The Ability of the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) Scale to Predict Alcohol-Related Outcomes Five Years Later

Abstract

Objective: A low level of response (LR) to alcohol as measured through alcohol challenges is an early-appearing, genetically influenced characteristic that predicts the risk of heavier drinking and alcohol problems. A less expensive and more easily used measure of LR, the retrospective Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) questionnaire, also relates to alcohol intake and problems but has not been evaluated for its ability to predict alcohol-related problems 5 years later. Method: At Time 1, 95 18-to 35-year-old (mean age: 25.9 years) subjects who were offspring from families participating at the San Diego site of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) were administered the SRE and evaluated regarding alcohol, drug, and demographic characteristics using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) interview. Follow-up interviews (Time 2) using the SSAGA were completed an average (SD) of 5.4 (1.34) years later for approximately 80% of the original sample. Re-

Low Sensitivity to Alcohol: Relations With Hangover Occurrence and Susceptibility in an Ecological Momentary Assessment Investigation

“…Therefore, they have greater opportunity to display hangovers. In this regard, the current fi ndings expand on the prior research fi nding that high SRE scores are associated with both heavy consumption and negative drinking consequences (e.g., Morean and Corbin, 2008;Schuckit et al, 2007). This pattern would seem to explain how both higher hangover frequency and hangover resistance forecast problematic drinking outcomes (Piasecki et al, 2005;Rohsenow et al, 2012).…”

“…Using the SRE, investigators identify low-sensitivity individuals as those who report needing a larger number of drinks to experience a variety of alcohol effects. Drinkers who report higher SRE scores display diminished alcohol effects under laboratory challenge conditions, compared with other drinkers (Schuckit et al, 1997b), and are more likely to develop problematic drinking outcomes over time (Schuckit et al, 2007).…”

An Evaluation of the Full Level of Response to Alcohol Model of Heavy Drinking and Problems in COGA Offspring

“…The correlation of the SRE with future drinking and alcohol-related problems was .2 to .3, and the coeffi cients remained signifi cant even after controlling for drinking parameters (e.g., drinking quantity and alcohol problems) at the time of initial study (Schuckit et al, 2007(Schuckit et al, , 2008c. The SRE-generated LR score overlaps signifi cantly with LR values from alcohol challenges, accounting for 60% of the ability of the alcohol challenge to predict alcohol outcomes (Schuckit et al, 2009).…”

“…LR can be measured by observing the intensity of reaction to alcohol at a given blood alcohol concentration (BAC), where lower alcohol-related changes indicate a lower LR (Schuckit and Smith, 2000). This characteristic has also been studied through retrospective reports of the need for more drinks for specifi c effects, where a higher number of drinks are equivalent to less reaction per drink, or a lower LR (Schuckit et al, 2007).…”

Alcohol Sensitivity Moderates the Indirect Associations Between Impulsive Traits, Impaired Control Over Drinking, and Drinking Outcomes

“…A common measure of alcohol sensitivity in survey-based studies is the Self-Rating of the Effects of Alcohol (SRE) questionnaire (Schuckit et al, 1997), which primarily assesses sensitivity to the sedative effects of alcohol. Higher SRE scores (which imply a larger number of drinks required in order to notice alcohol effects, and therefore lower sensitivity to alcohol) have consistently been shown to predict heavy drinking (Schuckit et al, 2007;Schuckit et al, 2009). …”