The Review of Alcohol Use in Relation to Biopsychosocial Factors

1
The Review of Alcohol Use in Relation to
Biopsychosocial Factors

• Miika Gurr
• Psych 4900 Adolescent Risk Taking
• Weber State University

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Introduction

• Alcohol and substance use among adolescent males
  and females is gradually increasing.

• What Biopsychosocial factors contribute to this
  phenomenon?

• A variety of factors are interrelated and linking
  adolescence to risk taking behaviors which may
  result in alcohol or substance use or abuse.

There are 3 research papers that examine the
Biopsychosocial aspect in regards to Alcohol and
Substance Use among Adolescence.
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Wiesner Ittel (Germany 1993-1994)

• Early maturation is related significantly to more
  frequent alcohol cigarette use.

• Methods

• 3 Hypotheses Maturation Deviance, Mediation
  Hypothesis, and Termination Hypothesis

• 2 Waves

• Personal Interviews Parent Surveys

• Assessed Relations of Pubertal Timing to Early
  Substance Use in Adolescents

• Results

• Only the Termination Hypothesis was supported
  through research this concludes that only early
  maturing boys girls present higher levels of
  substance abuse

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Addiction Research Center Study(Italy 2001)

• High sensation seeking, high social attributes,
  direct aggressiveness, and lower parental care
  are all factors of alcohol use or abuse.
• Methods

• Assessed Temperament, Personality traits, and
  Parental Care Perception resulting in alcohol use

• 1,076 Caucasian students 14 to 19 years old

• Questionnaires using a variety of tests such as
  Zuckermans Sensation Seeking Scale, etc.

• Results

• Temperamental traits personality changes
  early alcohol use reduced perception of
  parental care

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Scheier Botvin (U.S. 1987-1991)

• There is an INVERSE relation between Self-esteem
  and alcohol use

High

• The adolescents who increased their levels of
  alcohol later reported lower levels of
  self-esteem

Levels
Alcohol Use
Low
Self-esteem
Time

• Methods

• Latent Growth Modeling

• 740 Students

• Four year period

• Questionnaires

• Results

• Self-esteem is part of a dynamic set of
  etiological forces that instigate early-stage
  alcohol use

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Conclusion

• Overall, pubertal timing, temperament,
  personality traits, parental care, and
  self-esteem are all interrelated and correlated
  with alcohol use among adolescence.

• Limits

• Each of the 3 studies relied on Self-report.

• The studies did not examine the adolescents
  peer relationships in regards to alcohol use.

• Future Directions

• Research Study based on Peer Relationships
  alcohol use

• Future study should examine the effects of Peers
  for initial alcohol use and continued use by
  using the Latent Growth Modeling technique.

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References

• Gerra, G., Zaimovic, A. (2004). Substance Abuse
  Among High-school Students Relationship with
  Social Coping and Temperament. Substance Use and
  Misuse, 39, 345-367.
• Scheier, L.M., Botvin, G.J. (2000). Dynamic
  Growth Models of Self-Esteem and Adolescent
  Alcohol Use. Journal of Adolescence, 20, 178-209.
• Wiesner, Margit, Ittel, Angela (2002). Relations
  of Pubertal Timing and Depressive Symptoms to
  Substance Use in Early Adolescence. Journal of
  Adolescence, 22, 5-23.