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The Center ARGonaut The newsletter is published by the Alcohol Research Group to disseminate research related to the Center’s mission of studying the epidemiology of alcohol problems. Subscriptions are free. Please address correspondence and subscription requests to:
Alcohol Research Group or e-mail: it@arg.org
Looking Forward and Looking Back: The Argonaut sets sail. [Vol. 1,
No. 1, 2000]
With this edition of the Argonaut we
inaugurate the Newsletter of the national alcohol research center at the Alcohol
Research Group in
ARG and its Center’s ambitious health services
studies are examining, with a multi-year perspective, the course of alcohol
problems following treatment admissions. To answer service-related questions
at a system level, we turn to multiple samples, drawn in one case from those
entering treatment in the public, private indemnity, and HMO service sectors.
Increasingly, these important studies look broadly at the social handling of
important populations with substance abuse problems. The focus is on
trajectories of alcohol consumption and problems, which are affected by the
evolving interaction of individuals with their communities, including medical
and social agencies of many types. For example, ARG’s welfare project is one
of the only longitudinal studies available to conduct in-depth investigations
of the dynamics of alcohol problems and welfare use. Other studies have been
closely delving into
The Center brings together specialists with
different disciplines, painstaking observational strategies, and state-of-the
art analytic tools to pursue multi-method studies of general and specialized
populations. The foment of ideas is catalyzed, too, by the presence of
outstanding postdoctoral trainees from the epidemiological and health
services training programs that ARG runs in conjunction with the UC Berkeley
School of Public Health and the Prevention Research Center (a sister NIAAA-sponsored
national center). Consultants and vising scientists inject their unqiue
perspectives from the outside. My hope is that some of this spirit will be
conveyed by the articles in this and future quarterly Argonauts. We
are indeed adventurers on a quest—the scientific challenge to deepen our
epidemiological grasp of conditions potentiating or protecting against
alcohol problems, including their social handling through prevention
programs, service provision, community interventions, and alcohol policies. By Thomas K. Greenfield,
Ph.D. [Vol.1,
No. 1, 2000] CADPAAC may seem to be one of those famously
convoluted U.S. Navy acronyms, but it is short for the California County
Alcohol and Drug Program Administrators Association. This On May 27, 1999, CADPAAC presented ARG with its
Research Award for “outstanding work in the area of research.” Dr. Thomas K.
Greenfield as the incoming Center Director accepted the award on behalf of
ARG at the organization’s Annual Awards Banquet in One major study is the The San Francisco Bay Area county selected for
in depth study has a population of some 800,000. ARG has continued its
ongoing relationship with the county in question over two decades, with
general population surveys in the early and late 1980s and numerous studies
of specific clientele and services, some of them continuing today, to trace effects
of recent policy reforms. The second population survey was noteworthy because
the region and the survey represented the ARG’s long-term commitment to epidemiological
research in The southern zone of “Silicon Valley,” south of Elsewhere, Center scientist Lee Kaskutas
studied a large sample of social versus medical model alcoholism recovery
programs. Tom Greenfield recently evaluated the innovative
staffing arrangements and effectiveness of a self-help, social approach to
care. He designed a randomized clinical trial of assignment to the innovative
crisis residential mental health facility versus a professionally staffed,
locked, in-patient psychiatric unit, both located in This simple sketch indicates how much ARG has
contributed toward the improvement of county services and county governments
in their efforts to deal with the range of alcohol and drug problems and
identify the most effective services configurations. With the recent
expansion of the economy and rapid growth in the population of Bay Area
counties, it remains to be seen whether or not these preventive and treatment
systems can cope with such change and what new policies are warranted. The
results of the 2000 census and new ARG surveys—including the Center’s Year
2000 National Alcohol Survey and its associated Bay Area Supplement, the
latter closely examining the relationship of bar-going to risks of sexually
transmitted diseases—are eagerly awaited. By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. Back to Back: [Vol. 1,
No. 1, 2000] Part of the research program of ARG is
epidemiological analysis of the National Alcohol Survey data sets, which the The first article, “A 10-year national trend
study of alcohol consumption, 1984–1995: Is the period of declining drinking
over?”, focused on three indicators of consumption: current drinking or
abstention, weekly drinking, and weekly heavy drinking, defined as 5 or more
drinks in a day. Since social preferences for the type of alcoholic beverage
change over time—the steady drop in the consumption of spirits (“hard
liquor”) since 1970 is indicative—these researchers also sought any trends in
beverage choice. Finally, they checked for ethnic and other demographic
correlations in both amount and kind of consumption. Many people have
prejudicial opinions of the drinking behavior of other affinity groups. For
targeting prevention efforts it is important to know if some subgroups do, in
fact, have greater risks based on heavy consumption or alcohol-related
problems.. The ARG team hence examined trends by sex, age, marital status,
race or ethnicity, income level, employment status, religion, education
level, urban or rural residency, and regional location within the country.
