The Mediating Role of Sleep Quality, Regularity, and Insomnia on the Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Resilience.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to many negative outcomes in prior psychological literature. Previous studies have shown that ACEs are related to sleep problems (e.g., trouble falling and staying asleep) and sleep problems are related to resilience outcomes. However, there are far fewer studies that examine whether sleep quality, regularity, and insomnia symptoms mediate the relationship between ACEs and resilience. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to analyze the mediating role of sleep problems on the relationship between ACEs and resilience. Emerging adult participants between the ages of 18-25 (N = 501) were recruited online via Mechanical Turk (n = 243) and from a mid-size university research participant pool in the Northwestern United States (n = 258). Participants completed questionnaires online concerning ACEs, sleep problems (i.e., quality, regularity, and insomnia symptoms), and resilience (i.e., psychological well-being, social well-being, life satisfaction, and effortful control). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data cross-sectionally. The latent construct of sleep problems was found to mediate the relationship between ACEs and the latent construct of resilience. These results suggest that sleep quality, regularity, and insomnia symptoms may be important targets for intervention when treating individuals with ACEs to increase their resilience.

Using recursive partitioning to predict presence and severity of suicidal ideation amongst college students.

OBJECTIVE: Predicting the presence and severity of suicidal ideation in college students is important, as deaths by suicide amongst young adults have increased in the past 20 years. PARTICIPANTS: We recruited college students (N = 5494) from ten universities across eight states. METHOD: Participants answered three questionnaires related to lifetime and past month suicidal ideation, and an indicator of suicidal ideation in a DSM-5 symptom measure. We used recursive partitioning to predict the presence, absence, and severity, of suicidal ideation. RESULTS: Recursive partitioning models varied in their accuracy and performance. The best-performing model consisted of predictors and outcomes measured by the DSM-5 Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure. Sexual orientation was also an important predictor in most models. CONCLUSIONS: A single measure of DSM-5 symptom severity may help universities understand suicide severity to promote targeted interventions. Though further work is needed, as similar scaling amongst predictors could have influenced the model.

Predicting the stalking of celebrities from measures of persistent pursuit and threat directed toward celebrities, sensation seeking and celebrity worship.

The stalking of celebrities is a serious issue for thousands of celebrities worldwide who are occasionally confronted by fans who merit the label "fanatic." We administered measures of obnoxious celebrity stalking, celebrity worship, persistent pursuit of celebrities, threat directed toward celebrities, boredom susceptibility, disinhibition, experience seeking, thrill and adventure seeking, relationship styles, and anger to 596 college students from the U.S.A. We developed a model consisting of all but the latter five measures that successfully predicted actual obnoxious stalking behaviors of celebrities. Our results partially replicate earlier research and presents some new findings. Individuals who have personal thoughts about their favorite celebrity frequently, feel compelled to learn more about them, pursue them consistently, threatened to harm them and were prone to boredom were more likely to engage in celebrity stalking. Controlling for these predictors, individuals who admire their favorite celebrity almost exclusively because of their ability to entertain were less likely to engage in celebrity stalking.

Convergence Between the Child Behavior Checklist Sleep Items, Actigraphy and Other Sleep Measures Among Children of Parents with Alcoholic Disorders and Controls.

Purpose: The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is a widely used instrument of children psychosocial functioning. CBCL sleep items have been used in both clinical settings and research. To date, few empirical studies have examined the relationships between CBCL sleep items and other sleep measures such as actigraphy and validated sleep questionnaires. This study extends the literature by examining these relationships in a group of children of parents with an alcohol use disorder (COAs) and matched controls. Participants and Methods: Two hundred and forty-eight children aged 8-12 (48% COAs; 50% girls; Mean age =10.37 (Standard deviation = 1.47)), participated in this study. Data presented here were taken from Time 1 of a larger prospective study designed to understand the relationship between sleep and alcohol use. All participants were naïve to alcohol and other illicit drugs. Parents completed the Achenbach CBCL and the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ). Participants wore an actigraph watch on their non-dominant wrists for one week and filled out the Youth Self-Report (YSR). Results: Multiple regression analyses showed that CBCL sleep items (eg, "trouble sleeping") correlated with related actigraphy (eg, shorter total sleep time and longer sleep onset latency) and Pediatrics Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) items (eg, sleep difficulties and daytime sleepiness). Logistic regression analyses indicated that CBCL items (eg, "trouble sleeping) predicted similar items in the Youth Self Report (YSR) (eg, trouble sleeping). Structural equation modeling analyses showed that the latent variable "CBCL sleep" correlated significantly with the latent variables of actigraphy (r = -0.54, p < 0.001), PSQ (r = 0.93, p < 0.001) and YSR (r = 0.38, p < 0.01). These associations were largely the same for COAs and controls. Conclusion: CBCL items were significantly associated with actigraphy variables, a validated sleep measure (PSQ) and youth report of sleep for both COAs and non-COAs.

