A meta-analysis of drinking game participation and alcohol-related outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Research suggests that it is common for emerging adults in the U.S. and other countries to participate in a drinking game (DG). Playing DGs is associated with greater alcohol consumption and increased risk for experiencing alcohol-related harms. Gender differences in emerging adults' DG behavior and negative alcohol-related consequences have also been documented but the results have been mixed. We conducted the present meta-analysis in order to (a) quantify the association between DG participation and alcohol use and related consequences, and examine the moderating effect of gender and methodological factors on these associations, and (b) provide effect size estimates for power analyses for future DGs research. METHOD: 48 manuscripts, representing 31 independent samples, were included in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: We found medium effect sizes between DG participation and frequency of alcohol use (r = .47) and binge drinking (r = .50), quantity of alcohol use (r = .38) and consumption while playing DGs (r = .45), alcohol use (frequency × consumption index; r = .49), and alcohol-related consequences (r = .38). CONCLUSIONS: Playing DGs is associated with greater frequency of alcohol use, higher alcohol consumption, and more alcohol-related consequences. Findings also indicated that as the percentage of women in the sample increased, the association between DG participation and quantity of alcohol use strengthened. No gender moderation effect was found for the associations between DG participation and the other alcohol outcomes variables, which suggests that men and women who play DGs are equally at risk for experiencing alcohol-related consequences and may benefit from clinical attention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Coping Motivated Alcohol Use: The Role of Social Anxiety and Dissociation.

Background: Social anxiety has been associated with higher rates of negative alcohol use consequences, and this relationship appears to be accounted for by coping drinking motives. Dissociation is commonly present in anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder, and may serve to unconsciously reduce negative emotions when more effortful coping strategies are not effective. Objectives: The present study examined whether the relationship between social anxiety, coping motives, and alcohol consequences was moderated by dissociative symptoms. It was hypothesized that coping motives would mediate the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol consequences, and that dissociation would moderate the relationship between social anxiety and coping motives. Undergraduate students who endorsed alcohol use within the past 30 days (n = 320) were recruited from a large public university. Participants completed measures of social anxiety, dissociation, alcohol motives, and alcohol consequences as part of a larger online questionnaire. Results: Coping motives were found to mediate the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol consequences. Dissociation did not moderate the relationship between social anxiety and coping motives. Dissociation was significantly associated with alcohol consequences via coping motives. Conclusions: Future research should include longitudinal research designs or ecological momentary assessment designs and should examine these relationships in clinical and community samples.

What about this time? Within- and between-person associations between drinking motives and alcohol outcomes.

Alcohol use in college populations is highly prevalent. College students who consume alcohol can experience a variety of different alcohol-related consequences. Drinking motives, or reasons that individuals choose to consume alcohol, are proximal factors that affect alcohol use. Previous research has generally found that internal drinking motives (i.e., coping and enhancement motives) are particularly relevant in predicting alcohol-related consequences. However, most of this research has examined drinking motives as traits, rather than state (i.e., daily) motives. The present study sought to examine enhancement and coping motives as both distinct and combined predictors of alcohol-related consequences at the daily level, directly and via alcohol consumption. Multilevel analyses of a 30-day retrospective report of drinking behaviors showed that within-person enhancement motives increased alcohol-related consequences via increased alcohol use. In contrast, coping motives were directly associated with alcohol-related consequences at the between-person level. Implications of the findings are that clinicians should assess and discuss daily motives for alcohol use with patients presenting with problems related to alcohol use, as well as typical motives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) Increases Survival of Larval Sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria.

High concentrations of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), a chemical compound released by lysed phytoplankton, may indicate high rates of grazing by zooplankton and may thus be a foraging cue for planktivorous fishes. Previous studies have shown that some planktivorous fishes and birds aggregate or alter locomotory behavior in response to this chemical cue, which is likely adaptive because it helps them locate prey. These behavioral responses have been demonstrated in juveniles and adults, but no studies have tested for effects on larval fish. Larvae suffer from high mortality rates and are vulnerable to starvation. While larvae are generally thought to be visual predators, they actually have poor vision and cryptic prey. Thus, larval fish should benefit from a chemical cue that provides information on prey abundance. We reared larval sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, for one week and supplemented feedings with varying concentrations of DMSP to test the hypothesis that DMSP affects larval survival. Ecologically relevant DMSP concentrations increased larval survival by up to 70 %, which has implications for production in aquaculture and recruitment in nature. These results provide a new tool for increasing larval production in aquaculture and also suggest that larvae may use DMSP as an olfactory cue. The release of DMSP may be a previously unappreciated mechanism through which phytoplankton affect larval survival and recruitment.