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New study findings in mice suggest that repeated binge drinking increases the motivation to consume alcohol to excess. In humans, the pattern of drinking (as well as quantity consumed) can be an important indicator of future drink problems; in adolescents, for example, a binge-drinking pattern can predict development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Studies using laboratory animals that have been selectively bred to drink alcohol (ethanol) in large amounts can provide valuable insights on problematic drinking patterns, using experimental approaches that would be impossible or unethical to apply in humans. Indeed, many important findings on responses to alcohol have been gained from animal studies, conducted to strict welfare guidelines. The latest study, reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, examined two behaviors in mice that reflect their motivation to experience alcohol’s rewarding effects on the brain.

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Recovering from alcohol use disorder (AUD) can sometimes involve drinking reductions that do not come close to abstinence, according to recent research — challenging the dogma that recovery from AUD requires abstinence or infrequent drinking. In a new study, one in five participants achieved stable recovery while occasionally drinking heavily. These participants reported success in various measures of life satisfaction, functioning, and health several years after treatment for AUD, according to the study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Their experience highlights the value of any drinking reduction. This study expands a body of work that is calling into question the longstanding emphasis — in research and recovery programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous — on drinking practices as a primary measure of success. A similar shift is taking place around other psychiatric disorders, with recovery increasingly measured by improved health and functioning over the absence of

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Aggressive behavior often, but not always, occurs alongside alcohol and drug misuse. Indeed, alcohol and drugs contribute to at least 40% of violent acts. However, despite the importance of substance misuse to understanding aggression, the relationships between alcohol-related, drug-related, and non-substance-related aggression are unclear. In particular, it is not known if these are three different facets of an individual’s overall aggressive tendency, or if they are three distinct and separate entities. A new analysis reported in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research has probed this question using statistical modeling.

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Long-term heavy drinking and alcohol dependence are linked to multiple health problems, including premature death. The risk of serious harm is higher for women than men, and also depends on the person’s current level of drinking. However, it is not known if other factors, such as previous drinking history and co-existing psychiatric conditions, might also contribute to early death in people with alcohol dependence. One way to evaluate the impact of these factors is to group patients based on clusters of characteristics and assess outcomes in each group. Alcohol dependence ‘subtypes’ have previously been used to group patients for treatment planning purposes, but have not been assessed for their role in predicting long-term outcomes of alcohol dependence. A new study, reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, has evaluated four alcohol dependence subtypes as predictors of relapse in the year after treatment, and as predictors of mortality over 36 years of follow-up.

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Friends’ drinking behaviors may be key to risky drinking among pregnant teens and young adults, according to a new study. Researchers used a previously untried approach to examine the ways that adolescents’ and young adults’ alcohol use and beliefs before they become pregnant related to their drinking as they entered into motherhood. Young mothers may be particularly vulnerable to moderate or heavy drinking during pregnancy, with adverse outcomes for their babies. Understanding the factors that influence risky alcohol use in pregnancy (3+ drinks per occasion) is important for identifying and supporting at-risk teens and young adults. The study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research may be the first to use data collected before pregnancy, minimizing inaccurate recall.

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High-risk drinkers who substantially reduce their alcohol use can lower their risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) despite not completely abstaining, according to study findings published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. CVD encompasses a range of conditions involving the heart or blood vessels, and is the leading cause of death in the US. It is also one of many negative health outcomes associated with heavy drinking and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Reductions in drinking can be defined using World Health Organization (WHO) ‘risk drinking levels’, which classify drinkers into ‘very high’, ‘high’, ‘moderate’ and ‘low’ risk categories based on their average daily alcohol consumption. Previous research has shown that a reduction of two or more levels (for example, from ‘very high’ to ‘moderate’) can lower the risk of multiple health issues, but did not assess the impact on CVD specifically. The latest study has examined associations between reductions in WHO risk drinking

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Residents of wealthier neighborhoods drink alcohol twice as frequently as people in poorer areas, a new study suggests. The neighborhood environment is known to be associated with alcohol use. But the separate effects of various factors — for example, average income and the number of off-sales outlets — are complex, situational, and difficult to unravel. A new study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research demonstrates a sampling technique that isolates these influences. It explores how certain individual characteristics interacted with certain neighborhood characteristics among 984 survey respondents.

