A Cross-Cultural Study of Changes in Alcohol-Related Processing in Female College

描述(申请人提供)：大学酗酒是我们社会的一个严重问题。最近的研究表明，当拉丁裔从传统的家庭环境过渡到更自由的饮酒规范的大学环境时，他们患上问题饮酒的风险可能特别高。在这种情况下，与酒精相关的认知和注意力偏差可能是学生决定从事危险饮酒行为的重要决定因素。这项研究是对大学生在大学一年级期间对酒精饮料的关注和消费与心理社会和神经生理因素之间的关系进行的纵向考察。这一建议的独特之处在于，它侧重于研究不足的第一代墨西哥裔美国女大学生群体，同时使用事件相关电位(ERPs)实时跟踪注意力偏向的神经生理指数的变化(例如，当参与者观看与酒精相关的图像时)。由此产生的数据将有助于更好地理解女学生在大学环境中第一年与酒精相关的注意力和知觉变化的潜在机制。这些发现最终可能被应用于制定注意力训练计划，以治疗和预防大学校园的过度饮酒。 与公共健康相关：从家庭环境到大学的过渡是一个调整时期，通常以饮酒增加为标志，最近的研究表明，年轻女性，特别是拉丁裔女性，在这一过渡期间患上问题饮酒的风险可能特别高。这项研究的目的是调查年轻女性在大学第一年的酒精使用情况、对酒精的态度以及酒精图像吸引注意力的能力是如何变化的，以及这些变化是否在不同的文化中有所不同。这项研究的结果将使人们更好地了解人们从事可能损害健康的活动的原因。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): College binge drinking is a significant problem in our society. Recent research suggests that Latinas may be at a particularly high risk for the development of problem drinking as they transition from the traditional home environment to the college setting where more liberal drinking norms prevail. Under these circumstances, alcohol-related perceptions and attentional-biases may be important determinants in students' decisions to engage in risky drinking behaviors. The proposed study is a longitudinal examination of the relationship between psychosocial and neurophysiological factors associated with college students' attention to and consumption of alcohol-related beverages during the freshman year of college. This proposal is unique in that it focuses on the understudied population of first-generation, Mexican-American college women, while at the same time using event-related potentials (ERPs) to track changes in neurophysiological indices of attentional bias in real time (e.g., as participants view alcohol-related images). Resulting data will lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying changes in alcohol-related attention and perception over the course of female students' first year in the college environment. These findings could ultimately be applied to the development of attentional training programs for the treatment and prevention of excessive alcohol consumption on college campuses. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The transition from the home environment to college is a time of adjustment that is often marked by an increase in alcohol use and recent research suggests that young women, particularly Latinas, may be at a particularly high risk for the development of problem drinking during this transition. The purpose of this study is to examine how alcohol use, attitudes toward alcohol and the ability for alcohol images to capture attention change over the first year of college in young women, and whether these changes differ across cultures. Results of this study will provide a better understanding of the reasons why people engage in activities that may harm their health.