Addictive behaviors
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Addictive behaviors · Feb 2008
Multicenter StudySociodemographic and smoking-related psychosocial predictors of smoking behavior change among high school smokers.
The purpose of the study was to explore whether sociodemographic characteristics and baseline psychosocial factors were related to short-term smoking cessation and reduction, after controlling for the effects of participating in a virtual world, Internet chat room intervention. Results indicate that smoking-related psychosocial factors are important predictors of adolescent smoking cessation and reduction, independent of the effects of participating in the intervention. Self-efficacy for quitting, social support, and perceived benefits of quitting was related to positive short-term changes in smoking behavior.
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Addictive behaviors · Feb 2008
Beyond the "Binge" threshold: heavy drinking patterns and their association with alcohol involvement indices in college students.
Despite its ubiquity, the term "Binge" drinking has been controversial. Among other things, the grouping of drinkers into a single risk category based on a relatively low threshold may not capture adequately the nature of problem drinking behaviors. The present study is an initial examination of the utility of delineating heavy drinkers into three groups; those who typically drink below the traditional "Binge" cutoff (less than 4+/5+ drinks per occasion for women/men), those who met traditional "Binge" drinking criteria, and a higher "Binge" cutoff of 6+/7+ (women, men). ⋯ Importantly, "Heavy Binge" drinkers experienced higher levels of those specific consequences associated with more problematic alcohol involvement. Findings suggest that not all "Binge" drinkers drink alike, are equally drunk, or experience similar consequences. As such, there may be utility in distinguishing among heavy drinkers, in order to focus appropriately on those at greatest risk for different types of consequences.