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Heavy-drinking peer groups increase young adults’ desire to drink, according to a study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Investigators used behavioral economic theory — the science of how people make choices — to assess motivations for consuming alcohol among a diverse sample of young adult drinkers. Young adults’ motivation to drink alcohol, as well as their likelihood of misusing it, is associated with how it is consumed within their social networks. But it is not well understood how these factors influence each other, and how those effects may vary depending on sex, race, and education level. For example, does the culture of heavy drinking in US colleges drive the high demand for alcohol there, or is alcohol demand high among young adults generally?

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A study published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research provides support for treatment goals based on reducing drinking, and not necessarily stopping completely, for people recovering from alcohol use disorder (AUD). AUD is linked to damaging reductions in the gray and white matter of certain brain regions. This tissue loss, particularly in the frontal brain lobes, can contribute to cognitive deficits and may increase the risk of relapse following treatment. In people with AUD who quit alcohol completely, brain tissue volumes can increase quite dramatically during abstinence, in parallel to cognitive improvements. Complete abstinence is also associated with improvements in general health and quality of life - therefore abstinence is the usual goal of treatment for AUD.

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How young adults perceive their own drinking habits may distort their self-reported alcohol use, according to a new study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. The study scrutinizes the accuracy of participants’ self-reported drinking — a frequent component of alcohol research. Self-reports are prone to inaccuracies, especially in recalling past use. To improve accuracy, researchers often incorporate both “real time” self-reports and retrospective assessments. When these two reports diverge, however, the implications for research are not well understood. For this study, investigators assessed how these two types of self-report differ and what factors may predict inaccurate self-reporting. Unraveling these influences has the potential to improve the accuracy of some alcohol research — and, ultimately, better support people experiencing hazardous drinking.

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The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is the body’s key stress response system. By driving production of the stress hormone cortisol, and then ensuring a return to baseline levels, the HPA axis regulates our reaction to stressful events. Chronic alcohol use, however, can lead to persistently elevated cortisol, reducing the body’s capacity to respond appropriately to stress. Among people in treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD), the blunted stress response predicts risk of relapse and a return to drinking. Longer-term life stress, including childhood adversity, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and chronic stress, can also dampen HPA axis function, complicating interpretation of the alterations evident in people with AUD. However, it is not known how stress and trauma intereact with AUD to affect HPA-axis reactivity. A new report in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research by researchers from the universities of Texas, Florida, and Colorado addresses this issue, u

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The brain responds to rewarding stimuli by increasing the release of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. When we feel motivated, it is because our brain anticipates this dopamine reward. The transition from early to mid-adolescence is associated with increased reward sensitivity and reward-seeking behavior, a consequence of normal brain development. This heightened sensitivity or prioritization of reward can be thought of as reflecting a greater motivation to obtain rewards. A new study, published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, has addressed whether drinking alcohol in early adolescence might impact the brain’s reward systems, by examining associations between alcohol initiation and subsequent changes in reward motivation while accounting for baseline scores. Differences between boys and girls were also evaluated.

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A simple screening test could help identify infants at risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), according to a report in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Prenatal exposure to alcohol can cause a wide range of lifelong physical, behavioral, and cognitive disabilities, encompassed by the umbrella term FASD. Identifying babies at risk for FASD has previously relied on maternal self-reports of drinking in pregnancy; however, this can be unreliable, as women may under-report their drinking because of recall bias or fear of stigma. Recently, biological markers have been identified that can provide more objective data on prenatal alcohol exposure and supplement information from maternal self-reports. One such biomarker, phosphatidylethanol (PEth), is a direct marker of alcohol metabolism that can indicate exposure with a high level of accuracy, and can be simply measured in newborns (and their mothers) using minimally invasive methods.

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Researchers and clinicians can better understand the health risks facing people with HIV through comprehensive measures of alcohol use, including objective biomarkers, according to a new study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Frequent or heavy alcohol use in people with HIV can affect HIV disease progression and comorbidities. Alcohol use disorder is a barrier to effectively managing HIV and contributes in multiple ways to poor health outcomes. These effects are not well understood, however, owing in part to the limitations of self-report tools (questionnaires) for measuring alcohol use. Researchers at Louisiana State University and Tulane University correlated self-reported alcohol use, measured by multiple questionnaires, with a biomarker of alcohol consumption in people with HIV. This study explores the implications of this multi-faceted approach for understanding the alcohol use of people with HIV and the related risk factors.

