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Alcohol consumption in later life has increased over the past decade. Although moderate alcohol intake in older adults has been previously linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death, recent studies have suggested little ─ if any ─ health benefit to alcohol. Assessing the relationship between alcohol intake and mortality is extremely challenging, partly because of the need to disentangle the effect of alcohol from that of other factors that influence health, and also because people’s drinking habits often change over time. However, research methodology and data quality continue to improve. A new report in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research presents a 16-year follow-up of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) ─ one of the largest and most rigorous US studies of the relationship between alcohol consumption and mortality to date.

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Many factors influence alcohol consumption during adulthood. Individuals who experience early adversity (EA) in their lives tend to be more vulnerable to stress-related drinking or other stress-related addiction. This vulnerability can be exacerbated by an existing genetic predisposition. These findings and others will be shared at the 42nd annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in Minneapolis June 22-26.

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How do the people we love shape our drinking? Researchers know that both genetic and environmental factors – the latter including relationships with other people – influence alcohol outcomes such as abuse or dependence. Interdisciplinary research indicates that romantic relationships can even alter the impact of genetic influences on alcohol outcomes. These results and others will be shared at the 42nd annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in Minneapolis June 22-26.

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Alcohol and cannabis are commonly used together, and their co-use has public health implications. A preliminary study looked at the effects of two cannabinoids – delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and cannabidiol (CBD) – on drinking and craving. The study found that higher levels of THC are associated with greater co-use of alcohol, whereas CBD-based products may be associated with lower levels of alcohol co-use. These results and others will be shared at the 42nd annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in Minneapolis June 22-26.

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Alcohol is a complicated beverage; it can have stimulating, sedating, and various subjective effects. These effects can, in turn, predict future drinking behavior as well as risk for alcohol problems.

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There is a lack of agreement about the relationship between marijuana and alcohol use. Does marijuana use increase or decrease alcohol consumption? Research based on interviews with users of both marijuana and alcohol reveals that recreational users tend to drink more alcohol, and medicinal users drink less alcohol, on marijuana-use days. These results and others will be shared at the 42nd annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in Minneapolis June 22-26.

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Nearly half of Americans older than 65 years of age self-report as current drinkers. Most do not develop alcohol use disorders; however, it remains unclear if growing older entails greater vulnerability to alcohol’s effects. Research on the impact of “social” drinking – comparable to a glass or two of wine with dinner – among older adults has found a notable impact on daily activities such as the ability to operate a car. These results and others will be shared at the 42nd annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in Minneapolis June 22-26.

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Intimate partner violence (IPV) – commonly known as domestic violence, and long associated with drinking – is a significant public health problem. Examination of patients treated at urban Emergency Departments (EDs) shows that choice of drinking venues, such as bars or restaurants, and amount consumed there, appear to have little influence on IPV risk. These results and others will be shared at the 42nd annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in Minneapolis June 22-26.

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Although drinking alone does not necessarily mean that someone has a drinking problem, solitary drinking by youth is alarming for several reasons: it may lead to heavier drinking, numerous psychosocial problems, and long-term alcohol problems. Findings from two large samples of underage drinkers show that solitary drinking can be influenced by social discomfort, especially among underage female drinkers. These results and others will be shared at the 42nd annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in Minneapolis, June 22-26, 2019.

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There is no amount, pattern or timing of alcohol use during pregnancy proven safe for a developing fetus. Repeat: there is no amount, pattern or timing of alcohol use during pregnancy proven safe for a developing fetus. Drinking in pregnancy can have a range of harmful consequences for the child ─ including poor growth, learning and behavioral difficulties, problems with movement and co-ordination, and distinctive facial features ─ that are collectively known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Screening for alcohol use during pregnancy is a necessary first step in preventing FASD, but studies have suggested that primary care providers do not screen consistently and can be hesitant to follow up with women who report drinking. New research published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research has evaluated midwives’ and nurse-midwives’ understanding of the risks of drinking in pregnancy, and their screening practice.

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Exposure to adversity as a child can affect how the body responds to stress, and may increase the risk of negative health behaviors and addictions in adulthood. However, the impact of early life adversity may depend partly on an individual’s genetic makeup. The ‘COMT’ gene is of particular interest ─ it occurs in two common variant forms, MET and VAL, that differentially affect key molecules involved in the human stress response, and these gene variants may also influence vulnerability to our early environment.

