Can Alcoholism be genetic?
By comparing males with a family history of alcoholism to males with a history without alcoholism, we can determine the relationship between genetics, alcoholism, and alcoholic children. While frequency and quantity of alcoholic consumption of children of alcoholics (COA’s) and non-COA’s were similar, COA’s were more than twice as likely to be diagnostically determined alcoholics as were the non-COA. A hypothesis offered by Chassin, Curran, and Hussong on reasons for increased alcohol use was the following:
- Both material and paternal alcoholism were related to decreased paternal monitoring. Meaning because both parents were not around to supervise the child they turned to alcohol.
- Adolescents whose fathers reported lower levels of monitoring were more likely to associate with drug-using peers and their association predicted increases in substance use over time.
- Adolescents whose fathers reported less monitoring of their behavior also had higher initial substance use levels. From this, we can deduce that parental alcoholism is not the only cause of increased alcohol abuse among adolescents, but rather the additional aspects that come along with having alcoholic parents.
Another study was conductedby J.L. Maggs, with the research being performed in Canada. Alcohol consumption was selected as the focus risk behavior for this study because of the very high prevalence of alcohol use and binge drinking among late adolescence and young adult students and because of the potential for serious negative consequences due to alcohol misuse (Siggner, 1988). The college years represent an opportunity to postpone the assumption of full adult responsibility, along with providing a safe haven for exploration, a developmental moratorium.
Review of Literature
This study argues that late adolescence and early adult alcohol use along with binge drinking can be usefully conceived as a purposive action directed toward the pursuit of developmentally normative goals. As the text states; it is a particularly interesting time (transition to postsecondary education) to study risk behaviors such as alcohol use due to several factors. First, moving away from home to college leads to a dramatic change in the physical context and in normative expectations for social and academic behavior. Second, moving away from home leads to significant changes in opportunities in many domains, especially since their parents/guardians are not present and University administrators cannot care for each individual adolescent. This factor alone creates opportunities for potentially risky activities such as eating unhealthy foods, drinking excessively, using drugs and having risky sex. These independent living situations increase desires to experiment and be involved in risky situations since they are no longer being suppressed by a strict living environment. To better understand the drinking actions and risky behaviors such as binge drinking, this study will focus on student’s goals, characteristics, and beliefs. According to a recent study done in Canada on high school and college students 72% of 20-24 year olds reported drinking alcohol regularly. Early twenties was the peak age for frequency and quantity drinking as it tends to decline as adult roles are initiated (Jessor, Donovan, and Costa, 1991). Prevalence studies have shown it is more normative to drink during adolescence than it is not to drink. This peer pressure, to fit in increases the likeliness of binge drinking, to follow as the others do, to be considered ‘normal’, and to avoid the possibilities of being labeled an outcast. This aspect can be paralleled Levenger’s studies of how individuals are more likely to participate in risky activities/behaviors (such as binge drinking) when involved in group activities. This makes the dangerous activity seems less risky to an adolescent due to the fact so many of his/her friends are involved. This also makes risk more valued. Despite the possibility of serious harm from binge drinking and alcohol misuse, drinking may also serve important constructive functions for adolescence, such as helping them make friends, let off steam, indicate a transition to a more mature status, or explore personal identities (Chassin, Presson, and Sherman, 1989). Some scientist have argued that experimenting with risk behaviors such as drinking alcohol has become one of the developmental tasks or rites of passage of adolescence in Western societies (Baumrind, 1985; Jessor, 1987; Schulenberg, O’Malley, Bachman, Wadsworth, and Johnston, 1996; Shedler and Block,1990).
Theory and Hypothesis
The action perspective assumes that human development is initiated and directed by the intentions and goals of developing individuals. That is, humans shape their own development through goal-directed action (Silbereisen and Eyferth, 1986). Thus drinking can be viewed as rational, goal-directed action. ‘The present study viewed students alcohol use as a purposive behavior directed toward the attainment of instrumental, developmentally relevant goals. The extent to which psychosocial adjustment, personal goals, and beliefs about alcohol predicted alcohol use and binge drinking was examined. The hypotheses were as follows: (1) students with more positive self-images will drink less and students who feel more accepted by their peers will drink more; (2) students with high social goals will drink more, and students with high academic goals and high health goals will drink less; and (3) beliefs about the fun and risk of alcohol will predict drinking. Finally, it was hypothesized that (4) goals and beliefs that promote or encourage drinking (social goals, the belief that drinking is fun) will be more strongly related to drinking than goals and beliefs that hinder or discourage drinking (academic goals, health goals, the belief that drinking is risky)’ (Maggs, 1995).
Methodology
Participants and Procedure: The participants were 344 students living in on-campus residence at a medium-sized Canadian university. The average age was 18.7 years old (74% were younger than the legal drinking age of 19 years). This study shows interesting statistics relating to how minuscule the obstacles are to drinking for these adolescence. For example, when the wanted to drink, 76% reported having people to drink with, 79% were able to acquire alcohol and 88% had a place to drink most or all of the time. Two individual sets of questionnaires were given to the participants having to do with data concerning plans to drink and actually drinking. One questionnaire was given the first week of the fall semester as they began living there and a second one three weeks later. This information permitted the evaluation of the extent to which psychosocial adjustment, personal goals, and beliefs about alcohol predicted planned drinking, actual drinking, and differences between planned and actual drinking.