The Moderating Role of Stress Response on the Relationship Between Subjective Sleep Quality and Suicide Ideation in Adolescence.

OBJECTIVE: Problems sleeping and stress are known to contribute to the development of suicide ideation. However, it is unclear how these risk factors interact longitudinally. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of problems sleeping on the development of suicide ideation in adolescence one year later and how the relationship changes with the addition of stress as a moderator. METHOD: Data were collected from 153 adolescents (M age = 12.8, SD = 1.6) over three years as part of a larger study. Participants completed the MINI-Kid and Youth Self-Report, which were used to assess for suicidality. The Stress scale of the YSR was used to measure stress. Participants also completed the Adolescent Sleep Wake Scale, which was used to assess their perceptions of their sleep quality. RESULTS: Logistic moderation analyses demonstrated a significant interaction between ASWS and YSR Stress in the prediction of suicide ideation one year later, Wald χ2(1)=4.57, OR = 0.68, p < 0.05. Results demonstrated higher odds of endorsing SI as stress increased when sleep quality was poor (OR = 21.51) compared to when sleep quality was high (OR = 4.03), suggesting that adequate sleep may act as a protective factor against suicide ideation. CONCLUSIONS: The results are indicative of long-term consequences of sleep on adolescent mental health, particularly when faced with high levels of stress. These results may have significant clinical implications for suicide prevention efforts as this relationship may help identify at-risk adolescents prior to the initial experience of suicide ideation.

The relationship between insomnia and the intensity of drinking in treatment-seeking individuals with alcohol dependence.

BACKGROUND: Although insomnia is highly prevalent in alcohol use disorders(AUD), its associations with the severity of alcohol use, pre-existing psychiatric comorbidities and psychosocial problems are understudied. The present study evaluates the interplay between these factors using a structural equation model (SEM). METHODS: We assessed baseline cross-sectional data on patients with AUD (N = 123) recruited to a placebo-controlled medication trial. Severity of alcohol use was measured by the Brief Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (B-MAST). Insomnia Severity Index was used to assess insomnia symptoms. The Hamilton scales for Depression and Anxiety, Short Index of Problems and Timeline Follow Back evaluated psychiatric symptoms, psychosocial consequences of drinking and level of alcohol consumption respectively. We used logistic regression to evaluate the association between insomnia and severity of alcohol use while controlling for covariates. We constructed a SEM with observed variables to delineate the effect of psychiatric symptoms, psychosocial factors and current alcohol use on the pathway between alcohol use severity and insomnia. RESULTS: The sample was predominately male(83.9 %), Black(54.6 %) and employed(60.0 %). About 45 % of the participants reported moderate-severe insomnia.The association between insomnia and B-MAST attenuated after adjustment for demographics, psychiatric symptoms and psychosocial problems(OR[95 % CI] = 1.17(0.99-1.47). SEM findings demonstrated that B-MAST and insomnia were linked to psychiatric symptoms (95 % Asymptotic-Confidence Interval (ACI): 0.015-0.159, p < 0.05) but not to psychosocial problems or current alcohol use. CONCLUSION: Among treatment-seeking patients with AUD, psychiatric burden mediated the relationship between severity of alcohol use and insomnia. Clinicians should screen for underlying psychiatric disorders among treatment-seeking patients with AUD complaining of insomnia.