The researchers found that, except for those having at least one episode of
heavy drinking during the previous year, the percentage of people consuming alcohol
had fallen between 1984 and 1990, continuing a recognized trend begun around
1980; however, by 1995 the falling percentage of respondents drinking alcohol
leveled out. This flattening trend included weekly heavy drinkers. When the
researchers considered the type of beverage, they found across-the-board
reductions over the entire period in wine, beer, and spirits. A closer
inspection revealed that preferences were virtually unchanged between 1990
and 1995 and that most of the observed declines took place in the late 1980’s
rather than the early 1990’s. When the researchers examined the total number
of days in the year when alcohol was consumed, results paralleled these other
analyses: people drank fewer times in 1990 compared to 1984, but they drank
about as often in 1995 as in 1990. Since wine drinkers were consistent in
their rate of consumption over the entire period (about 39 days per year),
most of the reductions occurred among the beer drinkers between 1984 and 1990
(96 down to 75 days per year), with the drinking of spirits continuing a more
modest decline in frequency between 1990 and 1995 (34 down to 26 days per
year). Respondents who had consumed spirits about 34 days on average over the
year preceding the 1984 survey had by 1990 reduced their frequency to 26
days. The number of days when heavy drinking occurred was significantly
different only for beer drinkers between 1984 and 1990. Heavy drinking was
rare for wine drinkers, occurring only 1 or 2 days on average during the
previous year. Hard liquor drinkers indulged heavily some 2 to 4 days, which
is appreciably less often than that reported by the beer-drinking population,
who on average drank heavily 14 days in 1983–1984 and 10 days in
1994–1995.After inspecting the demographic breakdowns of the data, the
research team was impressed with the reduction of drinking (versus
abstaining) by Hispanic respondents in 1995 compared to those of the 1990
survey. In contrast, African Americans reported higher rates of heavy
drinking in 1995 than those interviewed in 1990. Findings confirmed earlier
trends that men and younger people in general were apt to drink alcohol
heavily and often. The researchers found no remarkable distinctions among the
respondents’ marital status, education, religion, residence location, and
other independent variables. Although the form of religion had no
statistically predictive capacity, it is interesting to note that the lighter
drinkers and those who imbibed less heavily were apt to answer that religion
was very important to them. As these researchers observed, “The commodity of
alcohol is always poised in a dynamic rather than a static
equilibrium—promoted by commercial interests and held in check by social
policy and mores.” These analyses indicate that the social movement toward
moderate or restricted drinking may have reached its limit of effectiveness,
that favorable economics and a host of other cultural factors may have
counter-balanced these forces such that by 1995 the patterns of alcohol
consumption have at least temporarily stabilized. In the second report, “Trends in social
consequences and dependence symptoms in the With sample sizes of 1,300 to 1,500 individuals
who were current drinkers, the 15 questions about drinking problems covered
the following categories: fights and arguments; accidents and legal problems;
health problems; difficulties at work; and negative reactions. Alcohol
Dependence symptoms were based on 13 items in the questionnaire, which
included loss of control, blackouts, and other symptoms of withdrawal. The
researchers noted no significant alterations over the entire period in social
consequences except for two categories: accidents/legal problems and problems
at work. A closer look showed that reductions occurred between 1984 and 1990,
respectively from 4% to 1.7% and 2% to 0.6% of respondents. These trends did
not continue; they found no appreciable change in any category between 1990
and 1995. The prevalence rate of given dependence symptoms was unchanged
throughout. Inspecting the influence of the previously
mentioned demographic variables, the research team found little of interest.