Measures
Psychosocial Adjustment: There were three sub-scales from Adolescent Self-Image Questionnaire; Impulse Control (measured resistance to impulsive, violent behavior), Mastery and Coping (assessed confidence in coping), and Emotional Tone (measured positive affect). Subjects rated all items on a 6-point scale ranging from 1=does not describe me at all to 6= describes me very well. The three self-image subscales were closely interrelated, so they were combined into one “self-image” scale. Personal Goals: Students we asked next to rate the importance of achieving certain goals during the upcoming school year. Three categories of goals were assessed: Social Goals, Academic Goals, and Health Goals. Possible responses ranged from 1= not at all important to me to 5= very important to me. Beliefs About Drinking Alcohol: Participants indicated how fun and risky they thought it was to drink alcohol. These two single-item measures ranged from 1= not fun at all to 4= very fun and from 1=not risky at all to 4= very risky.
Drinking Behavior: Questions were adapted from previous research were used to measure alcohol use and binge drinking (Donovan, Costa, and Jessor, 1985). To measure Planned Alcohol Use, participants were asked (1) how often they planned to drink alcohol in the upcoming three weeks (possible responses ranged from 1=never to 6=everyday) (frequency) and (2) how many drinks they planned to drink per average drinking occasion (possible responses from 1=none to 7= 12 or more) (quantity). They then were multiplied to yield a quantity-frequency estimate of alcohol use. Next was to measure Planned Binge Drinking, participants indicated (3) how many times they planned to consume five or more drinks on one occasion in the next three weeks and (4) how many times they planned to get drunk in the next three weeks.
Results
Statistics and Findings: Other Canadian and American surveys were similar in levels of planed and actual drinking. According to the surveys for example, 74% and 45% of students planned to use alcohol and get drunk at least once, respectively, in the upcoming 3 weeks; 7 2% and 49% actually did so. Plans to drink were quite closely correlated to actual drinking behavior. The quantities of alcohol participants reported actually consuming per average drinking occasion were 1 drink (9%), 2 to 3 drinks (33%), 4 to 6 drinks (34%), 7-9 drinks (18%) and 10 or more drinks (7%). From the results of this and other test, it showed that relative to females, males had a higher planned alcohol use.
Conclusions
As expected, the variance in drinking, males drank and binge drank more than females. After studying correlations it shows that students who felt more accepted by peers planned and actually were more involved with alcohol use and binge drinking as hypothesized. However, opposing the hypothesis, self-image was not related directly to alcohol use or binge drinking. Yet when peer acceptance was included into the equation, students with more negative self-images drank more. Students who felt it was important to be popular and make friends were inclined to drink more alcohol. A surprising statistic that was not consistently correlated with actual drinking was the importance of academic and health goals. As hypothesized, a belief that drinking was fun was strongly related to higher alcohol use and binge drinking, as well as the belief that drinking was risky was consistently related to drinking less. When comparing pro-drinking motivations and anti-drinking motivations, pro-drinking motivations made a significantly larger distinctive contribution to alcohol use and binge drinking than anti-drinking motivations. Those who felt more positively about their own impulse control, mastery, and emotional tone planned and did drink less, compared to those who felt accepted by their peers (Maggs, 1995). Gender was a significant factor when taking all of these statistics into considerations.
Discussion
Overall, I found this study intellectually stimulating, especially since I can relate, being a college student. There are a few factors I think may have affected this study; one being it was done in the first week of the semester. Students at this time have no intense school work. They are also away from home and this new environment alone; being around hundreds of adolescence their age, promotes drinking in its self. Another factor is that this study was done in Canada. There the drinking age is younger and the consumption of alcohol by adolescents or young adults is more widely accepted compared to America and here in the Bahamas. I would have liked this study to have taken more into consideration the psychological effects the media had on adolescent alcohol use and binge drinking. The advertising of alcohol is everywhere now, magazines, television, the movies, radio its everywhere all the time. This affects the psyche of adolescents and young adults, with alcohol companies and advertisements making alcohol seem to be a safe and fun alternative to being sober. Commercials are filled of young adults laughing, smiling, and having nothing but fun on television, hence adolescents relate this with the consumption of alcohol. Alcohol today is a problem in our country and the media is doing nothing but making it worse, and diminishing the youth and innocence of adolescents. Therefore, when young people begin drinking especially at an early age, this is sometimes a predictor of problem with alcohol later in life. Interviews of adults consistently confirm a strong association between an early initiation of drinking and later alcohol-related problems. People who binge drink also are at higher risk for later alcohol problems. Young adults who drink heavily are at particular risk for behavioral problems and may have trouble adjusting to adult roles, but most people tend to reduce their drinking by their mid-twenties as they start to acquire adult roles, such as becoming a spouse, parent and worker.
References
Barrett, Simpson, and Lehman (1988). Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood. Chapter 8, Friends and Peers (pg 234-236). 2001 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Baumrind, D. (1985) Familial antecedents of adolescent drug use: A developmental perspective. In C. LaRue Jones and R.J. Battjes (Eds). Etiology if drug use: Implications for prevention.
Brendt (1996). Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood. Chapter 8, Friends and Peers (pg 234-236). 2001 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Chassin, L., Barrera, M., Bech, K., & Kossak-Fuller, J. (1992) Recruiting a community sample of adolescent children of alcoholics: A comparison of three subject sources. Journals of Studies on Alcohol.
Costa, F.M., Donovan, J.E. and Jessor, R. (1985). Health Questionnaire. Boulder CO: University of Colorado, Institute behavioral science.
Hussong, A. (1995) Coping as a moderator of the relation between negative affects and adolescent substance use. Unpublished data, Arizona State University, Tempe.
Johnston, L.D. O'Malley, P.M. and Bachman, J.G. (1994). National Survey Results on drug use from monitoring the future study. 1975-1993.
Maggs, J.L. and Herman, K. (1996). Do substance use and delinquency have different implications for adolescents' peer relationships.
Siggner. (1988) Alcohol Use in College.