Parallel process modeling of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and alcohol use severity in returning veterans.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with higher levels of alcohol use among returning veterans. Persistent PTSD symptoms can predict alcohol use over the span of hours, days, weeks, and months; however, knowledge of the strength of these associations beyond 1 year remains limited. In this study, we examined the 6-year course of co-occurring PTSD and alcohol use to explicate the directional and possible enduring effects of PTSD on alcohol use severity over time. Our study included 1,649 returning veterans (M age = 37.49; SD = 9.88) who completed 4 waves of data collection between 2010 and 2016. We used parallel process modeling to evaluate temporal associations between PTSD symptoms and alcohol use severity across 4 (T1-T4) waves of data collection. PTSD and alcohol use both decreased significantly between T1 and T4 and in tandem with one another. That is, decreases in one were associated with decreases in the other. Further, individuals with higher levels of PTSD symptom severity at T1 reported accelerated rates of change regarding PTSD symptoms and alcohol use over time. Conversely, baseline alcohol use severity did not predict the rate of change in PTSD symptom severity. Our findings provide evidence of a prospective association between PTSD symptoms and alcohol use and highlight the potential for reciprocal associations between them over the span of years. Importantly, our demonstration of the natural course of co-occurring PTSD symptoms and alcohol use suggests further trauma-focused and combined intervention strategies are needed to disrupt this enduring and reciprocal pattern among returning veterans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Prospective Investigation of the Interaction Between Social Problems and Neuropsychological Characteristics on the Development of Suicide Ideation.

OBJECTIVE: Negative social interactions are known to contribute to the development of suicide ideation. However, it is unclear how this risk factor interacts with other predisposing risk factors. The purpose of this study was to determine how social and neuropsychological factors interact as a prospective predictor of the emergence of suicide ideation in adolescents. METHOD: Data were collected from adolescents (M age = 13.12, SD = 1.48) over 3 years as part of a larger study. Participants completed the MINI-Kid and Youth Self-Report, which were used to assess for suicidality. Negative social interactions were operationalized as the Social Problems scale of the YSR. Additionally, adolescents completed a neuropsychological battery at each wave of data collection. RESULTS: Logistic moderation analyses demonstrated a significant interaction between task switching and endorsement of negative social interactions in the prediction of suicide ideation one year later, Wald χ2 (1) = 4.94, OR = 0.90, p < .05. Distractibility was a significant predictor, Wald χ2 (1) = 5.52, OR = 3.45, p < .05, but it did not demonstrate an interaction effect. Perseveration failed to reach statistical significance independently and in the interaction. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that certain neuropsychological characteristics can aid in predicting which adolescents will develop suicide ideation in the presence of negative social interactions, which may have significant clinical implications.

Insomnia symptoms, cannabis protective behavioral strategies, and hazardous cannabis use among U.S. college students.

Previous research has reported that sleep problems longitudinally predict both onset of cannabis use and cannabis-related problems. However, the mediators of this relationship remain unclear. The present study examined (a) the concurrent relationship between insomnia symptoms and hazardous cannabis use and (b) examined whether use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS) for cannabis mediated this relationship among college student cannabis users. Participants were 984 (69.9% female) college students who reported consuming cannabis at least once in the past month and completed measures of insomnia, cannabis PBS, and cannabis misuse. Data were analyzed by structural equation modeling for binary and count outcomes. The significance of the mediator was evaluated using bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. Insomnia symptoms were associated with an increase in the odds of hazardous cannabis use and possible cannabis use disorder. Cannabis PBS significantly mediated the relationship between insomnia symptoms and hazardous cannabis use, cannabis use disorder symptoms, and cannabis-related problems. Specifically, higher reports of insomnia symptoms were associated with lower use of cannabis PBS; which in turn was associated with an increase in the odds of hazardous cannabis use and possible cannabis use disorder, as well as a higher report of cannabis-related problems. Implications of these findings on the prevention of cannabis use problems among college students in the United States were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Child and adolescent predictors of smoking involvement in emerging adulthood.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the differential relationship of externalizing behavior, internalizing behavior, social context, and their interactions to three developmental indicators of smoking involvement: onset (age), amount of smoking, and dependence symptomatology. METHOD: Participants (n = 504, 73% male) from a high-risk community-based longitudinal study were followed from age 12-14 to young adulthood (18-20). Smoking involvement was conceptualized as a process involving differences in (a) age of onset of smoking, (b) amount of smoking at age 18-20, and (c) level of nicotine dependence symptomatology at age 18-20. Survival analysis was used to predict onset of smoking, regression for smoking level, and zero-inflated Poisson regression for nicotine dependence. RESULTS: Externalizing (teacher report) and internalizing behavior (youth self-report), prior to the onset of smoking, predicted different components of smoking and nicotine dependence in young adulthood. Parental smoking predicted all levels of smoking involvement. Peer smoking was related to early onset of smoking, but not higher levels of smoking involvement. Externalizing and internalizing behavior interacted to predict nicotine dependence level, with higher levels of internalizing behavior predicting higher levels of dependence symptoms, even at low levels of externalizing behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Externalizing and internalizing behavior and social context are independent and interacting risk factors that come into play at different points in the developmental process occurring between smoking onset and dependence. This study provides important information for theoretical models of smoking progression and shows that different types of risk should be targeted for prevention at different points in smoking progression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Parent depressive symptoms and offspring executive functioning.

