Ashleigh Haynes, Zenobia Talati, Danica Keric, Julia Stafford, Gael Myers, Jane Martin, Melanie Wakefield, Helen Dixon
{"title":"Impact of health-oriented marketing claims on young adults' alcohol product perceptions, hypothetical consumption, and beliefs: a randomized experiment.","authors":"Ashleigh Haynes, Zenobia Talati, Danica Keric, Julia Stafford, Gael Myers, Jane Martin, Melanie Wakefield, Helen Dixon","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf061","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf061","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>Health-oriented marketing claims commonly and increasingly feature on alcohol products and target younger consumers. This study aimed to test effects of such claims on young adults' alcohol product perceptions and intended consumption.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Australian young adults aged 18-24 (N = 1009) viewed 10 alcohol products in an online experiment comprising two between-subjects conditions (no claim control, claim) and five within-subjects conditions (low sugar/carb, low calorie, natural, organic, and preservative free). Products were identical between conditions (including labelled alcohol and energy content) except for the presence or absence of claims. Participants rated their perceptions and reported their intended consumption of each product.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Overall, participants perceived alcohol products displaying health-oriented marketing claims as significantly healthier, less harmful to health, lower in sugar and kilojoules, and more suitable for weight management and a healthy diet than identical products without claims (P = .005-P < .001), but claims did not affect intentions to consume products in the next fortnight. These effects were consistent across most individual claims. However, participants intended to consume a higher number of cans/bottles of products featuring 'natural' claims (P = .032) and of products displaying any health-oriented marketing claim in the minority of instances (19.4%) when they did not view the back label featuring nutrition information (P = .031).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Health-oriented marketing claims commonly displayed on alcohol products lead young adults to misperceive those products as healthier on many dimensions even in the presence of information to the contrary. There is a need to strengthen the regulation of alcohol labelling and marketing by prohibiting these misleading claims.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"60 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145172225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kaigang Li, Tanya Jolly, James Dziura, Federico E Vaca
{"title":"Greater readiness to cut down on drinking behaviors increases effects of a digital behavioral health intervention tool in reducing unhealthy alcohol use among Latino emergency department patients.","authors":"Kaigang Li, Tanya Jolly, James Dziura, Federico E Vaca","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf062","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf062","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study examined the association between readiness to change and reductions in unhealthy alcohol use among Latino adults in the emergency department (ED) who used the Automated Bilingual Computerized Alcohol Screening Intervention (AB-CASI), a digital behavioral health intervention tool.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study included 310 self-identified US Latino ED patients with unhealthy drinking. The primary independent variable was baseline readiness to reduce alcohol consumption. Outcomes included binge drinking episodes in the past 28 days and average weekly drinks, assessed at baseline and 1-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Alcohol severity was measured via the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scores, with gender and language preference (English vs Spanish) as covariates. Generalized linear mixed models in SAS accounted for within-subject variability across time points for analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Binge drinking ratios comparing those \"more ready\" to cut down to those \"less ready\" were 0.61 at 1 month [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.42, 0.90; P = .013], 0.46 at 6 months (95% CI: 0.31, 0.69; P < .0001), and 0.61 at 12 months (95% CI: 0.41, 0.89; P = .011). Weekly drinks ratios were 0.60 at 1 month (95% CI: 0.40, 0.90; P = .001), 0.45 at 6 months (95% CI: 0.29, 0.71; P < .0001), and 0.63 at 12 months (95% CI: 0.41, 0.97; P = .006).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In the original AB-CASI clinical trial, Latino ED patients more ready to reduce alcohol intake showed significant decreases in drinking after the intervention. This highlights the importance of readiness-to-change models in alcohol interventions for vulnerable ED populations. AB-CASI's bilingual, culturally sensitive design effectively promotes behavioral health, supporting both English- and Spanish-speaking patients in reducing unhealthy drinking behaviors.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"60 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12477594/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145184460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ridwanul Amin, Julia Spaton Goppers, Jette Möller, Karin Engström, Anna Sidorchuk, Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz, Katalin Gémes
