a two-factor solution – alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences – provided the best data fit for AUDIT scores. A three-factor solution provided an equally good fit, but the second and third factors were highly correlated and a measure of parsimony also favoured the two-factor solution. This study provides useful information on the factor structure of the AUDIT amongst a large MDO population, while also highlighting the difficulties associated with the presence of people with mental health problems in the criminal justice system.

Dissociations between motor timing, motor coordination, and time perception after the administration of alcohol or caffeine

The impacts of psychoactive drugs on timing have usefully informed theories of timing and its substrates.

Self-esteem and self-efficacy: Associations with alcohol consumption in a sample of adolescents in Northern Ireland

Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have reported equivocal findings regarding the association between self-esteem, self-efficacy and adolescent alcohol use. Data were collected from a sample of 11-16-year olds in Northern Ireland (n = 4088) over two consecutive academic years measuring global self-esteem, academic, social and emotional self-efficacy and alcohol involvement. Results showed a domain-specific association between alcohol involvement and self-efficacy, with more problematic alcohol use associated with higher social self-efficacy but lower emotional and academic self-efficacy. Additionally, regression analyses revealed that all self-concept measures significantly predicted drinking group membership. The results are discussed in terms of reported drinking behaviour, interventions with adolescent groups and general development.

Alcohol and the affluence paradox: A secondary analysis exploring the health disparities surrounding adolescent alcohol use and alcohol related harm in adulthood

Several studies have shown social differences in alcohol consumption, and social inequalities of harm related to alcohol use and abuse. However, relationships between the position in the socio-economic spectrum, alcohol use, and alcohol-related health problems are not clear cut. While there is some evidence of social gradients or associations between indicators of deprivation and some adolescence outcomes (e.g. externalising behaviour), the evidence regarding associations between socio-economic status and alcohol-related problems in adolescence is more conflicting. A major problem in studying socio-economic inequalities in adolescent health is related to the paucity of measures of socio-economic status in adolescence that are both conceptually and methodologically sound.
The aims of this study were to investigate socio-economic differences in pathways from onset to establishment of drinking patterns in adolescence, assess the consequences of these pathways in terms of alcohol related harm, and to consider the causal mechanisms that may contribute to socio-economic differences in drinking pathways and outcomes