Introduction: Previous research has found mixed results when assessing the association between a parent's history of depressive symptoms and a child's abilities on measures of executive functioning. The purpose of this study was to replicate and expand upon these findings by evaluating the influence of a parent's depressive symptoms on a young person's executive functioning. Method: As part of a larger study, 135 children (54.8% female, aged 8-12) and one biological parent completed diagnostic screening interviews. Children then completed a brief executive functioning battery. Symptoms endorsed under the past major depressive episode module of the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to measure depressive symptoms of parents. Results: While controlling for parent alcohol status and age, gender, intelligence, and current depressive symptoms of the child, linear regression models revealed that the parent's depressive symptoms significantly predicted deficits in Letter-Number Sequencing [b = -0.15 (0.07), p < .05] and Motor Speed [b = -0.17 (0.05), p < .005] on the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Trails Test. Parent depressive symptoms had no relationship with inhibition on the D-KEFS Color-Word Interference Test [b = -0.04 (0.14), p = .74] or the Verbal Working Memory subtest of the Stanford-Binet [b = 0.14 (0.12) p = .43]. Greater depressive symptoms in parents were associated with fewer perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) [b = 0.73 (0.32), p < .05]. Conclusion: In sum, a parent's depressive symptomatology was differentially associated with a young person's neurocognitive abilities. Clinical implications were discussed.

Sleep and behavioral control in earlier life predicted resilience in young adulthood: A prospective study of children of alcoholics and controls.

AIMS: Children of alcoholics (COAs) are at higher risk for developing an alcohol use disorder and substance-related problems than non-COAs. This study examined (i) the relationships between sleep rhythmicity in childhood (aged 3-5) and behavioral control in adolescence (aged 9-14) and (ii) whether sleep rhythmicity and behavioral control predicted resilience in COAs in emerging adulthood (aged 21-26). Resilience was defined as successful adaptation in spite of adversity. Resilience among COAs was operationalized in three different ways (i) absence of alcohol disorder diagnoses, (ii) absence of alcohol and drug related problems, (iii) a continuous latent variable measured by depressive symptoms, work satisfaction and relationship satisfaction. DESIGN: A prospective, longitudinal study of children assessed from early childhood (ages 3-5) to emerging adulthood (ages 21-26). SETTING: A community study of families at high risk for alcoholism and matched controls conducted in a 4-county area in the Midwest. PARTICIPANTS: 715 children (75% children of alcoholics, 29% female). MEASUREMENT: Data on sleep were gathered by the Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS) and Child Behavior Checklist. Behavioral Control was measured by Child and Adult Q-sort. Substance use data were collected by Drinking and Drug History - Youth form. FINDINGS: Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that higher rhythmicity of sleep, lower level of tiredness and infrequent sleep difficulties predicted higher behavioral control in adolescence, which in turn predicted two resilience outcomes in young adulthood. Behavioral control significantly mediated the effect of childhood sleep rhythmicity and resilience. No group differences between COAs and controls were found. CONCLUSIONS: Good sleep and higher self-regulation act as resource factors for young adults, regardless of parent alcoholism status.

Sleep Characteristics and Behavioral Problems Among Children of Alcoholics and Controls.

BACKGROUND: Past research has indicated that both sleep difficulties and a parental history of alcoholism increase the risk of behavioral problems. But it is not known whether sleep difficulties differentially increase the risk of problem behaviors among children of alcoholics (COAs) and controls. We compared multiple measures of sleep and the relationships between sleep and behavioral problems in these 2 groups of children. METHODS: One hundred and fifteen children aged 8 to 12 (67% COAs; 56% girls; Mage  = 10.85, SDage  = 1.51) participated in this study. Data presented here were taken from Time 1 of a larger prospective study designed to understand the relationship between sleep and alcohol use. All participants were naïve to alcohol and other illicit drugs. Participants were asked to wear an actigraph watch on their nondominant wrist for 1 week. Parents completed the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. RESULTS: Parents of COAs were more likely to rate their children as overtired compared with parents of non-COAs. Structural equation modeling analyses focusing on overall internalizing and externalizing problems did not reveal any group differences on the relationships between sleep measures and behavioral problems. Regression analyses focusing on specific behavioral problems showed that longer total sleep time, parental ratings of "sleep more" and "sleep less" than other children interacted with COA status to predict specific behavioral problems. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep difficulties and duration appear to be a general risk factor for behavioral problems in both COAs and non-COAs, yet the relationships between specific sleep parameters and behavioral problems appear to be different between the 2 groups.