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People who drink alcohol while using medications that interact with it are higher risk of harm from overdose, falls, and traffic accidents. In recent years, there has been a documented increase in alcohol-related adverse drug reactions

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Simultaneous use of alcohol and marijuana is riskier than using either substance alone, because their effects can interact and cause excessive depression of the central nervous system. This can result in more negative consequences such as driving under the influence, accidents, cognitive impairment, and symptoms of substance use disorders, as well as alterations in mood and well-being.

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Exposure to stigma elicits negative mood and alcohol craving among sexual minority young adults who are heavy drinkers, according to findings from a novel study at American University, Washington, DC, and Brown University, Rhode Island.

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Alcohol and drug problems are often described as ‘chronically relapsing’ conditions, implying that multiple recovery attempts are needed before an addiction can be overcome for good. However, a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School indicates that most people with an alcohol or drug problem achieve resolution after a surprisingly small number of serious quit attempts.

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A new study involving more than three thousand adult twins from Australia has investigated the contributions of genetic and environmental factors to blacking and passing out after drinking. Twins are an important resource for health research, including alcohol studies. By comparing the frequency of an outcome ─ such as blackout ─ among pairs of identical twins (who share all their genes) and non-identical twins (who share only half of their genes but many aspects of their environment), researchers can better understand the roles of genetic and enviromental factors in influencing the outcome.

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Many thousands of young people opt to study abroad for part of their degree course, seizing the personal, cultural, and academic opportunities this brings. However, excess alcohol consumption also features in some stays abroad ─ with new research showing that young people studying abroad have more excessive and harmful drinking behaviors during their stay than those staying home. This raises concern over short-term risks to health and well being, and that exchange program stays might act as a stepping stone to an alcohol use disorder in future.

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Individual genetic make-up, roommates’ drinking behavior, and how much individuals think their friends are drinking all influence students’ own alcohol use, according to new findings from the ‘Spit for Science’ project at an urban campus university.

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Drinking too much too quickly can have many harmful consequences, including alcohol-induced blackouts – where the individual continues to function and make decisions, but later has little or no memory of the events. Blackout drinking is associated with accidents and risky behaviors, may have long-term effects on brain development and function, and is linked to increased risk for alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms in the future. College students ─ who report higher levels of alcohol use than the general population ─ are at particular risk of experiencing alcohol-induced blackouts and their damaging consequences. This calls for a simple, cost-effective intervention to reduce blackout drinking in this group.

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Drink reduction goals are achievable and sustainable for people seeking treatment for alcohol dependence, according to new study findings. Sustained abstinence has long been considered the optimal treatment outcome for those with a clinically diagnosed alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, most people who seek treatment would prefer to reduce their drinking, rather than quit completely. Interest in drinking reduction as a treatment goal is growing, although whether reductions can be maintained over time, and improve patients’ function, is uncertain.

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Alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition. Although patients with cirrhosis are routinely encouraged to stop drinking in order to reduce their mortality risk, many continue drinking and do not avail themselves of alcohol treatment. To understand more fully the role of alcohol treatment in determining the course of alcohol-related cirrhosis, researchers examined the rates, predictors, and outcomes of alcohol treatment in alcohol-related cirrhosis patients with private insurance. They obtained data from a large insurance database containing information on 66,053 patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis for the years 2009-2016. Nearly one-third of the patients were female, with a mean age of 54.5 years when the diagnosis of cirrhosis was made.