Women between age 40 and 49 years did report fewer social consequences in
1995 than in 1990, from about 6% down to 1% of the sampled group. Also,
Hispanics reported significantly higher prevalence of social difficulties in
1995 when compared to 1984 figures, an increase from 6% to nearly 17% of
participants. An approximate doubling in the prevalence rate of dependency
symptoms (4.5% to 8.5%) took place between 1984 and 1995 among people who are
affiliated with religions regarded moderate by the T. W. Smith
classification, among which are Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Methodism. Is this apparent paradox a result of
self-reporting in a time when diminished alcohol consumption makes such
untoward behavior relatively more unusual, hence, more likely to be
identified and acknowledged? Drs. Midanik and Greenfield cite, among other
evidence, how the measuring bar had been lowered in reporting drunkenness
between 1979 and 1995—from an average of 8.2 drinks in 1979 to 6.3 drinks
fifteen years later—increasing the frequency of reported drunkenness at a
given level of drinking. Public toleration of overt alcohol-related social
problems has diminished, especially in “drier” cultural environments. The
abuser stands out and, in many instances, seems to know it. A clear caveat to
the study, the researchers add, is the absence from the household sample of
those known to have more chronic and serious social consequences of drinking,
the homeless and institutional residents; hence, observed prevalence rates
may be somewhat conservative. The two ARG reports provide strong evidence that
nationally the early 1990’s have been a period of dynamic balance in alcohol
consumption and associated problems. It is interesting to reflect on the
similar stability of the socio-economic and political situation during this
period and the accompanying pubic attitudes toward adults drinking alcohol.
Recently, the media have focused more on changes in the level and especially
frequency of drinking by teenagers and college students than on adult
drinking habits. Also, economic boom, minimal unemployment, and affluence
suggest that the social forces that provide this stability are in flux: “The
times they are a-changin’.” Whether the decline of alcohol abuse and its
consequences has merely stalled, a resurgence is occurring, or a steady state
will continue will be an important question for the next National Alcohol
Survey now being fielded. Future trend analyses are being designed to
disentangle the effects of the age-period-cohort of earlier periodic surveys,
which refers to three closely related factors: the age of
individuals (the biological or maturational effect), their birth cohort
(behavioral norms during upbringing that might operate generationally), and period
(those influences owing to current environmental and personal circumstances
at the time a given survey is conducted). By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. RSA Honors Dr. Lee Ann Kaskutas [Vol. 1,
No. 1, 2000] Lee Ann Kaskutas, Dr.P.H., the 1998 recipient of the Young Investigator
Award of the Research Society on Alcoholism, spoke last year on
“Understanding drinking during pregnancy among urban Native and African Americans:
health messages, risk beliefs, and how we measure consumption” at the
award-related Plenary Session of the 22nd Annual RSA Scientific Meeting held
in Santa Barbara. This rare honor to a social scientist—biomedical laboratory
researchers typically receive the award—reflects Dr. Kaskutas’s numerous
significant contributions to the epidemiology of alcohol consumption over the
years since her doctorate in 1992, particularly in her direction of the DEER
[Determining Educational Effects and Resources] Project in Los Angeles and
San Francisco Bay Area communities. This research investigated the
effectiveness among pregnant minority women of health education campaigns to
prevent Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Among her other research interests is the
self-help organization Alcoholic Anonymous; she has recently contributed the
chapter on AA in the By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. ARG Trainees at NIAAA-Sponsored Workshop [Vol. 1,
No. 1, 2000] For a young researcher, the opportunity to present
findings before a national body of experts is both an important challenge and
a highly rewarding experience. Conferences provide the arena to hone one’s
skills in defending a scientific position, to gain knowledge of related
issues that expand the perspective of a research project, and to establish
oneself in the field. Such interactions, which personalize the profession
through formal and casual meetings with leading investigators, are key
practical elements in the development of a scientist. Two Center NIAAA
trainees at ARG, E. Anne Lown, Dr.P.H. and Michelle
Scott, Ph.D., can attest to these principles having recently
presented their research before a combined meeting of Center Directors and
Training Program Directors of the various National Alcohol Research Centers. The conference, “Alcoholism: What can research
offer in the 21st century?”, took place in Dr. Scott was enthusiastic about her selection
as a speaker. “It was a great opportunity for social scientists to discuss
alcohol problems with laboratory researchers,” she observed. “I learned a lot
about research with mice and rats!” Since the National Alcohol Research
Centers each specialize in aspects of alcoholism, the meeting was
cross-disciplinary, with scientists in pathology and cell biology, treatment
and pharmacology, prevention and psychology, health services sociology,
public health, and social epidemiology sharing their latest results. NIAAA
and the In addition, a working lunch with NIAAA staff
gave the trainees a chance to broaden their outlook and learn about career
opportunities. They received guidance in obtaining grants and other funding
and in publishing their results. “I was especially impressed by Dr. Enoch
Gordis [Director of NIAAA], who seemed to know everything about alcohol
research from biochemistry to preventive social policies,” said Dr. Scott.