{"title":"Work- and family-related stressors and risk of hazardous alcohol use: the role of social support. A cohort study in Sweden.","authors":"Ridwanul Amin, Julia Spaton Goppers, Jette Möller, Karin Engström, Anna Sidorchuk, Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz, Katalin Gémes","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf058","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf058","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>To investigate whether work- and family-related stressors increase the risk of hazardous alcohol use among low-risk drinkers, and to examine the role of sex and social support.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Overall, 4046 individuals aged 25-55 years, living and working in Stockholm, without a history of hazardous alcohol use, who completed the Mental Health, Work and Social Relations study questionnaire on work- and family-related stressors (exposures) during 1998-2000 and 2001-03, were included. This cohort was followed until 2010 for hazardous alcohol use (outcome) assessed by the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test. Weights for selective attrition were calculated, and crude and multivariate (adjusting for sociodemographic, health-, and baseline stress-related factors) logistic regression models, yielding odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), were used to estimate the exposure-outcome associations. The analyses were stratified by sex and social support.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The crude OR for hazardous alcohol use was 1.28 (95% CI: .88-1.88) and 1.48 (95% CI: 1.05-2.08) among individuals with work-related and family-related stressors, respectively, when compared with those without these exposures. The association between family-related stressors and hazardous alcohol use was slightly more pronounced among women (crude OR, 95% CI: 1.66, 1.02-2.71) and those with low social support (crude OR, 95% CI: 2.06, 1.17-3.62). Adjusting for the history of previous work- and family-related stressors explained most of the associations.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In this population-based longitudinal study of individuals without a history of hazardous alcohol use, we found greater vulnerability to transitioning into hazardous alcohol use among those who experienced family-related stressors, particularly women and individuals with low social support.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"60 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12448858/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145090811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Erin Santamaria, Dan Anderson-Luxford, Zhen He, Emmanuel Kuntsche, Aiden Nibali, Jessica Ison, Nikita Potemkin, Benjamin Riordan
{"title":"'We want beer': an analysis of online posts written about the alcohol ban during Qatar's soccer world cup.","authors":"Erin Santamaria, Dan Anderson-Luxford, Zhen He, Emmanuel Kuntsche, Aiden Nibali, Jessica Ison, Nikita Potemkin, Benjamin Riordan","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf059","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf059","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The FIFA Men's World Cup is one of the largest global sporting events, with alcohol playing a notable role, evident from major sponsor Anheuser-Busch. Indeed, Brazil altered policies to allow alcohol in the 2015 tournament stadiums. Qatar, the 2022 World Cup host, initially assured alcohol availability in stadiums but reversed this decision 2 days before the tournament began, sparking widespread online discussions about alcohol's role in sports and policies. This study analyses the online discourse surrounding this alcohol ban.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We collected Tweets from a week prior to the tournament to a week after, using keywords referencing the World Cup, alcohol, and the ban. After excluding retweets, 5252 independent posts were coded by stance on the ban and underlying rationale.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Anti-ban tweets dominated (55.1%; 15.9% pro-ban; 29% neutral). We identified five primary themes. Three opposing the alcohol ban: (i) Timing Backlash: Sudden implementation, (ii) The Power of Budweiser: Impact on sponsor brands, and (iii) A Troubled World Cup: Contribution to other issues, and two supporting it: (iv) Spectator Sobriety: Alcohol's relevance in sport, and (v) Dry Stands, Safer Crowds: Potential to mitigate public disturbances.</p><p><strong>Discussions and conclusions: </strong>While just over half of Tweets opposed the alcohol ban, they focused on the ban's enactment and concerns over sponsor agreements rather than the absence of alcohol itself. Conversely, pro-ban tweets highlighted improved fan experience. Policymakers should consider how alcohol companies use social media to shape public opinion. Analysing online discourse can provide valuable insights for implementing and reviewing alcohol control strategies in sport.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"60 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12448899/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145090848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Steven J Nieto, James MacKillop, Wave-Ananda Baskerville, Annabel Kady, Alicia Izquierdo, Lara A Ray
{"title":"Examining the effects of varenicline and naltrexone on delay discounting among individuals with alcohol use disorder.","authors":"Steven J Nieto, James MacKillop, Wave-Ananda Baskerville, Annabel Kady, Alicia Izquierdo, Lara A Ray","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf060","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf060","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>Individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) often exhibit heightened delay discounting, a behavioral marker associated with poor treatment outcomes. Medications such as naltrexone and varenicline influence reward-related decision-making, but their effects on delay discounting remain unclear. This study examined whether these medications influence delay discounting rates.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 34 treatment-seeking adults with AUD. Participants were assigned to naltrexone (50 mg/day), varenicline (2 mg/day), or placebo and completed a two-week medication titration followed by a six-day quit attempt. Delay discounting was assessed at baseline and post-treatment using the Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ). General linear models tested medication effects on post-treatment discounting, controlling for baseline discounting, education, and income.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A significant interaction between medication and baseline delay discounting emerged (P = .03; η2 = .67). Among participants with lower baseline discounting, naltrexone reduced delay discounting compared to placebo and varenicline. However, no significant effects were observed in participants with higher baseline discounting. Varenicline did not significantly alter delay discounting compared to placebo.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings suggest that naltrexone may reduce delay discounting in individuals with AUD, but primarily among those with lower discounting rates. The results highlight the importance of baseline traits in understanding medication effects on decision-making. Given the small sample size, future research should replicate these findings in larger trials and explore whether delay discounting could serve as a biomarker for personalized AUD treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"60 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12452822/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jennifer A Wagman, K S James, Annika Hui Lin Li, Priyanka Patel, Anita Raj
