The Effects of Alcohol Hangover on Mood and Performance Assessed at Home.

The current study evaluated the next day consequences of a social night of drinking compared to a no alcohol night, with standardised mood and portable screen-based performance measures assessed in the morning at participants' homes, and a breathalyser screen for zero alcohol. A mixed sex group (n = 20) took part in the study. Participants reported consuming on average 16.9 units (135 g) alcohol, resulting in a hangover rating of 60 (out of 100) compared to 0.3 following the no alcohol night. Statistical significance comparisons contrasting the hangover with the no alcohol condition revealed an increase in negative mood and irritability during hangover and an (unexpected) increase in risk and thrill seeking. Performance scores showed an overall slowing of responses across measures, but with less impact on errors. The results support the description of hangover as a general state of cognitive impairment, reflected in slower responses and reduced accuracy across a variety of measures of cognitive function. This suggests a general level of impairment due to hangover, as well as increased negative mood. The use of a naturalistic design enabled the impact of more typical levels of alcohol associated with real life social consumption to be assessed, revealing wide ranging neurocognitive impairment with these higher doses. This study has successfully demonstrated the sensitivity of home-based assessment of the impact of alcohol hangover on a range of subjective and objective measures. The observed impairments, which may significantly impair daily activities such as driving a car or job performance, should be further investigated and taken into account by policy makers.

An integrative review of coping related to problematic computer use in adolescence.

OBJECTIVES: Problematic computer use is the use of computer technology that may be health-endangering and may cause immediate or later negative physical or psychological health outcomes or disturb well-being in users. The main purpose of this study was to review current empirical research on coping strategies which adolescents apply in the context of problematic computer use and the coping-relevant impacts of problematic computer use. METHODS: An integrative review of empirical studies using the Web of Science, Google Scholar, reference lists and forward tracking was conducted. Of the 404 articles identified, 28 peer-reviewed, full-text articles that directly addressed coping in relation to problematic Internet use, computer overuse and cyberbullying were included in the review. RESULTS: This review identified the structure of specific coping strategies related to problematic computer use as well as the general patterns of relationships between reviewed instances of problematic computer use, situational coping and dispositional coping. CONCLUSIONS: Instrumental action and talking with others were the most frequent strategies used by adolescents to cope with cyberbullying. The structure of the coping strategies related to problematic Internet use and computer overuse is highly differentiated, revealing a new and promising area for future research.