“He was brilliant, and I found him accessible to young scientists.” Already holding an M.S.W. from the Now a post-doctoral trainee, Dr. Lown was still
a graduate student at the time of the conference; she received her Dr.P.H.
from the Her presentation at the conference was on
“Alcohol abuse or dependence among Mexican American women reporting
violence.” Alcohol-driven violence against women is scarcely a new topic,
having, for instance, been an element of numerous movies and countless police
reports over the decades. Prevalence studies, however, are relatively new,
and Dr. Lown decided not only to focus on the minority population of Mexican
Americans living in Dr. Lown described the conference as “extremely
warm and welcoming. The NIAAA staff supported and encouraged young
professionals. Trainees were respected and repeatedly referred to as the
cream of the crop.” She appreciated the high quality of the discussions and
presented papers, which forced trainees to think critically; she further was
pleased how “trainees were pushed forward to the next step” in their work.
Dr. Lown also plans a career in research and hopes that her findings will help
shape public policy. Both ARG trainees valued the well-balanced
meeting and their opportunity to network and perhaps someday collaborate with
researchers from complementary fields. The personal approach of this
dedicated meeting contrasted sharply with large meetings of professional
societies, where a scientist could easily attend with little interaction.
They hoped that NIAAA will continue to support such worthy conferences. By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. Return to Training pages Screening for Alcohol Dependence in
Primary Care [Vol. 1,
No. 2, 2000] When a person with an underlying alcohol use
disorder enters a primary care setting, such as a clinic or emergency room,
how should the medical staff effectively proceed, particularly if the patient
does not recognize the disorder or is not immediately forthcoming? What if
that patient is a minor? What should be the alcohol abuse intervention and
preventive policies of health care institutions? These concerns were
addressed recently at a two-day conference on “The Expanding Role of Primary
Care in the Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders: Issues for Research
and Policy” co-sponsored by NIAAA and the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality. The conference, which took place in In addition to the participation of
ARG-associated investigator Constance Weisner, Dr. P.H.,
who, representing work in substance abuse and primary care at Kaiser
Permanente, chaired the session on managed care and reimbursements, was a
feature talk in the overview session by ARG senior scientist Cheryl
J. Cherpitel, Dr.P.H. She presented her findings on a novel
screening instrument especially useful in emergency rooms. Dr. Cherpitel
explained, “my interest was in identifying those instruments, or a small
subset of screening items, that would perform optimally across gender and
ethnic [white, Black, and Hispanic] subgroups of emergency room patients.”