{"title":"Alcohol use, prohibition policies, and bidirectional intimate partner violence in India.","authors":"Jennifer A Wagman, K S James, Annika Hui Lin Li, Priyanka Patel, Anita Raj","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf045","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf045","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>This study examines associations between husbands' alcohol use and bidirectional intimate partner violence (IPV)-defined as both IPV victimization and perpetration-among married individuals in India. We also assess the impact of a state-level alcohol ban on IPV outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used data from rounds 4 (2015-16) and 5 (2019-21) of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) to conduct two analyses. First, multivariable multinomial regression models estimated the association between husbands' alcohol use-categorized as frequent intoxication, occasional intoxication, alcohol use without intoxication, and no alcohol use (reference)-and IPV experiences (bidirectional, unidirectional [victimization only], or none). Second, a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) model evaluated the impact of Bihar's 2016 alcohol ban (treatment) compared to Jharkhand (control) on IPV outcomes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among currently married respondents (n = 121 148), 28.2% reported IPV victimization, including 2.6% reporting bidirectional IPV and 25.6% reporting unidirectional IPV. Compared to those whose husbands did not drink, women whose husbands drank without intoxication (AOR = 1.54), sometimes became intoxicated (AOR = 3.56), or frequently became intoxicated (AOR = 14.12) had significantly higher odds of experiencing bidirectional IPV. Similar but attenuated associations were observed for unidirectional IPV. The DiD analysis showed no significant effect of the alcohol ban on IPV outcomes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Husbands' alcohol misuse is strongly associated with increased risk of IPV, particularly bidirectional IPV, which is linked to greater injury severity. However, alcohol bans alone may be insufficient to reduce IPV, underscoring need for comprehensive interventions that address both alcohol use and entrenched patriarchal norms.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"60 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12315534/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144758936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rebecca L Monk, Adam W Qureshi, Byron L Zamboanga, Anna Tovmasyan, Olivia McLaughlin, Megan Bradford-Priest, Amber Butler, Derek Heim
{"title":"Drink and be merry? The impact of intoxication and affective social cues on social drinkers' emotional responses.","authors":"Rebecca L Monk, Adam W Qureshi, Byron L Zamboanga, Anna Tovmasyan, Olivia McLaughlin, Megan Bradford-Priest, Amber Butler, Derek Heim","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf046","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf046","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>While alcohol's ability to impact affective states and lubricate social interactions is well documented, less research has considered this in crowd contexts.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Using a Social Emotion Paradigm, intoxicated (.8 g/kg) or sober (placebo) participants (N = 47, 49% female, Mage = 21.47) were presented with virtually modeled groups of characters displaying various affective states (happy, neutral, sad). Participants' emotional responses to the stimuli were assessed via self-report (Study 1) and, one week later, objective measures of facial muscle movement (facial electromyography; Study 2).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>'Study 1': Self-reported emotions largely mirrored the emotive displays, pointing to emotional contagion. No significant effect of intoxication was apparent. 'Study 2': Compared to those in the sober conditions, significantly more smiling occurred among intoxicated participants when viewing sad crowds.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Discrepancies between objective and subjective measures of emotion were evident and intoxication may be associated with socially inappropriate affective responses to sad crowds. These findings have implications for understanding alcohol behaviors in the nighttime economy.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"60 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12291537/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144705998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dylan E Kirsch, Kaitlin R McManus, Erica N Grodin, Steven J Nieto, Robert Miranda, Stephanie S O'Malley, Joseph P Schacht, Lara A Ray
{"title":"Who is alcohol cue-reactive? A machine learning approach.","authors":"Dylan E Kirsch, Kaitlin R McManus, Erica N Grodin, Steven J Nieto, Robert Miranda, Stephanie S O'Malley, Joseph P Schacht, Lara A Ray","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agaf052","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The alcohol cue-exposure paradigm is widely used in alcohol use disorder (AUD) research. Individuals with AUD exhibit considerable variability in their alcohol cue-reactivity, highlighting the need to identify characteristics that contribute to this heterogeneity. This study applied machine learning models to identify clinical and sociodemographic predictors of subjective alcohol cue-reactivity (ALCUrge).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Individuals with AUD (N = 139; 83 M/56F) completed an alcohol cue-exposure paradigm and a battery of clinical and sociodemographic measures. ALCUrge (primary outcome variable) was assessed using the Alcohol Urge Questionnaire following alcohol cue-exposure. We implemented three machine learning models (Lasso regression, Ridge regression, Random Forest) to identify clinical and sociodemographic predictors of ALCUrge and compared model performance (i.e. predictive accuracy).