New study looks at the relationship between immune function and mental health among people in treatment When assessing the relationship between immune function and mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, most researchers exclude people with alcohol and drug use disorders because of the complexity they introduce into the analyses. However, for Priscilla Martinez, study lead and Scientist with the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, not including people … [Read more...]
Recent Findings
Viable Alternatives to 12-Step Programs
More Paths to Successful Sobriety than Just Alcoholics Anonymous, Says New Study Alternative Mutual Help Groups are Viable Options to Traditional 12-step Groups People with an alcohol use disorder who participated in alternative mutual help groups had abstinence outcomes equivalent to those who participated in traditional 12-step groups at the same level, a new study from Senior Scientist and Center Associate Director Sarah E. Zemore and colleagues. This is the first longitudinal, … [Read more...]
AUD Risks & Poor Neighborhoods
In studying emerging adults who lived in deprived neighborhoods when they were children, Scientist Katherine Karriker-Jaffe and colleagues found indirect pathways that mediated the risk for developing alcohol use disorders (AUD). Such pathways included success in school during adolescence, and being engaged in higher education, gainful employment or military service when they were older. The study used population registry data from Sweden and assessed over 452,000 males and 431,000 females … [Read more...]
Drinking and Diabetes Risk
Low rates of drinking may protect overweight women from developing diabetes while heavy drinking increases risk for all women Women who were overweight and abstained from lifetime drinking were three times more likely to develop diabetes compared with normal weight women who consumed seven or less alcohol drinks per week (low-volume), a new study from Senior Scientist and lead author, William C. Kerr and colleagues, found. No evidence of reduced risk was found for normal weight or obese women … [Read more...]
Social Networks, Poverty, & Relapse Risk
Problem drinkers with friends who drink and who live in poor neighborhoods are more likely to relapse after treatment The number of people in your social network who drink increases the risk of relapse following treatment and this risk is even greater if you live in a disadvantaged neighborhood, a new study from the Alcohol Research Group, a project of the Public Health institute, found. Study participants were recruited from abstinence-based outpatient programs and participated in follow-up … [Read more...]
Infrequent Drinkers Not Immune from Injury
Even one intoxication event can increase the risk of injury, a new study from ARG Senior Scientist and lead author Cheryl J. Cherpitel and colleagues found. Injury risk peaked at one hour of a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05 or higher and at one day with five or more drinks and remained at about the same level for more frequent heavy drinkers. Many counties use a BAC of 0.05 or more to determine drinking driving offenses and Utah will become the first US state to set this limit in … [Read more...]
Young Adults’ Heavy Drinking Rates Change
According to a study from ARG Research Associate, Edwina Williams, MPH, and colleagues, when comparing heavy drinking trajectories between two cohorts, trajectories for Hispanics and Whites of both sexes have changed over time. However, Hispanic and White women in the younger cohort saw the greatest increase in heavy drinking compared to other groups. Data from the 1979 and 1997 cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were used to model heavy drinking frequency from ages 17-31. It … [Read more...]
Sharp Increase in U.S. Marijuana Use
A new study from ARG scientists shows a sharp increase in marijuana use in the U.S. since 2005. Marijuana use among women has almost doubled, from 5.5% in 1984 to 10.6% in 2015. Men’s use declined from the 1980s to 2000 but has since increased to 14.7%, matching earlier rates. However, the research suggests that these increases in use were not specifically associated with medicinal or recreational marijuana legalization. “Results are consistent with previous studies that did not show … [Read more...]
Poorer People Get Medication Less Often
People with alcohol use disorders (AUD) who live in poorer neighborhoods in Sweden were less likely to pick up prescriptions to help treat their disease than those living in areas that are more affluent, a new study from ARG found. The study was published online in the journal Addiction. Several AUD medications can play an effective role in addressing this condition. Researchers also found decreased rates of prescription pick-up among individuals with AUD who had lower incomes and less … [Read more...]
Harms to Children from Other’s Drinking
According to a new national study, 7.4 percent of surveyed respondents reported that children in their care experienced harm as a result of someone else’s drinking. By comparison, previous studies in the U.S. have found general child maltreatment rates to be approximately 1 to 2 percent. The results were published online in the Journal of Pediatrics. Respondent caregivers who experienced alcohol’s harm from a spouse or partner, or if they lived with a heavy drinker, were almost four times … [Read more...]
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