Karen Schelleman-Offermans

Drinking Motives and Drinking Behavior Over Time: A Full Cross-Lagged Panel Study Among Adults

Drinking motives are among the most proximal factors for drinking behavior and serve as a mechanism through which more distal factors are mediated. However, it is less clear whether drinking motives are precursors of drinking or, in contrast, shaped by previous drinking experiences (reciprocal effects), or both. Moreover, in adults it is unclear whether drinking motives, usually shaped in adolescence, influence each other over time. In this longitudinal study (N = 2440, 47% women, average age 53 years), drinking motives and drinking behavior (i.e., number of drinks on the heaviest drinking day and number of drinking days; both during the past week) were assessed at 2 time points, separated by 3 months. Full cross-lagged regression models revealed that drinking motives were positively associated with drinking behavior over time and that drinking motives are shaped by the number of drinking days (i.e., reciprocal effects). Furthermore, coping and enhancement motives, as well as social and conformity motives, positively reinforced each other. Moreover, social motives were positively associated with enhancement motives over time. In conclusion, drinking motives influence each other over a 3-month period in adulthood and predict drinking behavior over time, making them important candidates for prevention efforts. Drinking motives are likely to be modifiable and might be used to stimulate drinking decrease.

Recommendations for international gambling harm-minimisation guidelines: comparison with effective public health policy

Problem gambling represents a significant public health problem, however, research on effective gambling harm-minimisation measures lags behind other fields, including other addictive disorders. In recognition of the need for consistency between international jurisdictions and the importance of basing policy on empirical evidence, international conventions exist for policy on alcohol, tobacco, and illegal substances. This paper examines the evidence of best practice policies to provide recommendations for international guidelines for harm-minimisation policy for gambling, including specific consideration of the specific requirements for policies on Internet gambling. Evidence indicates that many of the public health policies implemented for addictive substances can be adapted to address gambling-related harms. Specifically, a minimum legal age of at least 18 for gambling participation, licensing of gambling venues and activities with responsible gambling and consumer protection strategies mandated, and brief interventions should be available for those at-risk for and experiencing gambling-related problems. However, there is mixed evidence on the effectiveness of limits on opening hours and gambling venue density and increased taxation to minimise harms. Given increases in trade globalisation and particularly the global nature of Internet gambling, it is recommended that jurisdictions take actions to harmonise gambling public health policies.

Are the Effects of Early Pubertal Timing on the Initiation of Weekly Alcohol Use Mediated by Peers and/or Parents? A Longitudinal Study

We investigated whether the link between early pubertal timing and initiation of weekly alcohol use is mediated by changes in perceived parental alcohol-specific rule setting and changes in perceived proportion of drinkers in the peer group. Longitudinal data including 3 annual waves were used to estimate the hazard for adolescents to initiate drinking alcohol using Cox proportional hazard structural equation models in 1,286 Dutch adolescents (50.2% boys) 13-14 years old at baseline in 2008. Early pubertal timing increased the risk to initiate weekly alcohol use. However, this risk was entirely mediated by a large increase in the perceived proportion of drinkers in the peer group and a large decrease in the frequency of perceived alcohol-specific rules for early pubertal timers within a period of 1 year. There is no direct risk for early pubertal timers to initiate weekly drinking per se but an indirect one via changes in their social environments, that is, a large increase in the perceived proportion of drinkers in their peer group and parents becoming more lenient in their alcohol-specific rule setting. It is important to motivate parents not to relax their alcohol-specific rule setting over time, particularly parents of early pubertal timers.

Direct and indirect effects of alcohol expectancies through drinking motives on alcohol outcomes among students in Vietnam

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether the links between alcohol expectancies (tension reduction; global positive change; improved cognitive and motor abilities; and change in social behavior) and alcohol outcomes (drinking volume, 6+ drinks, alcohol problems, and symptoms of alcohol dependence) are mediated by drinking motives (social, enhancement, conformity, and coping). METHOD A multi-stage sampling strategy was used in four Vietnamese provinces, resulting in a final sample of 4756 students (43.2% females) with mean age 20.6 (SD 1.8) years. Structural equation models, including indirect effects, were estimated for women and men separately. RESULTS Overall, there were many cases of full mediation (indirect effects range from -0.006 to 0.083 and p-values from <0.05 to <0.001) and little indication of partial mediation (indirect effects range from -0.009 to 0.025 and p-values from <0.05 to <0.001). In both men and women, coping motives most frequently mediated the influence of expectancies on alcohol outcomes. Among men, enhancement motives and, to a lesser extent, social motives also played a role in mediating the effects of expectancies on alcohol outcomes. Among women, full mediation was found far less often and less consistently. CONCLUSION By confirming that, in Vietnam, motives mediate the link between expectancies and drinking behavior, this study supports the cultural robustness of a key assumption of the motivational model (i.e. that drinking motives are more closely associated with alcohol use than expectancies). Enhancement, coping and social motives are most frequently found as mediators among male students whereas coping motive only is most frequently found as a mediator among female students. As most of the effects of expectancies were mediated by motives, drinking motives appear to be a promising factor for interventions.