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Routine screening for risky alcohol use in general practice can identify people who may benefit from simple interventions to reduce consumption. However, the optimal time interval for repeat screening, including for those who have screened negative, is uncertain. A new study published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research has revealed that, for a significant minority of the population, alcohol risk status can change from ‘low risk’ to ‘at-risk’ (or vice versa) within one year – potentially complicating the interpretation of infrequent screening tests.

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Rates of alcohol use disorder (AUD) have risen in the US in recent years. A small number of pharmacotherapies (drug treatments) are available for AUD, but there is an urgent need for more treatments to be evaluated. Increasingly, novel medications, as well as behavioral interventions, are tested in laboratory-based studies, where the impact on participants’ alcohol consumption can be directly assessed. However, it is not known if drinking in the laboratory setting accurately reflects individuals’ real-life drinking behavior and therefore if study findings hold true in the real-world. A new report in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research by researchers from the NIAAA-supported Center for the Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism at Yale University addresses this issue, by examining the extent to which individuals’ drinking in a laboratory setting correlates with their (self-reported) alcohol use in the lead-up to the study.

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Functional MRI (fMRI), a type of scan that measures brain activity, has enabled study of the impact of alcohol on brain function. This type of imaging allows brain activity to be assessed while participants are at rest, performing a simple task like tapping a finger, or doing a complex cognitive task like a memory task or decision-making. It works by detecting the change in blood flow that occurs when brain cells (or neurons) in different parts of the brain are activated. Blood flow provides the energy and oxygen needed for brain cells to activate, and it is this exchange of oxygen that is measured using fMRI and is reflected by brain blood flow. Complicated physics are involved in determining the profile of blood flow when a part of the brain is activated, and studies have shown that the time course of these changes – known as the hemodynamic response function (HRF) – is affected by acute alcohol consumption. However, the effects of heavy chronic (long-term) alcohol consumption on HRF

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The consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure have been highlighted by three new reports on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in a virtual issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. FASD is the umbrella term for the continuum of effects caused by prenatal drinking, encompassing the most severe form, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), and less severe forms including partial fetal alcohol syndrome (pFAS) and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND). Children with FAS have poor growth, atypical facial features, and central nervous system problems, and all three conditions require evidence of neurobehavioral impairment for diagnosis.

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Cannabis use can worsen some consequences of alcohol use among young adult drinkers over time, according to a new study which tracked the frequency of cannabis use and negative drinking outcomes among college students over three years. More than one in five young drinkers use cannabis, often (but not always) at the same time as drinking alcohol. This is a concern because the effects of cannabis might combine with those of alcohol to increase negative outcomes of drinking, such as impaired driving or developing an alcohol use disorder Although previous research has suggested a link between cannabis use and alcohol consequences, there have been few long-term evaluations of the impact of fluctuations in cannabis use on alcohol consequences over time. The latest study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, was conducted by researchers in Toronto, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York.

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Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) describe the range of effects associated with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). The most severe forms of FASD are fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and partial fetal alcohol syndrome (PFAS), which have adverse effects on learning and memory and result in observable physical abnormalities, including a distinct pattern of facial dysmorphic features, small head circumference, and growth restriction. Identifying the specific brain regions affected is important to fully understand the impact of PAE. Poor spatial skills are common in children with FASD, and tests of navigation in rodents – and more recently, humans – have linked PAE to impairment in ‘place learning’ (the learning of physical positions or locations of objects). Place learning in rodents and humans depends on the hippocampus, a small seahorse-shaped structure in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is particularly sensitive to PAE and is smaller in people (and rodents) exposed to alcohol in

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Drinking while pregnant can harm the developing fetus, leading to physical, cognitive, and neurobehavioral effects that may persist into adulthood. No safe level of alcohol in pregnancy has been identified, and many guidelines now recommend total abstinence. However, prenatal drinking remains common, particularly early on before women are aware of their pregnancy.

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Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is more common among people who have another, co-occuring psychiatric condition (e.g., depression or ADHD), and vice versa. These links are well established, and are based on meeting diagnostic criteria for one or other disorder. However, investigating associations based on strict ‘yes/no’ diagnoses does not account for people who may have a range of psychiatric symptoms and yet do not meet the threshold for a diagnosis of any single disorder.

