Trajectory Study May Help to Develop Better Alcohol Dependency Treatments

Alcoholism is a condition that can have a lasting impact on an individual. The consequences long-term drinking can have on a person will vary according to the individual, the length of time they have been drinking heavily and the amount of alcohol that is ingested over the course of their drinking occasions.

To better understand drinking trajectories from drinking onset to midlife, the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs recently released a study: Drinking Trajectories from Adolescence to the Fifties Among Alcohol-Dependent Men wherein 420 men were evaluated due to their lifetime diagnosis of alcohol dependence.

The Lifetime Drinking History was given to men who were from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry to assess the pattern of alcohol consumption and diagnostic symptoms for self-defined drinking phases. The data captured from different phases was converted into person-year data. In these phases, alcohol-dependence diagnosis was coded as present or absent for each of 13 age groupings.

Researchers relied on latent growth mixture modeling to define four drinking trajectories, including young-adult, late-onset, severe-non-chronic, and severe-chronic alcoholics. Additional analysis was completed on these men to capture drinking variables, alcohol expectancies, personality scales and religiousness scores in an effort to differentiate the men by each trajectory.

In the course of this data capture and analysis, researchers used the Extension of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling (LGMM) into the mid-50s to determine that while some individuals continue to be chronic alcohol users into this age range, there are still others who will decline in alcohol problem use.

Such an approach to studying trajectories is important as it can help in the development of proper treatment of alcohol dependence that is customized according to specific characteristics. For those who are likely to be in the more severe trajectories, physicians can more easily apply more intense treatments.

While the information provided in these studies is vital for the continued investigation into the overall impact alcohol has on an individual over time, trajectories is still an area lacking in proper research and other resources. Continued focus should be given to this area, expanding it to female drinkers to assess their risk and how it may differ from that of males.

Overall, this area of study will be important to continue over time as treatments are changing according to specific needs. The more successful these treatments are when based on intensity of trajectory, physicians and treatment specialists are more inclined to alter their approach to alcohol dependence recovery and care.