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Recruiting participants to test treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) is time consuming and expensive, limiting the development of new interventions for the disorder. Crowdsourcing is a sampling method that can effectively and efficiently recruit large numbers of participants who have different health histories. Researchers tested the feasibility and acceptability of delivering cognitive training interventions, a commonly used treatment approach for AUD, via crowdsourcing. They recruited 476 participants from the crowdsourcing website Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk) who completed a baseline survey. Participants were then randomly assigned to receive an inhibitory control, working memory, or control training treatment intervention and asked to complete training tasks daily over a two-week period. Follow-up assessments evaluating the acceptability of the intervention and effects on alcohol and soda consumption were completed immediately following the training and then again two week

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Although parents have an important influence on drinking among students during their first year of college, there is limited research addressing whether parenting later in college has a similar effect. Researchers followed 1,429 students at three large public universities to examine the associations between parents’ permissiveness toward alcohol use and monitoring of students’ behavior and students’ drinking outcomes. Students completed surveys during the fall semesters of their first and fourth years of college. The study used a structural equation model, a form of causal modeling, to examine associations between parental permissiveness of college student alcohol use, parental monitoring of students’ behavior and students’ drinking and alcohol-related consequences at the two time points, controlling for parental modeling of risky drinking, peer norms, sex, and campus.

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Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a common addictive disease that affects the brain. The risk of developing AUD is due, nearly equally, to environmental and genetic effects. More than 3,000 genes have been linked to AUD or the response to alcohol. Brain imaging studies have revealed alterations in brain structure and function related to AUD. However, few studies have linked genes to brain findings in individuals with an AUD diagnosis.

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Although the use of alcohol and marijuana is common in college students, those who suffer from anxiety symptoms in social settings are particularly vulnerable to problematic use of these substances. Studies have shown that substance use by these students serves to help them cope with social anxiety.

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Only a minority of adults with an alcohol use disorder (AUD) seek treatment for it. Although women are more likely than men to seek treatment for most medical or psychiatric disorders, men are more likely to seek alcohol treatment. To understand the basis for differences in alcohol service use, researchers used a national, longitudinal study that included data on treatment utilization, the perceived need for help, and reasons for not seeking help for an AUD. They analyzed data from nearly 2,600 white, African-American, or Hispanic adults with a diagnosis of alcohol abuse or dependence in 2000-2001 who were re-interviewed in 2004-2005.

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There have been dramatic increases in the United States in alcohol-related problems. During the past decade the death rate from all types of alcoholic liver disease increased by more than 40%, alcohol-related emergency department visits increased by 62%, and the prevalence of alcohol use disorder among adults increased by nearly 50%. Despite these increases in alcohol-related morbidity and mortality, there have not been notable increases seen in U.S. per capita alcohol consumption.

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Subtle physiological changes involving the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous systems after exposure to alcohol are difficult to perceive in humans, particularly at lower alcohol levels. Researchers sought to determine the effect of acute intravenous alcohol infusion on skin blood flow (SBF) response and associated subjective responses in 24 social drinkers who participated in an alcohol self-administration study. SBF was measured at the fingertip and earlobe at four timepoints: at baseline, and 0 minutes, 10 minutes, and 20 minutes after beginning an intravenous form of alcohol self-administration. The exposure produced relatively low breath alcohol levels of approximately 30 mg% (0.03%, compared with a reading of 0.08%, at which point an individual is considered legally intoxicated). Subjective responses were measured using questionnaires previously developed for studies such as this.

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Behavioral economics is the study of the individual, cultural, and social factors that influence economic decisions. Behavioral economic approaches have identified several characteristics that determine individuals’ demand for alcoholic beverages and have been applied to university students, among whom drinking is an important public health problem. Considerable behavioral economic research has been conducted among students in the United States. Studies have shown that the price of alcohol is strongly linked to consumption. Until now, however, behavioral economics approaches have not been used to examine alcohol demand among students outside of the United States.

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Alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition. Although patients with cirrhosis are routinely encouraged to stop drinking in order to reduce their mortality risk, many continue drinking and do not avail themselves of alcohol treatment. To understand more fully the role of alcohol treatment in determining the course of alcohol-related cirrhosis, researchers examined the rates, predictors, and outcomes of alcohol treatment in alcohol-related cirrhosis patients with private insurance. They obtained data from a large insurance database containing information on 66,053 patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis for the years 2009-2016. Nearly one-third of the patients were female, with a mean age of 54.5 years when the diagnosis of cirrhosis was made.

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Binge drinking, frequently defined as consuming five or more drinks per occasion, is associated with a host of societal and health risks. Young adults have higher risk for negative consequences of binge drinking (e.g. health and psychosocial consequences such as impaired memory, accidental injuries, violence, risky sexual behaviors, and poor academic performance) than other age groups. Furthermore, women typically are more vulnerable to such negative consequences than men. In the past, binge drinking usually escalated in late adolescence and the early 20s, followed by a period of “maturing out” (i.e., declining use) afterwards. It is unknown whether this developmental pattern for binge drinking has changed over time or whether it differs between men and women. These questions have important implications for efforts to prevent alcohol-related problems.