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Adolescents’ expectations of drinking – whether they anticipate having positive or negative experiences with alcohol – are an important influence on their drinking behavior. For example, those with stronger ‘positive expectancies’ are more likely to start drinking at a young age and to have problems with alcohol. Parental drinking can be an important factor in shaping alcohol expectancies in early adolescence, before a young person starts using alcohol. Studies indicate that children of parents with high levels of alcohol use, and/or an alcohol use disorder (AUD), tend to have stronger positive expectancies of alcohol. However, some evidence suggests that observing the undesirable effects of their parents’ high-risk drinking could lead to ‘negative expectancies’, although this link is uncertain. Researchers from Arizona State University have conducted a new study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, assessing whether the observable negative effects

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Alcohol misuse is common among adolescents, and increases the risk of developing a chronic alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the future. Adolescents respond differently to alcohol compared with adults — they tend to be less sensitive to some of the negative effects of drinking that help protect against excessive intake, but more sensitive to its rewarding and memory-impairing effects. This may contribute to the high rates of alcohol misuse in adolescence, as well as to an elevated risk of developing AUD. However, as not all adolescents who drink alcohol will develop an AUD, it is important to identify factors that may further increase propensity to abuse alcohol in this age-group. Researchers from the State University of New York at Binghamton are interested in the potential impact of having a general anaesthetic, in view of evidence that exposure to anesthesia in adolescence can cause behavioral alterations similar to those induced by alcohol. In a new study published in the journal Alcoh

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Simultaneous use of alcohol and marijuana (SAM) is common among young people, and is sometimes a deliberate choice to enhance the effects of intoxication. However, compared with alcohol use alone, SAM has been linked to a greater risk of interpersonal problems, physical and mental health issues, and road accidents. Despite this, there has been little research at the occasion level – for example, it is not known if individuals who engage in SAM drink more (or less) alcohol on the occasions when they also use marijuana, and experience more (or fewer) alcohol-related consequences, than on alcohol-only days. Researchers in Seattle and Minneapolis have conducted a new study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, to evaluate these aspects, by conducting multiple daily assessments of alcohol and SAM use among the same individuals over time. The study took place in and around Seattle in Washington state, where non-medical marijuana use is legal for those over

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A new service model for addiction recovery support combines voluntary peer-led initiatives with professional support, providing flexible community-based options to address barriers to sustained recovery. Recovery Community Centers (RCCs) are one of the most common and rapidly expanding examples of this model in the US. RCCs function as recovery hubs for people with substance use disorder, offering a range of support services on the principle that sustained recovery requires not only detoxification and mental health support, but also personal, social, environmental, and cultural resources. Collectively, these resources have been termed ‘recovery capital’. The idea is that boosting an individual’s recovery capital will lead to improvements in quality of life, functioning, and well being that support long-term remission from addiction. However, RCCs have not yet been widely studied, and little is known about their user-base and impact. A new study published in the journal Alcoholism: Cli

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Alcohol misuse among college students remains a major public health concern. Students’ perceptions of how much their peers are drinking, and of peers’ attitudes to alcohol, are known to be a key influence on their own alcohol use. Two distinct types of social norms that can shape students’ drinking are recognized – ‘injunctive’ norms, namely perceptions of peers’ attitudes about how much a college student should drink, and ‘descriptive’ norms, which are perceptions of how much their peers do drink.

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Binge drinking is a common and harmful pattern of alcohol use, often defined as consuming at least four (for women) or five (for men) drinks in one drinking episode. However, some people drink well beyond this, consuming two or even three times the binge threshold, putting them at very high risk of acute harm. Previous research on such ‘high-intensity drinking’, or ‘HID’, has been mostly limited to college-age youth, with less known about HID in the mid-adult age group. A new study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research has evaluated the prevalence, consequences, and influences of HID among Australian adults of working age.

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Rates of heavy drinking and alcohol use disorder peak in the late adolescent and early adult age-group (19-25 years), before decreasing from around age 26. This supports the notion that many young people ‘mature out’ of heavier drinking behavior. However, changes in young adults’ alcohol consumption vary widely, and depend on a range of factors including role transitions (e.g. marriage, parenthood), social networks, and personality. Dr. Michael Windle from Emory University, Georgia, assessed the variation in ‘maturing out’ by evaluating trajectories of alcohol use from adolescence through young adulthood, up to around 33 years of age. The study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, also explored whether different alcohol use trajectories were associated with other indicators of young-adult functioning, relating to health, sleep, and social and occupational functioning.

