Quantifying alcohol consumption: Self-report, transdermal assessment, and prediction of dependence symptoms

Abstract

Research on alcohol use depends heavily on the validity of self-reported drinking. The present paper presents data from 647 days of self-monitoring with a transdermal alcohol sensor by 60 young adults. We utilized a bio chemical measure, transdermal alcohol assessment with the WrisTAS, to examine the convergent validity of three approaches to collecting daily self-report drinking data: experience sampling, daily morning reports of the previous night, and 1-week timeline follow-back (TLFB) assessments. We tested associations between three pharmacokinetic indices (peak concentration, area under the curve (AUC), and time to reach peak concentration) derived from the transdermal alcohol signal and within- and between-person variation in alcohol dependence symptoms. The WrisTAS data corroborated 85.74% of self-reported drinking days based on the experience sampling data. The TLFB assessment and combined experience sampling and morning reports agreed on 87.27% of drinking days. Drinks per drinking day did not vary as a function of wearing or not wearing the sensor; this indicates that participants provided consistent reports of their drinking regardless of biochemical verification. In respect to self-reported alcohol dependence symptoms, the AUC of the WrisTAS alcohol signal was associated with dependence symptoms at both the within- and between-person level. Furthermore, alcohol dependence symptoms at baseline predicted drinking episodes characterized in biochemical data by both higher peak alcohol concentration and faster time to reach peak concentration. The results support the validity of self-report alcohol data, provide empirical data useful for optimal design of daily process sampling, and provide an initial demon stration of the use of transdermal alcohol assessment to characterize drinking dynamics associated with risk for alcohol dependence.

Individual, peer, and family factor modification of neighborhood-level effects on adolescent alcohol, cigarette, e-cigarette, and marijuana use

“…First, as with most research of this nature, we relied on self-report from adolescents, the limitations of which are well-known, although possibly exaggerated (Chan, 2008). In fact, recent work with young adults age 18–21 has shown that self-reported alcohol use is corroborated by a biochemical measure, transdermal alcohol assessment (Simons et al, 2015). Second, an individual’s use of alcohol or other drugs may be correlated with the perception of one’s neighborhood.…”

Insomnia moderates the association between alcohol use and consequences among young adult veterans

“…Given the bidirectional associations between alcohol use and insomnia symptoms, additional research documenting the nature and directionality of these effects is needed. Third, although the measures used in this study are standard in research and clinical settings and have been validated for use in community samples (Morin et al, 2011; Simons, Wills, Emery, & Marks, 2015), data regarding alcohol use and symptoms of insomnia were collected using self-report. Finally, participants in this trial were primarily men of European descent; thus, findings should be replicated in more diverse samples.…”

Effects of alcohol, rumination, and gender on the time course of negative affect

“…Recruitment was conducted through e-mail notices and advertisements in local media. Three other articles have been published from portions of this dataset as part of a larger study investigating factors associated with heavy drinking (Simons, Wills, Emery, & Marks, 2015; Simons, Wills, Emery, & Spelman, 2015; Simons et al, 2014). …”