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Epigenetics refers to external changes to DNA that turn genes “on” or “off.” These modifications do not change the sequence of the “letters” in DNA, but are physical changes that affect how cells "read" genes. Researchers hypothesized that alcohol’s effect on one kind of epigenetic change - called DNA methylation - on certain genes is associated with the motivation to drink alcohol in binge and heavy drinkers. Methylation is a change in the DNA that reduces gene expression. They measured changes in the methylation of two genes that have been implicated in the control of drinking behavior or the response to stress: the period 2 (PER2) and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) genes. Methylation changes were measured in blood samples drawn from groups of non-smokers who were moderate drinkers, binge drinkers, or heavy drinkers. These drinkers also participated in a laboratory study that measured behavioral alcohol motivation. During the three-day experiment, the participants experienced str

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The pancreas is an organ located behind the stomach that produces enzymes and hormones that help with digestion and blood-sugar regulation. Both heavy drinking and gallstones can cause an inflamed pancreas, called pancreatitis, which is associated with significant illness and, in about 10% of cases, death. The recent use of cannabis to manage the development of pancreatitis and its progression has yielded conflicting results. This study assessed the impact of cannabis use on both acute (sudden onset) and chronic (persistent) pancreatitis.

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Internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety, along with alcohol misuse, increase during adolescence. All three predict poor social, academic, and emotional outcomes – particularly for girls. However, it is unclear what relationships exist among these problems. Do depression and anxiety lead to more alcohol use or does drinking lead to increased depression and anxiety? This study aimed to answer these questions, exploring reciprocal associations between depression and alcohol use and anxiety and alcohol use in girls from ages 13 to 17.

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The #MeToo movement that began in 2017 has increased attention to bystander training programs that encourage third-party witnesses to intervene (i.e., become involved in stopping aggression) in high-risk sexual situations. With limited information available on the effects of alcohol on bystander intervention in these situations, bystander training programs rarely train bystanders to intervene to prevent sexual aggression when they are intoxicated. This study tested the impact of alcohol on the likelihood and speed of intervention in witnessed sexual aggression by men who self-reported an intent to help strangers.

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Executive functions of the brain’s frontal lobes help individuals regulate their behavior and work toward long-term goals. Working memory (WM), the ability to maintain and process information during short periods of time, is a critical executive function. Alcohol is known to impair executive functioning, which can in turn contribute to alcohol use disorder (AUD) progression and to poorer treatment outcomes. This study investigated whether WM training could reduce alcohol use through improved cognitive functioning.

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Automobile crashes related to driving while intoxicated (DWI) account for approximately 30 percent of fatal crashes, and 10,000 deaths annually. Social support – defined as emotional, informational, or instrumental help from individuals' social networks – can be helpful to individuals recovering from alcohol use disorders (AUDs). However, it is unclear what impact social support may have on reducing the risk of recidivism of alcohol-impaired driving. This study examined the role of social support in motivating individuals with histories of DWI arrests to reduce their alcohol use.

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Just as the population of older adults is increasing worldwide, so too is the number of older adults who consume alcohol. Older adults are more sensitive to the adverse effects of alcohol due to age-related health impairment and physiological changes in metabolism and body composition. This study looked at how at-risk drinking among older adults changes over time.

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Individuals who seek help for an alcohol use disorder (AUD) may be presented with either of two treatment goals: abstinence or no heavy-drinking days, which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in testing medications to treat AUD. However, these goals may fail to work for individuals who seek to reduce their drinking. An alternative approach uses the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking risk levels – very high, high, moderate, and low – which are defined in terms of average alcohol consumption in grams per day. A reduction in these levels may provide a useful third option in assessing the success of AUD treatment. This study examined the association between reductions in WHO drinking risk levels and improvements in physical health and quality of life among individuals with alcohol dependence.