Assault-related shame mediates the association between negative social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault and psychological distress.

OBJECTIVE: Several studies have identified associations between social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault and psychological distress; however, no studies have evaluated shame as a mediator of this association. This study evaluated assault-related shame as a mediator of the associations between negative social reactions to disclosure of sexual assault and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and global distress and hypothesized that there would be an indirect effect of social reactions to disclosure upon symptoms of psychopathology via assault-related shame. METHOD: Participants were 207 female psychology undergraduates who reported past history of completed or attempted sexual assault and had disclosed the assault to at least 1 other person. Participants completed self-report measures of social reactions to sexual assault disclosure, assault-related shame, and symptoms of psychopathology. RESULTS: Participants reported significant histories of attempted or completed sexual assault and indicated clinically significant symptoms of depression and subthreshold symptoms of PTSD and global distress, on average. Evaluation of structural models confirmed the hypothesized indirect effect of negative social reactions to sexual assault disclosure upon symptoms of PTSD (z = 5.85, p < .001), depression (z = 4.56, p < .001), and global distress (z = 4.82, p < .001) via assault-related shame. CONCLUSIONS: These findings offer new insight concerning the intervening role of assault-related shame and highlight the importance of shame as a target for therapeutic intervention. This study suggests the need for future research concerning the role of shame in the etiology of PTSD and process of disclosure among survivors of attempted or completed sexual assault. (PsycINFO Database Record

Insomnia symptoms and suicidality in the National Comorbidity Survey - Adolescent Supplement.

OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we examined the relationship between insomnia symptoms and suicidality in a national sample of US adolescents, while controlling for several psychiatric disorders that are known to be associated with suicidality. Additionally, we examined whether insomnia symptoms interact to affect any suicidality variables. METHODS: Study participants were 10,123 adolescents between the ages of 13-18 from the National Comorbidity Survey - Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A). RESULTS: In bivariate analyses, all insomnia symptoms (i.e., difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, and early morning awakening) were associated with suicide ideation, plan and attempts. In multivariate analyses, controlling for substance use, mood and anxiety disorders, as well as important covariates, difficulties falling and staying asleep had a significant relationship with 12-month and lifetime suicide variables while early morning awakening did not. CONCLUSIONS: Two of the three insomnia symptoms had a significant association with suicide thoughts and plan even after controlling for psychiatric disorders that were known to affect suicidality. Having trouble falling sleeping or staying asleep had both direct and indirect relationships (via substance use, mood and anxiety disorders) on suicidal behavior. Assessment and treatment of sleep disturbances may reduce the risk for suicidality in adolescents.

Distress tolerance in social versus solitary college student drinkers.

Low distress tolerance has been an inconsistent predictor of alcohol-related consequences in college students, but its relationships to depression and coping motives for alcohol have received stronger support. Research on college students who drink heavily in isolation suggests that this population is more likely to have a greater number and severity of alcohol-related problems, depression, and coping motives. Solitary heavy drinkers were therefore hypothesized to have lower distress tolerance than other drinkers. This study examined differences in self-reported and behavioral distress tolerance across two groups of university students: those who endorsed heavy solitary drinking (20.1%) versus those who endorsed other types of drinking. Students completed a self-report measure (Distress Intolerance Self-Report, or DISR) and behavioral measure of distress tolerance (Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test, or PASAT). Students who reported drinking heavily in isolation differed from other students on the DISR, F(1, 132) = 4.645, p = .033, η(2) = .034, but not on the PASAT, F(1, 132) = 0.056, p = .813. These students also endorsed more coping motives for alcohol. Distress tolerance did not predict drinking consequences directly, yet a mediation model linking distress tolerance to consequences through coping motives supports previous findings of distress tolerance as a distal, indirect predictor of drinking problems. The unique characteristics of solitary binge drinkers and the significance of distress tolerance as an indirect predictor of alcohol-related consequences are discussed.

Brief report: Peer group influences and adolescent internalizing problems as mediated by effortful control.

