Risk for Alcohol Problems Among College Students

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的目的是确定大学生酒精相关问题的风险和脆弱性机制。使用酒精增加了一系列心理社会问题的可能性。研究表明，酒精使用和使用相关问题的共同和不同的风险机制。该项目旨在研究六个风险变量（社会规范，冲动性，情感不稳定性，酒精问题的家族史，酒精消费，以及酒精使用在实现个人目标方面的感知效用）与酒精使用问题的关联。在以前的研究中，这些变量都与酒精使用问题有关。将评估与使用有关的问题的两个方面，并将其作为标准变量：滥用型症状和依赖型症状。冲动性将被视为感知使用效用与使用之间的关联以及使用与问题之间的关联的调节因素。本研究将采用前瞻性纵向设计探讨两者之间的关系。大学生（n=1500）将通过电子邮件和校园传单招募。参与者将在两个时间点进行评估，间隔六个月。所有问卷将在研究助理的监督下在计算机实验室的小组会议上在线完成。所有的回答都是匿名的，参与者只能通过一个独特的自我生成的代码来识别。分析将侧重于在六个月的评估窗口期间报告使用酒精的学生子集（85%）。将研究三种类型的关系。第一种是间接途径，其中风险变量和使用相关问题之间的关联是由酒精消费介导的。第二个是一个直接的路径，其中风险变量有助于独立于酒精消费的使用相关的问题。第三，将审查脆弱性机制。冲动被假设为一个脆弱的因素，缓和酒精使用和使用相关的问题之间的关系。冲动性也有望缓和感知使用效用和酒精使用之间的关系。间接、直接和调节效应将通过多组结构方程模型确定。更好地了解酒精使用问题的病因学途径可能有助于早期识别酒精使用问题的风险个体，并可能为制定有效的干预措施提供信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this study is to identify risk and vulnerability mechanisms for alcohol-related problems among college students. Use of alcohol increases the potential for a broad range of psychosocial problems. Research indicates both common and divergent risk mechanisms for alcohol use and use-related problems. This project aims to examine the association of six risk variables (social norms, impulsivity, affect lability, family history of alcohol problems, alcohol consumption, and perceived utility of alcohol use in achieving personal goals) with alcohol use problems. These variables have all been linked to alcohol use problems in previous research. Two dimensions of use-related problems will be assessed and included as criterion variables; abuse type symptoms and dependency type symptoms. Impulsivity will be examined as a moderator to the association between perceived use utility and use and the association between use and problems. This study will explore relationships with a prospective longitudinal design. College students (n=1500) will be recruited through e-mail and fliers on campus. Participants will be assessed at two time points separated by a period of six months. All questionnaires will be completed online in computer labs in small group sessions under the supervision of a research assistant. All responses will be anonymous and participants will be identified only by a unique self-generated code. Analyses will focus on the subset of students who report using alcohol (85 percent) during the six-month assessment window. Three types of relationships will be examined. The first is an indirect path in which the association between the risk variable and use-related problems is mediated by alcohol consumption. The second is a direct path in which the risk variable contributes to use-related problems independently of alcohol consumption. Third, a vulnerability mechanism will be examined. Impulsivity is hypothesized to be a vulnerability factor, moderating the relationship between alcohol use and use-related problems. Impulsivity is also expected to moderate the relationship between perceived use utility and alcohol use. Indirect, direct, and moderating effects will be determined by a multiple-group structural equation model. Better understanding of the etiological paths to alcohol use problems may be useful for early identification of individuals at risk for alcohol use problems and may inform the development of effective interventions.