Alcohol binge drinking in adolescence and psychological profile

Can the preclinical model crack the chicken-or-egg question

Bibliographic Data

ID15522390
AuthorsValentina Castelli (University of Palermo), Fulvio Plescia (0000-0002-4786-8435, University of Palermo), Giuseppe Maniaci (0000-0001-7484-7704, University of Palermo), Gianluca Lavanco (0000-0002-4962-379X, University of Palermo), Giuseppe Pizzolanti (0000-0001-6052-8438, University of Palermo), Anna Brancato (0000-0002-8635-4146, University of Palermo), Carla Cannizzaro (0000-0002-7351-1712, University of Palermo, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume13
Pages996965-996965
Publication date2022-09-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640
PublisherFrontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpsyt.2022.996965
PMID36159952
OpenAlexW4295193272
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited72

During adolescence, internal and external factors contribute to engaging with alcohol binge drinking (ABD), putting at risk the neurodevelopment of brain regions crucial for emotional control and stress coping. This research assessed the prevalence of ABD in late adolescent students of Southern Italy and characterized their psychological profile and drinking motives. Translational effects of alcohol binge drinking in the animal model were also studied. Seven hundred and fifty-nine high school students of both sexes (aged 18-20) were recruited. Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C), Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised Short Form, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-Third Ed., State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and Basic Self-Esteem Scale identified alcohol habits, drinking motives, and psychopathological profile. Eighty-five percentage of the students drank alcohol and 28% of them engaged in ABD; AUDIT-C correlated with enhancement, coping, and conformity motives. ABD was related to a greater likelihood of presenting clinical syndromes and personality disorders, as well as low resilience and self-esteem. Thereafter, in the pre-clinical model, adolescent male rats were exposed to alcohol (3.5 g/kg) in an intermittent binge-like paradigm and tested during prolonged abstinence. Rats were evaluated for anxiety-like behavior, motivated behaviors, resilience, and stress response following a psychosocial challenge. Binge-like alcohol-exposed adolescent rats displayed high integrated z-score for social- and novelty-induced anxiety, altered motivation-driven output, decreased resilience, and a blunted HPA axis response to psychosocial stress, with respect to respective controls. Our data confirm that ABD is the chosen pattern of drinking in a significant percentage of high school students in Southern Italy, and highlights AUDIT-C score as a relevant parameter able to predict the occurrence of affective disturbances. The evidence from the preclinical model shows that ABD produces detrimental consequences in the adolescent rat brain, resulting in negative affect, emotional dysregulation, and aberrant stress response, pointing to decreasing excessive alcohol drinking as a primary goal for the global act for brain health

Abstinence · Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test · Anxiety · Binge drinking · Coping (psychology · Environmental health · Injury prevention · Novelty seeking · Personality · Poison control · Psychiatry · Psychopathology · Psychosocial · Temperament · Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects · Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Psychology · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

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