Many standard instruments were especially gender variable, providing poorer
sensitivity for females. With funding from NIAAA to collect emergency room
patient samples in Jackson, Mississippi; San Jose, California; and Pachuca,
Mexico, she evaluated the CAGE, brief-MAST, AUDIT, and TWEAK, determining
those questions that optimize sensitivity while maintaining reasonable
specificity against two diagnostic standards, ICD-10 (International
Classification of Disease, 10th edition) and DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual, 4th edition), used for assessing harmful drinking or alcohol abuse or
its dependence. Initially selecting five questions from among
these and then paring it down to four, Dr. Cherpitel arrived at a successful
recipe. Called RAPS4 for Rapid Alcohol Problems Screen and its four
questions, her instrument in turn refers to the attributes detected by the
items: Remorse—During the last year have you had a feeling of guilt or
remorse after drinking?; Amnesia—During the last year has a friend
or family member ever told you about things you said or did while you were
drinking that you could not remember?; Perform—During the
last year have you failed to do what was normally expected from you because
of drinking?; and Starter—Do you sometime take a drink in the
morning when you first get up? Dr. Cherpitel observed that the question
on remorse alone identified 83% of those found to be alcohol dependent; a
positive response to any one of the four items gave a sensitivity of 93% and
a specificity of 87%. Indeed, with no need for weighting, a positive response
on any one question signified a positive screen. “RAPS4,” Dr. Cherpitel
concludes, “may hold promise in screening for alcohol dependence across a
variety of clinical settings because of its consistently high sensitivity
across gender and ethnic subgroups and its simplicity.” Dr. Cherpitel’s most
recent report in this body of work, “A brief screening instrument for problem
drinking in the emergency room: the RAPS4,” appeared in the May 2000 issue of
Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 61, 447–449. By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. [Vol. 1,
No.2, 2000] On the Friday and Saturday before the opening of
the annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in Thomas K. Greenfield, Ph.D. reviewed the importance of alcohol policy
studies, which can help reduce the social and medical harms of alcohol
beverages. He noted the particular regulatory roles each jurisdictional level
plays on alcohol use patterns, whether it be a workplace policy, a local
ordinance, state and federal laws, or even an international treaty. The
influence of policies may be as narrow as personal conduct to as wide as the
commerce of alcohol from production to taxation, from sales and distribution
to warning labels and advertising. Policies shift the research priorities of
foundations and national agencies. Dr. Greenfield described how legislative
policies develop and are shaped by public health advocates, alcohol industry
lobbyists, trade groups, and professional organizations all churned and
filtered by the broadcast and print media. Lee A. Kaskutas, Dr.P.H. spoke on “Primary prevention and education.” Her
presentation began with the In addition to these lectures, there was a workshop
on Grantsmanship co-chaired by ARG scientist Karen Trocki,
Ph.D., a member of the RSA Education Committee. Held on Sunday, June 25, the
workshop provided the opportunity for senior staff from NIAAA and CSR to
provide much appreciated information about funding. By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. 40th Anniversary Party, 1959 to 1999 [Vol. 1,
No. 2, 2000] The Alcohol Research Group celebrated its
fortieth anniversary on February 11, 2000, with a gala reunion dinner at the
Berkeley City Club emceed by Drs. Marjorie Robertson and Tom
Greenfield. The fête included a series of informal historical talks
covering each decade, which conveniently comprised an era, playfully dubbed
“founding,” “developing and spawning,” “centering and recentering,”
“expanding the base,” and anticipating, “the present and beyond.” This seasoned institution has evolved at six
different locations in During the joyous celebration the 105 attendees,
who arrived from New York, Idaho, and Pennsylvania to as far away as Sweden,
reminisced about ARG’s NIAAA training grant program, begun in 1971, and its
first NIAAA Center award in 1977; how Dr. Larry Wallack,
attorney Jim Mosher, and Dr. Fried Wittmann
budded off to form the Prevention Research Group, since 1984 another NIAAA
National Alcohol Research Center; ARG’s hosting of the 1988 meeting of the
Kettil Bruun Society for Social and Epidemiological Research; and the
extraordinary growth of the Library (founded in 1959 and, since 1971,
directed by Andrea Mitchell), which carried merely 6 AOD
(Alcohol & Other Drug) journals in 1971 and now subscribes to 43 such
publications in English alone. Also mentioned was ARG’s literary enterprise
established to encourage worldwide communication and collaboration. Between 1970
and 1992, ARG published 24 issues of the Drinking and Drug Practices
Surveyor, a journal of broad scope, whose changing cover display of
alcohol-related international postage stamps brought much delight to its
global readership. Throughout the thick and thin of funding and the
tribulations of launching multiple studies, one feature of ARG has sustained
its enthusiasm and drive: its training program. Dr. Constance Weisner, who
was the Training Program Director for the previous decade, welcomed among the
festive gathering the former ARG predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows, many
of whom went on to establish distinguished careers in alcohol research. “The