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A study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research could inform efforts to prevent adolescents from escalating to harmful patterns of drinking. Binge drinking in adolescence has many short- and long-term heath consequences, including risk of future alcohol use disorder and potential for harm to the developing brain. The risks are greatest for those who binge frequently – at least once a week. A hallmark of binge drinking is a reduced capacity to control one’s alcohol intake, related to a neurological process of ‘inhibitory control’ involving several regions of the brain. In adolescents who have not yet started drinking, specific alterations in these brain responses have been linked to an increased risk of future alcohol and drug use; however, it was not known if there are changes that could predict escalation of alcohol use among those already drinking. Therefore, researchers from the University of California investigated whether abnormal brain patterns co

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In studies, younger age at first alcohol use has been associated with later alcohol problems in adult life, including heavy drinking and alcohol use disorder. That is the reason why around the world, as in the Netherlands, a key aim of alcohol policy is to postpone the age at first alcohol use. In a report published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, researchers from the Netherlands have investigated whether age of drinking onset is a risk factor for alcohol intoxication among adolescents aged under 18 years.

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Excessive drinking by workers can place a burden on colleagues, whether through absenteeism, reduced productivity or alcohol-related accidents in the workplace. Research in high-income countries has revealed the high economic cost of co-workers’ drinking, but little is known about alcohol’s harm to others in the workplace in lower- or middle-income countries. Researchers from Australia, Sweden and the USA have published a new report in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research comparing the impact of co-workers’ drinking on working people in 12 countries.

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Many parents permit their adolescent children to drink alcohol, believing this helps teach them responsible use and avoids the appeal of ‘forbidden fruit’.

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There is consistent evidence that having an alcohol use disorder is associated with abnormalities in the cerebellum, a structure attached to the bottom of the brain that is involved in coordinating posture and balance but also in supporting some cognitive functions. Cigarette smoking, which often co-occurs with alcohol use, has also been shown to impact brain structure and function, and co-use of these substances is purported to accelerate aging of the brain. A report published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research examines neuroimaging (MRI) data from 92 people in order to further investigate the impact of smoking and alcohol status on the volume of the cerebellum and related cognitive function.

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Treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) often involves a course of counseling aimed at changing the patient’s drinking behavior. Many studies have explored how alcohol use changes during and after treatment, but few have focused on change that occurs before treatment begins. However, there is evidence that having made the decision to seek professional help, some patients do reduce their drinking before their first treatment session ─ and these changes may be maintained during and after treatment. In a new study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, researchers from the University at Buffalo have identified patterns of pre-treatment change ─ and their relationship with treatment outcomes ─ among people seeking treatment for AUD.

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Drinking in pregnancy can harm a developing baby. The term fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) describes the range of effects that can be caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol. Children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), the most severe form, have poor growth, atypical facial features, and central nervous system problems. Less severe forms include partial fetal alcohol syndrome (pFAS) and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND). However, all three require evidence of neurobehavioral impairment affecting cognition or behavior (or both). A recent study in a US Pacific Southwest city estimated that, at a minimum, 2% of first-grade schoolchildren had an FASD. A new report in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research describes the range of FASD among these children and the characteristics of their mothers.

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Excessive and harmful drinking is a key feature of an alcohol use disorder. The causes of substance use disorders are complex, but deficiences in certain aspects of self-control have been implicated. A tendency to react hastily and seek out risky situations has been linked to the process of addiction, and alterations in certain frontal regions of the brain have been associated both with impulsive and sensation-seeking behavior. In a study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, researchers have used brain imaging to further assess the links between self control and alcohol dependence.

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Most people drink less in situations where there are constraints on alcohol use. The sensitivity of alcohol use to the constraint of drink price can be assessed using an ‘alcohol purchase task’, whereby individuals specify how many drinks they would buy in one drinking episode across a range of prices. The data indicate an individual’s ‘demand’ for alcohol, which correlates with severity of alcohol use and related consequences. A new study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research builds on such research by assessing the constraint of next-day responsibility on alcohol-related consequence in college students.

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Only one in five non-fatal alcohol overdoses results from use of alcohol alone, according to a study of patients in a large addiction treatment facility, with most alcohol overdoses involving concomitant use of other drugs. Alcohol can interact with other drugs ─ including marijuana, central nervous system depressants such as opioids, and stimulants such as cocaine ─ in various ways, and using them together is known to increase the likelihood and severity of overdose. Despite this, there is limited research examining the characteristics of alcohol overdose in the context of concomitant drug use. The new study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, provides a clearer understanding of role of other drug use and its impact on outcomes of alcohol overdose.

