red0;;Essay prepared for English Academic Purposes -Level 4
Teacher: Natalia Kotrasova
"The assessment of the relationship between alcoholism w...
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red0;;Essay prepared for English Academic Purposes -Level 4
Teacher: Natalia Kotrasova
"The assessment of the relationship between alcoholism with stressor "
Prepared by: Maryam Ghasemiardekani
Student number: P46091
Date:
Abstract:
Alcohol has been considered as a coping mechanism against stress. It is believed that people drink alcohol in order to cope with stressful situations. In the present study, the relationship between stress and alcohol consumption has been examined.
Aim: The purpose of the present study was to realize the link between alcohol consumption and acute and chronic stressor
Method: evidences from experimental studies on the relationship between different stressors such as some catastrophic events and common adult stressful life events in interpersonal, occupational, financial, and legal area and alcohol consumption as a literature review was performed. One questionnaire was designed and some questions were asked to the general population survey among 30 alcohol user in Sydney. Several types of negative events have been considered in order to assess the relationship between stressors and alcohol consumption.
Result:
Conclusion:
Table of content:
Introduction:
Alcohol dependency is a complicated problem determined by multiple factors containing psychological and physiological components, personality and access to alcohol. Stress is a pivotal variable considered to explain the initiation, maintenance, and continuation of alcohol abuse and dependence. Many studies that have demonstrated an association between AOD use and stress have been unable to establish a causal relationship between the two. However, stress and the body's response to it most likely play a role in the vulnerability to initial alcohol use. Neurochemical systems, such as the serotonin, dopamine, and opiate peptide, as well as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in the brain are considered as a physiological component.
The definition of alcohol dependency:
Heavy drinking, alcohol abuse, or dependence is common in the variety of studies which can cause some considerable suffering, mortality, and economic costs. The risk of alcohol-related psychosocial, legal, and economic issues increases when drinking exceeds 14 drinks a week or 5 or more drinks per occasion for men. Unfortunately, this vulnerable population are often unrecognized until serious complications of drinking have developed (Bush,1998)
DSM-IV Criteria for Alcohol dependency: A maladaptive pattern of alcohol abuse leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by one or more of the following, occurring within a 12-month period: Recurrent alcohol use resulting in failure to fulfil major role obligations at work, school, or home (e.g., repeated absences or poor work performance related to substance use; substance-related absences, suspensions or expulsions from school; or neglect of children or household). Recurrent alcohol use in situations in which it is physically hazardous (e.g., driving an automobile or operating a machine). Recurrent alcohol-related legal problems (e.g., arrests for alcohol-related disorderly conduct). Continued alcohol use despite persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the alcohol (e.g., arguments with spouse about consequences of intoxication or physical fights). These symptoms must never have met the criteria for alcohol dependence.( American Psychiatric Association,1994)
The role of different stressors on alcohol ingestion in the literature reviews:
Although alcohol and stress interaction have been studied extensively, results are often contradictory. For example, while some authors report that unemployment is related to alcohol consumption in men and women (Janlert and Hammerstrom, 1992, as cited in San Joes,2000), others found no relationship between unemployment and quantity of alcohol consumed (Cooke and Allan, 1983; Seeman and Seeman, 1992, as cited in San Joes,2000).