training grant considerably broadened our horizons,” observed Dr. Room, the
first director of the training program. “The start of the training grant
largely marks the point where we shifted from being a single project or study
into being a research group and eventually a research center.” ARG’s program
has seen, to date, the completion of 52 doctoral dissertations and the award
of 188 fellowships (81 predoctoral and 107 postdoctoral). Former ARG
predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows may be found among universities,
governmental agencies (including NIAAA and city, county, and state public
health departments), research institutes, informational and service
industries, and community and advocacy groups in the With ARG authors having already published over
880 articles and book chapters and presented a similar number of papers at
conferences and society meetings, the research group continues to contribute
significantly to the sociological, epidemiological, and methodological
examination of alcohol beverage consumption and related problems. After yet
another decade of such in-depth investigations and rigorous predoctoral and
postdoctoral training, the 50-year reunion should be grand indeed. By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. Center Director’s Note –The ARGonaut Sails On [Vol. 1,
No. 2, 2000] We were proud to come together in March for
ARG’s 40th Anniversary Reunion, with over 100 former staff and fellows
gathering at the Berkeley City Club to help us celebrate. On Sunday
following, an all-day seminar organized by Harry Levine explored the
contributions of our predecessors and the climate of the times they worked
in. We looked at the changing currents in alcohol research and how these both
affected and, in turn, were affected by ARG and its Center. On September 30,
1977, ARG became one of the first five National Alcohol Research Centers
funded by NIAAA. By Thomas K. Greenfield,
Ph.D. [Vol. 1,
No. 3, 2000] Karen Trocki, Ph.D. is a master chef, so to speak. Her grant, the
Epidemiology of Alcohol Problems: Risk of AIDS, can be compared to an
elaborate feast, and it is her responsibility to conceive, develop, prepare,
complete, and bring the components together and in proper sequence to provide
a sumptuous repast worthy of praise by patrons. Such is the work of a
principal investigator. With the support of five research associates and a
corps of up to a dozen part-time aides, Dr. Trocki is using her social
psychological skills to examine the sundry interrelationships of bars/pubs,
sex, and sexually transmitted diseases. The role of alcohol consumption and
environment in risky behavior, particularly risky sexual behavior, is far
more complex than most people realize–encompassing the layers of individuals,
groups, and, establishments. To gain a more complete picture of these complex
phenomena, she is triangulating data from different sources using multiple
methods. The cornucopia of ensuing information will take years to digest
fully. Her comprehensive four-year plan, now half-way
achieved, consists of 5 different methodological approaches, several of which
acquire both qualitative and quantitative data–unusual for such
investigations. As the first step in the process, 8 focus groups each of 8 to
12 participants were led by a trained moderator Conducted in a room with a
one-way mirror behind which researchers viewed and audiovisually recorded the
proceedings, the group discussed bars and bar culture as a relaxed, open
conversation. Three groups consisted of bartenders within particular
geographic areas; the remaining groups were of bar patrons who were clustered
on the basis of gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Information
gathered from these focus groups helped Dr. Trocki and her associates to
develop questionnaire items used in later components and to target specific
bars for visits by observation teams. Another component consists of particular
sections and questions in the San Francisco Bay Area regional supplement to
the 2000 National Alcohol Survey (a scientific component of ARG’s Perhaps the most interesting approach is the use
of observation teams in bars, taverns, clubs, and similar “watering-holes” in
In the fourth component, a sample of about 150
individuals will be interviewed on multiple occasions using more open-ended
or qualitative methods. These participants will be recruited largely from
respondents of the national telephone survey. Others will be selected from
bars or from other subsamples, such as the focus groups. Such inquiries
initially probe the volunteer subjects’ attendance of venues where alcohol is
prominent; their drinking patterns; the activities present at such places and
their personal activities, including socializing; and their purposes of going
to the site. Part of the nearly 3-hour interview involves stress testing,
such as a challenging arithmetical task and frustrating computer games, to
determine sensitivity to pressure and degree of self-control so important in
risky behavior–essentially the ability to say no to peer pressure, going
beyond one’s normal moderate alcohol consumption, and sexual advances. The final component will consist of team members
going to the streets to capture quantitative information from patrons as they
enter and exit bars. In this survey of some 1,600 people at 30 locales, the
team member will ask patrons questions that psychologically profile the
drinker’s risk-taking behavior, such as attitudes, personality, self-image,
and mood states. This will provide information not only on typical patrons of
each bar but also how bars link to one another, i.e., the networks of bars
and people. To accomplish this complex investigation, Dr.