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Moderate drinking has been linked to a lower risk of coronary heart disease in several studies. However, the relationship between alcohol and heart disease remains controversial and is challenging to assess. Most available data are from prospective (forward-looking) studies of people in middle age or older, in whom alcohol intake was assessed at the time of study entry.

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Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on challenging and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and is a proven treatment for alcohol use disorder. However, the training and expert supervision needed to deliver consistent, high-quality face-to-face sessions is costly, limiting the widespread implementation of CBT in clinical practice. Delivering CBT through technology-based platforms, such as web-based programs and mobile apps, has potential to provide widespread and low-cost access to this evidence-based intervention ─ but it’s important to establish that tech-based CBT is as effective for alcohol treatment as the in-person format. A new report published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research systematically examines the evidence for tech-based delivery of CBT for alcohol use by combining data from multiple published studies, using a statistical technique known as meta-analysis.

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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep disturbance and alcohol problems are common among military veterans, and often occur together, with a large toll on physical and mental health. A new study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research examines the interplay of PTSD symptoms and disturbed sleep, and how they affect the risk of alcohol problems over time.

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CBT is a counseling approach that addresses how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors influence each other in both healthy and harmful ways. It is already proven to be an effective treatment for alcohol use disorder, but has not been widely studied for an effect on DUI.

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Alcohol biosensors suitable for use by everyday drinkers are a step closer, following a positive study of prototype devices published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Keeping track of alcohol intake can be challenging, given variation in standard drink sizes and impaired awareness as blood alcohol levels rise. Discreet devices that track alcohol levels could help people make more informed decisions about when to stop drinking and could potentially reduce alcohol-related road deaths.

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Alcohol and other drug intoxication in minors is a public health challenge. European surveys reveal that schoolchildren start drinking alcohol at an average age of 12, and a third of Spanish 14 to 18 year-olds admit to binge drinking ─ consuming five or more drinks per occasion ─ within the last month. Although alcohol is the most commonly abused substance among minors in Western countries, poly-drug use (often involving cannabis and alcohol) is increasingly common.

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Problem drinking has become more common in the US in recent decades. The San Diego Prospective Study (SDPS), which began in 1978, revealed an almost two-fold increase in alcohol problems and alcohol use disorder among the current generation of young-adult drinkers compared to their fathers

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People in early-stage recovery from alcohol use disorder can struggle to recognize facial expressions of emotion ─ particularly anger ─ according to a study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. The findings build on mounting evidence that long-term alcohol misuse may impair the brain’s ability to process facial emotion. As facial expressions are important for interpersonal and social functioning, this might contribute to the development of interpersonal difficulties, which are common among people with alcohol use disorder and reduce the likelihood of a successful recovery.

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Chronic misuse of alcohol can cause damage to the structure and function of the brain, and this in turn can impair decision-making and further exacerbate problem drinking. The cerebral cortex – a folded layer of cells that forms the outer layer of the brain ─ is of particular interest, as this is where a majority of information processing takes place. Neuroimaging studies have revealed that greater alcohol intake is associated with a thinner cortex. However, when comparing the thickness of different regions of the cortex, findings have differed across studies ─ possibly because of modest sample sizes, and because many studies did not account for potential differences between males and females. Researchers from the McMaster University’s Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research in Ontario, Canada and the University of Georgia, USA have now published new findings in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research on the association between the thickness of different regions of

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Women living with HIV are less likely than men to achieve viral suppression with antiretroviral therapy. Reduction in alcohol use is a possible strategy to improve health outcomes in women with HIV, with evidence that unhealthy alcohol use (>7 drinks per week or >4 drinks per occasion for women) is associated with poorer adherence to treatment, lower rates of viral suppression, and faster disease progression. Several medications are available on prescription to help reduce drinking, including naltrexone, which is taken as a once-daily pill; however, none have been studied in relation to clinical outcomes in people with HIV. Researchers from universities in Florida have conducted a clinical trial, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research , to understand the effect of naltrexone on drinking behavior and clinical outcomes in women with HIV who engage in unhealthy alcohol use, exceeding recommended drinking levels.

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Drinking too much too quickly can cause alcohol-induced blackout – where the individual stays conscious but cannot later remember what happened. Blackout drinking can lead to accidents and risky behaviors, and may have long-term effects on brain function. Despite the risks, drinking to blackout is common, particularly among young adults ─with evidence that some young people drink with the specific intention of blacking out. However, the motives underlying this drinking behavior are unknown. A new report in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Researchexamines how blackouts are discussed on Twitter, with a focus on people’s intentions and motives for blacking out.