Internalizing problems in adolescence encompass behaviors directed inward at the self (Colman, Wadsworth, Croudace, & Jones, 2007). Several predictors have been linked to internalizing problems including antisocial and prosocial peers (Cartwright, 2007; Chung, 2010). Effortful control, a component of self-regulation, is one factor that could mediate the relationship between peer behaviors and individual outcomes. This study assessed the relationship between peer behaviors, effortful control, and adolescent internalizing problems. Participants were 151 middle school adolescents (M = 12.16 years old) who completed self-report questionnaires regarding behaviors of their peers, perceptions of effortful control, and experiences of internalizing problems. Structural equation modeling (SEM) yielded a significant negative relationship between antisocial peers and effortful control, and a significant positive relationship between prosocial peers and effortful control. In addition, effortful control significantly mediated the relationship between prosocial peers and internalizing problems, but not for antisocial peers. Implications for interventions related to adolescent health were discussed.

Prospective relationship between poor sleep and substance-related problems in a national sample of adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed that poor sleep prospectively predicted alcohol-related problems and illicit drug use in adolescents and young adults (Wong and Brower, 2012; Wong et al., 2010). However, more work needs to be done to elucidate the nature of these problems. The purpose of this study was to examine whether sleep difficulties and hours of sleep prospectively predicted several serious substance-related problems, for example, binge drinking, driving under the influence of alcohol, and risky sexual behavior. METHODS: Study participants were 6,504 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Data were collected from interviews and questionnaires. This study analyzed data from the first 3 waves of data (T1: 1994 to 1995; T2: 1996; T3: 2001 to 2002). In all analyses, we used sleep difficulties at a previous wave to predict substance-related problems at a subsequent wave, while controlling for substance-related problems at a previous wave. RESULTS: Holding T1 alcohol-related problems constant, sleep difficulties at T1 significantly predicted alcohol-related interpersonal problems, binge drinking, gotten drunk or very high on alcohol, driving under the influence of alcohol, getting into a sexual situation one later regretted due to drinking, ever using any illicit drugs, and drug-related problems at T2. T1 hours of sleep negatively predicted T2 alcohol-related interpersonal problems and binge drinking. The relationship between T2 sleep variables and T3 substance-related problems was consistent with previous waves, although the effect was weaker. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep difficulties and hours of sleep are a significant predictor of a number of substance-related problems. It may be useful to educate adolescents about the importance of sleep, sleep hygiene, and the potential consequences of poor sleep on drinking and related behaviors.

Alcohol expectancies in childhood: change with the onset of drinking and ability to predict adolescent drunkenness and binge drinking.

AIMS: We examined the relationship between alcohol expectancies in childhood and onset of drinking, binge drinking and drunkenness in adolescence and the influence of drinking onset on expectancy development. DESIGN: A prospective, longitudinal study of children assessed for alcohol expectancies and drinking at four time-points between ages 6 and 17 years. SETTING: Community study of families at high risk for alcoholism conducted in a four-county area in the Midwestern United States. PARTICIPANTS: The study involved 614 children; 460 were children of alcoholics and 70% were male. MEASUREMENTS: Expectancies about alcohol effects were measured using the Beverage Opinion Questionnaire and child's drinking by the Drinking and Drug History-Youth Form. FINDINGS: Partial factor invariance was found for expectancy factors from ages 6 to 17 years. Survival analysis showed that social/relaxation expectancies in childhood predicted time to onset of binge drinking and first time drunk (Wald χ(2) , 1 d.f. = 3.8, P = 0.05 and 5.0, P < 0.05, respectively). The reciprocal effect was also present; when adolescents began drinking, there was an increase in social/relaxation expectancy and a concomitant increase in slope of the expectancy changes lasting throughout adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: A reciprocal relationship exists between childhood alcohol expectancies and the development of alcohol involvement. Higher expectancies for positive effects predict earlier onset of problem drinking. Onset of use, in turn, predicts an increase in rate of development of positive expectancies.

Rape myth acceptance impacts the reporting of rape to the police: a study of incarcerated women.

We examined the association between rape myth acceptance (RMA) and reporting rapes to the police. Situational characteristics of the rape (e.g., stranger attack, injury) are known predictors of reporting, but no existing studies have examined the association between beliefs about rape and reporting. In addition, most studies of RMA do not assess victimization history. Incarcerated women experience high rates of sexual assaults prior to incarceration. We recruited 74 rape survivors from a northwestern state prison. Results suggest that women who endorsed higher levels of RMA were less likely to report their rapes to police; however, participants endorsed few rape myths.