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Lasso regression had the strongest predictive accuracy, with a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 9.48, followed by Random Forest (RMSE = 9.95), and Ridge regression (RMSE = 10.40). All models outperformed chance-level prediction (null baseline model RMSE = 14.80). Top predictors of ALCUrge across multiple models were alcohol urge prior to cue-exposure, compulsive alcohol-related behaviors/thoughts, tonic alcohol craving, cigarette smoking status, and biological sex. Higher pre-cue exposure alcohol urge, more compulsive alcohol-related tendencies, greater tonic craving, and occasional cigarette use was associated with greater predicted ALCUrge, while being female was associated with lower predicted ALCUrge.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study advances our understanding of the phenotypic overlap in the compulsive aspects of tonic craving and phasic cue-induced alcohol urge, and offers insight into additional factors, such as biological sex and cigarette smoking, that may contribute to variability in alcohol cue-reactivity.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"60 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12368849/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144938806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Predictors of completion and outcomes of a 1-month alcohol abstinence campaign in Belgium.","authors":"Charlotte Paulis, Etienne Quertemont","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf044","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf044","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>This study aimed to identify predictors of successful completion of a 1-month alcohol abstinence period (OMAAP) in Belgium and to assess a potential rebound effect in alcohol consumption following the campaign (i.e. an increase in alcohol consumption relative to precampaign levels). Additionally, it explored whether participants' expectations regarding the benefits of OMAAP were met.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A short longitudinal study was conducted with participants of the Belgian OMAAP, \"La Tournée Minérale,\" in 2023 and 2024. A total of 128 participants completed questionnaires assessing alcohol consumption, drinking refusal self-efficacy (DRSE), positive alcohol expectancies (i.e. positive expectancies and beliefs about the effects of alcohol consumption), and expectations about OMAAP benefits at three time points: before (N = 172), immediately after (N = 132), and 1-month post-campaign (N = 128).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Positive alcohol expectancies significantly predicted the likelihood of successfully completing OMAAP. Participants with higher positive alcohol expectancies were less likely to complete the abstinence period. Alcohol consumption decreased significantly 1 month after OMAAP for all participants, with no evidence of a rebound effect. DRSE did not significantly change over time. Participants' expectations regarding benefits such as sleep improvement and weight loss were generally unmet, while expectations for alcohol dependency reduction and money savings were exceeded.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Positive alcohol expectancies were significant predictors of OMAAP completion. The campaign effectively reduced alcohol consumption without a rebound effect, highlighting its potential as a public health strategy. However, managing participants' expectations about the benefits of abstinence might enhance their experience and outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"60 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144726373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Melinda L Helms, Michelle A Nipper, Deborah A Finn, Andrey E Ryabinin
{"title":"Selective effects of oxytocin on alcohol drinking in subpopulations of male and female mice following intermittent predator stress.","authors":"Melinda L Helms, Michelle A Nipper, Deborah A Finn, Andrey E Ryabinin","doi":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf042","DOIUrl":"10.1093/alcalc/agaf042","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aims: </strong>Excessive alcohol use is often triggered by traumatic experiences, when subjects consume alcohol-containing beverages as a passive coping mechanism to relieve negative affect. There are no FDA-approved medications that are specifically recommended for patients with alcohol use disorder who use alcohol to decrease the consequences of trauma. The current study used a mouse model of predator stress-enhanced drinking to test whether administration of oxytocin (OXT) could selectively target subjects with increased sensitivity to psychological trauma.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Male and female C57BL/6J mice established consumption of 10% ethanol in a 2-bottle choice procedure and then were exposed to predator odor (soiled rat bedding) during four intermittent 30-minute sessions. Mice were designated as Sensitive, increasing ethanol intake, or Resilient, showing no increases in intake, following the predator odor exposures. Effects of OXT (1 mg/kg) on ethanol intake were examined at two and at four hours following treatment using an automated lickometer system.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>OXT non-selectively decreased ethanol and water intake in male and female mice during the first two hours after administration, suggesting sedative effects. Importantly, when analyzed at four hours post-injection, OXT selectively decreased ethanol, but not water intake, in male mice and in the Sensitive subgroup of female mice and had no significant effects on ethanol intake in the Resilient female mice.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These results indicate that the predator odor model can help screen for pharmacotherapies to treat patients consuming alcohol to passively cope with trauma-induced negative affect. Further studies need to test whether OXT is preferentially effective in such subjects.</p>","PeriodicalId":7407,"journal":{"name":"Alcohol and alcoholism","volume":"60 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12271572/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144658120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}