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Research shows that many soldiers who have never been deployed experience negative emotions such as feelings of guilt and decreased value, connectedness, and camaraderie within their unit. Additional research shows that US Army Reserve/National Guard (USAR/NG) soldiers are at high risk for alcohol misuse. This study examined whether emotions related to non-deployment among USAR/NG soldiers contributed to an increased risk of alcohol misuse.

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It is estimated that only 20 to 24 percent of individuals with an alcohol use disorder (AUD) ever receive treatment of any kind for their disease. Most of the reasons given for not seeking treatment relate to the person’s inability or unwillingness to attend traditional in-person treatment. One alternative may be “contingency management.” This is a method in which a reward is given – for example, money, privileges, or prizes – once abstinence from alcohol or the drug in question is verified. This study examined the effectiveness of providing a financial reward for alcohol abstinence.

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Both the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Centers for Disease Control have concluded that up to one drink daily for women, and up to two drinks daily for men, fall within U.S. dietary guidelines. Several studies have reported that consuming one to two drinks on occasion – called low-level drinking – is protective against cardiovascular disease. However, other research has shown that any alcohol use appears to increase the risk of some types of cancer. This study used large-scale databases to analyze the association between alcohol use and risk of death.

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Previous research has shown that violent crimes are associated with greater access to alcohol outlets. It is unclear, however, whether on-premise outlets such as bars, or off-premise outlets such as liquor stores, have a stronger association with violent crimes. This study used more precise measurement of outlet locations to examine associations between violent crimes and access to different types of alcohol outlets in Baltimore, Maryland.

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The risks of alcohol consumption differ by the presence or absence of simultaneous use of other substances, the most common one being marijuana. Simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use may increase alcohol-related risks and societal costs. This paper examined historical changes in simultaneous alcohol/marijuana use among young adult alcohol users from 1977 – 2016.

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Prior research has shown that alcohol use disorders and eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa – binge eating often followed by self-induced vomiting – may have a shared genetic risk. It is unclear, however, whether this risk extends to eating-disorder symptoms other than those associated with bulimia nervosa. This study examined several measures of alcohol use and drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction, which are core eating-disorder symptoms, in adolescent female and male twins.

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Blackouts refer to partial or complete memory loss of events that occur while individuals are drinking. These individuals maintain consciousness during the event and may even be able to engage in complex behaviors such as conversing or driving. This study examined young adults’ perceptions of complete memory loss (“en bloc”) blackouts, and off-and-on memory loss (fragmentary) blackouts.

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Young adults who report mistreatment (‘maltreatment’ by the authors) during childhood often demonstrate poor decision-making skills and are at risk for developing alcohol or other drug (AOD) problems, in particular when around peers. Research suggests that decision-making depends on a person’s ability to regulate him/herself during socially stressful situations. This study examined relationships between child mistreatment and AOD problems, with a focus on lack of self-regulation by the young adults as a key risk factor.

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Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are known to adversely impact brain structure and function. Although recovery of brain morphology and function has been reported following abstinence from long-term alcohol use, some structural (e.g., brain area volumes and connections) and functional (e.g., cognitive) abnormalities due to long-term effects of AUDs may persist even after abstinence from alcohol. To further our understanding, scientists assessed the consequences of long-term alcohol use on brain circuitry, structural impairment patterns, and the impact of these impairments on cognitive function among individuals with AUDs who were abstinent.

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Pedestrian injuries and fatalities in the U.S. have steadily increased during recent years. In 2015, 5,376 pedestrians were killed and 70,000 injured. Prior research showed an association between the number of neighborhood alcohol stores and risk of pedestrian injury. However, it is unclear whether this was because alcohol stores were located in dense retail areas with already-heavy pedestrian traffic, or whether alcohol stores pose a unique neighborhood risk. This study compared the number of pedestrian injuries that occur near alcohol stores to those that occur near similar retail stores that do not sell alcohol.

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While many people consider drinking to be a pleasurable activity at home or in social venues with friends, it can result in harm to the user and to others who are affected by the user’s drinking. These harms can include inter-personal violence, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), emotional neglect, and social embarrassment, which can adversely affect close relationships, such as with family, and extended relationships, such as with friends, co-workers, and more distant relatives. This study analyzed the impact of having close- and extended-proximity relationships with a harmful drinker among men and women in 10 countries.