Jc. Mundt et al., INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES IN ALCOHOL RESPONSIVITY - PHYSIOLOGICAL, PSYCHOMOTOR AND SUBJECTIVE RESPONSE DOMAINS, Journal of studies on alcohol, 58(2), 1997, pp. 130-140
Objective: Psychometrically stable measures of individual differences
in response to consuming alcohol were developed as part of an ongoing
project investigating ''high-tolerant'' drinking drivers. The derived
measures were correlated with diagnostic criteria of alcohol abuse and
dependence, as well as drinking frequency, heavy drinking and toleran
ce estimations. Method: Male subjects (N = 94), 21 to 59 years old, pa
rticipated in each of two identical alcohol consumption sessions (mean
dose = 0.78 g/kg). Multiple response measures obtained before and aft
er drinking (mean BAC = 78 mg/dl, descending) were used to compute pos
tconsumption regression residuals that were factor analyzed. Results:
Factors reflecting psychomotor, subjective and physiological responsiv
ity to alcohol were extracted. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated
consistent psychomotor and physiological factor structures across the
two testing sessions, but a bifurcation of the subjective measures. Te
st-retest correlations of the responsivity residuals indicated medium
to moderately large effect sizes (mean = .32, range = .15-.51). Residu
als summated within each response domain indicate moderate internal co
nsistency (mean = .56, range = .45-.72) and higher reliabilities than
single measure indices (range = .53-.59). Summated residuals within th
e response domains suggest diminished responsivity is associated with
more severe alcohol-use diagnoses and were differentially predictive o
f self-reported drinking practices. Conclusions: Alcohol responsivity
is multidimensional. individual differences across different domains c
an be measured reliably and are associated with different patterns of
alcohol use and abuse. Greater attention should be given to the specif
ic domain of alcohol responsivity measures obtained in past and future
research that relates individual differences to alcohol-related probl
ems.