Jc. Mundt et al., CYCLES OF ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE - FREQUENCY-DOMAIN ANALYSES OF DAILY DRINKING LOGS FOR MATCHED ALCOHOL-DEPENDENT AND NONDEPENDENT SUBJECTS, Journal of studies on alcohol, 56(5), 1995, pp. 491-499
Objective: This study was undertaken to evaluate possible differences
in the patterns of daily alcohol use, in terms of periodicity or rhyth
micity of consumption, between alcohol-dependent and nondependent drin
kers otherwise matched on the basis of quantity and frequency of alcoh
ol use. Method: Frequency-domain time-series analysis was applied to d
aily drinking logs of six alcohol-dependent and six nondependent male
subjects matched for consumption quantity and frequency who had partic
ipated in a larger 112-day study of alcohol consumption patterns using
an innovative touch-tone telephone method of daily self-report. Spect
ral analysis partitioned variance in the drinking logs among statistic
ally independent frequency cycles of relatively heavier and lighter dr
inking. The percentage of variance accounted for by fast (<4 days), me
dium (7 +/- 3 days) and slow (>10 days) cycle periods was compared for
diagnostic group differences. Results: Effective matching precluded c
onsumption quantity, frequency or variability differences between the
groups. Spectral analysis of the time-series data revealed group diffe
rences in the rhythmicity, or cyclical characteristics, of the drinkin
g logs. The drinking logs of alcohol-dependent subjects exhibited more
pronounced weekly cycles, whereas drinking logs of nondependent subje
cts fluctuated over longer periods. Conclusions: Temporal patterns of
regular alcohol use may be an important behavioral variable influencin
g the seriousness of consequences associated with drinking, which may
partly elucidate the relatively weak relationship between dependence s
ymptomatology and consumption quantity-frequency.