Patricia L. Dill

Stressors of College: A Comparison of Traditional and Nontraditional Students

Perceived stress and stressors of nontraditional (returning-adult) and traditional college students were compared. Forty-seven nontraditional students 24-54 years old and 47 traditional students, matched for demographics, completed the Adolescent Perceived Events Scale (Compas, Davis, Forsythe, & Wagner, 1987) for college students. They rated 210 life events according to the desirability, impact, and frequency of the events. Significant differences were found between the nontraditional and traditional students for events in the following categories: academics, peer and social relations, family and network, autonomy and responsibility, and intimacy. Nontraditional students enjoyed going to classes and doing homework more, whereas traditional students worried more about school performance. Peer events, including social activities, had much more impact on traditional students, whereas nontraditional students reported much more responsibility in the home. The results suggest that there are significant differences between the groups in their perceptions of stressors.

The emergency care setting for screening and intervention for alcohol use problems among injured and high-risk drivers: a review.

Each year thousands of people are treated in emergency departments and trauma centers for alcohol-related injuries, including those sustained in drinking driving crashes. Emergency departments and trauma centers provide an opportunity to screen for alcohol use problems and intervene with injured or high-risk drivers to reduce future alcohol-related traffic and injury risk. Recently physicians have expressed interest in exploring screening and intervention for alcohol use problems in these venues as a means of improving clinical care. This article reviews the literature that has examined screening and brief interventions in acute care settings to reduce future alcohol consumption and alcohol-related injury. The methodological and practical issues inherent in conducting these studies as well as in actual practice are discussed. The chaotic environment of acute care, the large numbers of patients required to be screened to obtain an adequate study sample, and high attrition rates make study in these settings difficult at best and are methodological problems that should be addressed in future research. A basic question that has not been adequately answered by research to date is whether reduction in alcohol consumption will translate to reduced alcohol-related harm, such as driving while impaired, or injurious or fatal crashes. Long-term studies that assess records-based outcomes in addition to alcohol-consumption levels are needed.

Stages of change and self-efficacy for controlling drinking and driving: a psychometric analysis

Indicators of self-efficacy and motivation to change (stage of change) with regard to drinking and to drinking and driving were examined in a sample of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) offenders in a court-mandated intervention program. Self-administered questionnaires that contained pertinent measures were completed by 210 consenting offenders (34 of whom were female) during the intervention program. A factor analysis of efficacy and stages of change items showed distinct factors for the respective constructs; however, drinking and drinking-and-driving items of the same type (e.g., efficacy or stages of change) tended to codefine common factors, and the factor pattern suggested that motivations and efficacy for changing drinking behavior are critical for avoiding the drinking-and-driving sequence. Most participants were classified into the action stage in both drinking and drinking-and-driving domains. In regression analysis, contemplation of action and self-efficacy measures pertaining to drinking and driving predicted prior crashes and arrests; however, after accounting for recent alcohol problems, action items pertaining to drinking and driving were the best predictors of recent drinking-and-driving incidents.

Negative affect and drinking drivers: a review and conceptual model linking dissonance, efficacy and negative affect to risk and motivation for change.

This review summarizes evidence on negative affect among drinking drivers. Elevations in negative affect, including depressed mood, anxiety and hostility, have long been noted in convicted drinking drivers, and recent evidence suggests an association between negative affect and driving after drinking in the general population. Previous efforts to understand the significance of this negative affective state have ranged from suggestions that it may play a causal role in drinking driving to suggestions that it may interfere with response to treatment and remedial interventions. Recent studies have uncovered an important paradox involving negative affect among convicted drinking drivers (hereafter DUI offenders). DUI offenders with high levels of negative affect recidivated more frequently following a DUI program than did those reporting no or minimal negative affect. However, when a brief supportive motivational intervention was added to the program, offenders with high negative affect levels showed lower recidivism rates than did those with no or minimal negative affect. The review includes studies from the general literature on alcohol treatment in which the same negative affect paradox was reported. In an attempt to understand this paradox, we present a conceptual model involving well-established psychological processes, with a focus on salient discrepancy, the crucial component of cognitive dissonance. In this model, negative affect plays an important role in motivating both continued high-risk drinking as well as therapeutic change. This model suggests that links between motivational states and negative affective processes may be more complex than previously thought. Implications for intervention with DUI offenders are discussed.

Examining Factors in the Research Institute on Addictions Self-Inventory (RIASI): Associations with Alcohol Use and Problems at Assessment and Follow-Up

Impaired driving is a leading cause of alcohol-related deaths and injuries. Rehabilitation or remedial programs, involving assessment and screening of convicted impaired drivers to determine problem severity and appropriate programs, are an important component of society’s response to this problem. Ontario’s remedial program, Back on Track (BOT), involves an assessment process that includes administration of the Research Institute on Addictions Self-Inventory (RIASI) to determine assignment to an education or treatment program. The purpose of this study is to identify factors within the RIASI and examine how factor scores are associated with alcohol use and problem indicators at assessment and six-month follow-up. The sample included 22,298 individuals who completed BOT from 2000 to 2005. Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation was conducted on RIASI data and an eight factor solution was retained: (1) Negative Affect, (2) Sensation Seeking, (3) Alcohol-Quantity, (4) Social Conformity, (5) High Risk Lifestyle, (6) Alcohol Problems, (7) Interpersonal Competence, and (8) Family History. Regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between factors and alcohol and problem measures obtained at assessment and at follow-up. Most factors, except for Interpersonal Competence, were associated with more alcohol use and problems at assessment. A similar pattern was observed at 6-month follow-up, but interestingly some factors (Negative Affect, Sensation Seeking, Alcohol-Quantity and Family History) predicted fewer days of alcohol use. The Interpersonal Competence factor was associated with significantly lower levels of alcohol use and problems at both assessment and follow-up. This work suggests that the RIASI provides information on several domains that have important relationships with alcohol problem severity and outcomes.