The literature regarding alcohol and stress interaction subjects accomplished since 1992 is reviewed in this part. This review includes several aspects of alcohol-stress relationship. First, most of the review proved that the role of stress on alcohol consumption. For instance, Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Pirkula, 2005) demonstrated an increase in alcohol intake with anxiety. There are insufficient documents which present stress does not have a significant role in alcohol intake among women and elderly. These studies did not find a correlation between levels of stress and consumption of alcohol. Besides this, alcohol users also have different reasons for drinking. On the other hand, some studies declare that stress has a crucial role in control of alcohol consumption among adolescents. These studies also consider the multidimensionality of factors that can cause to control of alcohol ingestion. Moreover, alcohol has been reported to decrease anxiety in agoraphobic and tremor of the hands. However, scientifically it is not clear whether the interaction of alcohol and stress involves changing in plasma catecholamine. Alcohol may lower elevated plasma catecholamine affected by some stress, but not all stressor. It would be a meaningful gap in researches which the evidences are not conclusive. The inconsistencies in data in the reviewed literature may reflect some of the many variables associated with alcohol and stress research. (All sources that I used with years L. A. Pohorecky,1991)
The relationship between marital status and alcohol consumption has also been reported. For example, Romelsjo et al. (1991) observed an increase in alcohol consumption among men and women who were divorced, compared to those who were not. Wilsnack et al. (1991), by contrast, found a negative association between being divorced and heavy drinking among women, and Hanna et al.(1993) suggested that changes in marital status were more important than marital status itself in relation to drinking behaviour. In our study, we were able to assess marital status as well as changes in it. Although getting divorced was positively related to abstinence among men, the opposite was observed among women. Being divorced, the chronic counterpart of getting divorced, was also positively related with abstinence among men, but not related to abstinence among women. With regard to heavy drinking, both getting divorced and being divorced were positively related to heavy drinking among men, whereas only the latter was associated with heavy drinking among women.
Divorce and death of a partner have been studied together in the literature, since they represent a change in marital status to ‘not married’ and a consequent change in the individuals' roles (Temple et al., 1991; Hajema and Knibbe, 1998). The authors of these studies found that becoming ‘unmarried’ was associated with heavy drinking. In our study, we distinguished between becoming separated or divorced and becoming widowed. Since we observed a relationship between being/getting divorced and alcohol consumption, but no relationship between the latter and death of a partner/being widowed, we suggest that these two ways of ‘becoming unmarried’ should be analysed separately in the future.
Financial stress and unemployment in relation to alcohol consumption have also been studied. Some authors found no association between financial stress and alcohol (Moos et al., 1989), whereas others found economic strain to be related to drinking problems, both positively and negatively (Seeman and Seeman, 1992; Pierce et al., 1994). The same holds for unemployment: Janlert and Hammerstrom (1992) found a positive association suggesting that unemployment causes financial stress and that people drink alcohol in order to cope with stress, although other authors did not (Cooke and Allan, 1983; Seeman and Seeman, 1992). The authors who found a negative association, on the contrary, attributed their findings to the fact that alcohol becomes less affordable with the decrease in income (Pierce et al., 1994). In our study, we had information on employment status as well as on financial stressors (acute and chronic), so we were able to assess simultaneously the relationship between unemployment, financial stressors, and alcohol consumption.
Chronic financial stress (financial difficulties) was positively associated with abstinence among men and women, whereas acute financial stress (worsening of financial position) was positively associated with heavy drinking among men. Being unemployed was positively associated with heavy drinking among men. These relationships were observed simultaneously, so our data suggest that the relationships described in earlier studies between unemployment and financial position are independent
Method:
The questionnaire consists of two segments: seven questions are dedicated to demographic data, two questions on quantity and frequency of drinking, three items on alcohol dependence and one question on events caused by drinking. Several types of negative events have been considered in order to assess the relationship between stressors and alcohol consumption. It should be mentioned that the definition of active alcohol or dependence and heavy drinking is considered for discussion of data based on DSM-IV Criteria. These questions are asked to the general population survey among 30 alcohol user in Sydney. But, for validity and reliability of data the number of questionnaire are completed among 40 alcohol user.
Recommendation:
Studies indicate that treatment techniques which foster coping skills, problem-solving skills, and social support play a crucial role in successful treatment. In the future, individualized treatment approaches that emphasize stress management strategies in those patients who have a clear connection between stressor and alcohol consumption will become particularly important.
References: American Psychiatric Association. 1994. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) (DSM-IV). Washington, D.C.: APA
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