Trocki and staff have had to overcome myriad logistical hurdles: hiring of
staff; recruitment of subjects by advertisement, word-of-mouth or
“snowballing,” and lists of prior subjects; training of associates and aides;
production of manuals and survey instruments; the placing in the field–the
body politic–of the national survey; subject scheduling; standardizing
special meeting rooms; obtaining and operating appropriate equipment;
database development and the amassing and organizing of data and
administrative documents; the preliminary analysis of information; and the
repeated adjustment of procedures, for planning never covers every
circumstance encountered in the field. The list is seemingly endless. The
well-considered methodological details are duly written to ensure controlled
situations and consistency. This sketch provides a mere taste of the diverse
activities a principal investigator and team leader must administer. Significant sociological research often comes
from multiple approaches to a complex but narrow topic, and this
investigation will certainly provide new insights into the epidemiology of
sexually transmitted diseases. We look forward to the many presentations and
publications that will be issued from this important research. By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. [Vol. 1,
No. 3, 2000] Anyone visiting the office of Jason C.
Bond, Ph.D. immediately confronts the archetypical scrawl of
mathematics on the white melamine board above his desk. As ARG’s new
statistician, Dr. Bond consults on the design and analysis of surveys and
other studies besides supervising the programming department. He earned his
Ph.D. in statistics at UCLA with focus on linear and nonlinear multivariate
analysis, nonparametric dimension reduction techniques for regression models,
and the development of graphical and interactive statistical tools. Now at
ARG, Dr. Bond has moved from the more theoretical to diverse practical
studies, including a longitudinal alcohol consumption survey of managed care
clients, an examination of the validity of respondents’ reports of alcohol
consumption, and an analysis of service providers in various health sectors
who refer or treat clients with alcohol problems. Reflecting on his new
responsibilities, Dr. Bond observes, “I am bringing novel techniques and
statistical ideas that have not been applied before to data analysis in the
alcohol field. With the development and expansion of specific tools that go
beyond the limitations of commercial software, we should be able to analyze
data with more detail. These new perspectives may provide different
interpretations.” Like an artist whose brush is statistical analysis, Dr.
Bond hopes to change the way we look at quantitative and ethnographic
information, understanding more about alcohol consumption patterns and the
ways individuals, organizations, and communities deal with the consequences.
ARG welcomes his expertise and looks forward to his contributions to alcohol
research. By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. Center Director’s Note – Some Words on
Our Library [Vol. 1,
No. 3, 2000] As we enter the Center’s next five-year phase,
one aspect of ARG infrastructure that is “mission critical” is our
extraordinary library. It is fair to say that we cherish this unique and
developing asset and feel privileged to have this amazing collection so close
at hand whether we are researching the underpinnings of a new hypothesis,
delving deeper into a research idea, challenging an established scientific
approach, or researching the historical basis of a social movement or policy.
Visiting social and epidemiological scientists from Aarhus to We also take the opportunity to honor here our
colleague Andrea Mitchell, a librarian recognized nationally and
internationally for building librarianship tools, capacities, and
organizations in the field of substance abuse. In keeping with the classical
theme of our newsletter’s banner, we may say she is a worthy successor to the
first librarians from Zenodotus of Alexandria to Aristophanes of Byzantium,
though her labyrinthine office is evocative of the stories of
author-librarian, Jorge Luis Borges! With her leadership we will be
developing ways to better link library services to scientist needs, tailor
acquisitions in areas such as research methodology and statistics, and
facilitate access to our holdings via the web for wider use of this national
resource. By Thomas K. Greenfield,
Ph.D. [Vol. 1, No. 3, 2000] A researcher today depends on the latest
information, of course, but also on the wealth of earlier studies to provide
perspective, to avoid pitfalls of the past, and perhaps to rediscover a
forgotten insight. In short, the researcher needs a library—not the dark,
cramped, unattended musty alcove of yore, but a bright, modern,
service-oriented facility. ARG researchers are fortunate to have one of the
best. Indeed, the ARG Library and Information Center, among the oldest and
largest alcohol and other drug (AOD) libraries in the United States, has
since 1959 supported the research efforts of the Alcohol Research Group and
later its National Alcohol Research Center, one of 15 funded by NIAAA. The
