Citation

Ray LA, Mackillop J, Leventhal A, Hutchison KE. Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res. 2009; 33(12): 2154-2161.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Department of Psychology, University of Georgia (JM), Athens, Georgia; Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University (AL), Providence, Rh.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.01053.x

PMID

19764932

PMCID

PMC3081518

Abstract

Background: The goal of this study was to examine the latent structure among measures of alcohol-induced subjective feelings of intoxication from a behavioral pharmacology perspective. Methods: Data on subjective intoxication, measured concomitantly by the Subjective High Assessment Scale, Biphasic Alcohol Effect Scale, and the Short Version of the Profile of Mood States, were collected at 3 levels of breath alcohol concentration during an alcohol administration study in a sample of heavy drinkers (n = 135). Results: Results of exploratory factor analyses supported a 3-factor model which captured the following dimensions of subjective intoxication: (1) stimulation and other pleasant effects, (2) sedative and unpleasant effects, and (3) alleviation of tension and negative mood. The tension-reduction factor was most consistently associated with more frequent drinking and alcohol problems in this sample. Conclusions: These findings support the notion that the neuropharmacological and behavioral effects of alcohol are multifaceted and cannot be simply defined as either positive or negative. Rather, moderate levels of intoxication appear to have concomitant dimensions of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment. This study also suggests that factor scores may be useful in future alcohol administration studies to reduce the number of comparisons and perhaps increase statistical power to detect meaningful effects.

Language: en