ARG Library, in addition to being the main AOD information and documentation
center for the San Francisco Bay Area, has been designated by the Center for
Substance Abuse Prevention as a “Specialty” Regional Alcohol and Drug
Awareness Resource (RADAR) Information Center. Researchers, teachers,
counselors, students, the press, physicians, and other librarians regularly
contact the ARG library for information; in a typical year over 800 persons
visit the library, and more than 1,200 phone and e-mail requests are
answered. Andrea Mitchell, M.L.S., is ARG Librarian. In addition to her library
duties, Ms. Mitchell is a historical resource for ARG, having been part of
the group since 1971. Among her career honors were in 1996 serving as Manager
of the NIAAA library in Washington, D.C., and later as consultant to NIAAA,
the World Health Organization, and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
(CSAP). Dear to her heart is SALIS, the association of Substance Abuse
Librarians and Information Specialists (see http://salis.org), which she and
other AOD librarians founded in 1978 to support AOD information systems and
services. She is Executive Director of this organization and Editor of its
newsletter, SALIS News. Ms. Mitchell was a member of the Alcohol and Other
Drug Thesaurus Advisory Committee, formed by NIAAA on recommendation of SALIS
to bring a fine focus to the field with a stable, consistenct vocabulary so
instrumental to the ETOH database. She remains co-chair of the Information
and Dissemination Section of the International Council on Alcohol and the
Addictions (ICAA). Under her leadership, the ARG library has
expanded its holdings and has increasingly emphasized information services.
The collection, whose main focus is the social and cultural aspects of
alcohol and other drug use, has major subject strengths in epidemiology,
alcohol and other drug-related problems, control policies and legal aspects,
special populations, treatment, prevention, evaluation, and social history.
The book collection alone comprises over 6,000 volumes, and is augmented by
some 60,000 other materials, including article reprints, conference papers,
dissertations, unpublished working papers, government documents, and other
fugitive materials. Currently the library receives over 300 journals and
newsletter titles, including almost all of the English language alcohol and
other drug specific journal titles and many of the AOD foreign language
journal titles. Special collections include the history of the prohibition
movement, the Classified Abstract Archive of the Alcohol Literature (CAAAL
Archive) comprising approximately 20,000 abstracts of the scientific alcohol
research literature dating between 1933 and 1976, and the unpublished papers
and documents from the Tulapai to Tokay annotated bibliography (a collection
of more than 900 books, articles, manuscripts, and dissertations on Native
American drinking). Besides assisting the institute’s researchers in
obtaining required publications from other libraries and governmental sources,
Ms. Mitchell and the ARG library staff search specialized bibliographic
databases and Web resources to provide solutions to various informational
problems. With the unrelenting deluge of information in all its forms
arriving at the library day after day, the library staff strives to catalogue
and maintain an objective, current, and reliable collection. The light of
knowledge ably flows from this resource in support of ARG researchers and
thence the community at large. By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. Nomination for a Presidential Award [Vol. 1, No. 3, 2000] In the wake of her 1998 Young Investigator Award
of the Research Society on Alcoholism [see our April 2000 issue], the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has honored Lee Ann
Kaskutas, Dr.P.H. with a nomination for a Presidential Early Career
Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), given annually since 1996 to
“outstanding researchers who show exceptional potential for leadership at the
frontiers of scientific knowledge.” Presented at the White House, this Award,
which is a special research grant lasting up to five years, is the highest
honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists in the early stage of
their career. Dr. Kaskutas is a social scientist whose work encompasses the
prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, the evaluation of outcomes associated
with the social model of recovery and self-help programs, and the
implementation of innovative self-report metholodogies in measuring drink
sizes. As coordinated by the National Science and Technology Council, the
nine related federal agencies select candidates for this distinction; NIH
named 17 of the 60 honorees last year. By Debra Jan Bibel, Ph.D. [Vol. 2, No. 1, 2001] Researchers at ARG have a variety of career backgrounds and training that complement each other and fit well into the social epidemiological investigations that characterize this institution. Some have degrees in social welfare or sociology, others come from nursing, epidemiology, or public health, one is an educator, and sever |
