1998 — 2002 |
Giancola, Peter R |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. R29Activity Code Description: Undocumented code - click on the grant title for more information. |
Cognitive Functioning and Alcohol Related Aggression
APPLICANT'S ABSTRACT: Acute alcohol consumption is associated with interpersonal aggression. However, alcohol does not directly cause aggression solely through its pharmacological actions. Rather, alcohol- related aggression is the product of multiple influences interacting with alcohol pharmacodynamics. The overarching aim of the FIRST application is to elucidate the role of Executive Cognitive Functioning(ECF) in alcohol-related aggression. ECF is defined as a "higher-order" cognitive construct involved in the planning, initiation, and regulation of goal-directed behavior. ECF encompasses abilities such as attentional control, strategic goal planning, abstract reasoning, temporal response sequencing, and the organization of information in working memory. Specifically, this project will delineate the impact of ECF in conjunction with two other salient individual difference variables (alcohol expectancies and dispositional aggressivity), and one historical variable (past year drinking history), on intoxicated aggression under varying levels of contextual provocation. Evidence implicating ECF in alcohol-related aggression is based on data demonstrating that 1) ECF is a strong predictor of sober state aggressive behavior, and 2) acute alcohol consumption differentially disrupts ECF relative to other cognitive processes. The role of ECF (in conjunction with other key variables) in the expression of intoxicated aggression has not been systematically studied. Subjects will be 320 young adult male and female social drinkers, randomly assigned to either a Placebo or an Alcohol group. A battery of validated neuropsychological tests will measure ECF. Aggression will be assessed using the well-established Taylor-Aggression Paradigm (TAP). The TAP measures reactive aggression, an interpersonally hostile reaction manifested in relation provocation. This large laboratory- based project will elucidate an aggregate set of influences integral to the determination of alcohol-related aggression in both men and women that can be later verified in more naturalistic settings.
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0.936 |
2004 — 2008 |
Giancola, Peter R |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Individual Differences in Alcohol-Related Aggression
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this revised application is to support an ongoing program of research aimed at determining in whom and in what contexts acute alcohol consumption facilitates aggressive behavior. The overarching aim of this, 2-study, laboratory project is to elucidate the influence of 3 individual difference variables [1) beliefs about aggression, 2) beliefs about alcohol, and 3) dispositional empathy] and 2 contextual variables [1) induced empathy and 2) provocation] on the alcohol-aggression relation in men-and women. STUDY 1 will examine the impact of 3 individual difference variables (i.e., beliefs about aggression, beliefs about alcohol, and dispositional empathy) on intoxicated aggression under varying levels of contextual provocation (low and high). Subjects will be 230 adult male and female social drinkers, randomly assigned to either an Alcohol or a Placebo group. Beliefs about aggression, beliefs about alcohol, and dispositional empathy will be measured using a battery of validated self-report inventories. Aggression will be measured using a modified version of the well-established Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP; Taylor, 1967) in which subjects administer and receive mild electric shocks to/from a fictitious opponent (actually a computer program) under the guise of a competitive reaction-time task. Aggression is operationalized as the intensity of shock administered by the subject to the fictitious opponent. STUDY 2 will examine the impact of dispositional (individual difference) and induced (contextual) empathy on the alcohol-aggression relation under varying levels of provocation (low and high). Subjects will be 320 adult male and female social drinkers, randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups" 1) Alcohol/Empathy-Induction, 2) Alcohol/No Empathy-Induction, 3) Placebo/Empathy-Induction, or 4) Placebo/No Empathy- Induction. Empathy will be induced using well-validated empathy-induction techniques. Aggression will be measured using the TAP.
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0.936 |
2011 — 2014 |
Giancola, Peter R |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Alcohol Myopia and Aggression
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application has 2 main goals: 1) to test a psychological model [the Alcohol Myopia Model (AMM); Steele & Josephs, 1990] that can explain the relation between alcohol intoxication and aggression and 2) to understand how established risk factors for intoxicated aggression operate within the AMM. The AMM contends that alcohol intoxication disrupts cognitive functioning thus creating a myopic or a narrowing effect on attentional capacity. This myopic effect facilitates aggression by restricting one's attention onto more salient provocative cues inherent in a hostile situation rather than less salient non-provocative, or inhibitory, cues. STUDY 1 will examine how distraction from provocation influences aggression under the influence of alcohol. It will also determine whether key trait risk factors (i.e., hostile rumination, beliefs about aggression, anger, self-awareness, and empathy) moderate the alcohol-aggression relation within the context of the AMM. Subjects will be 420 adult male and female social drinkers randomly assigned to 1 of 3 alcohol dose groups (alcohol, placebo, sober) and 1 of 2 distraction groups (distraction, no-distraction). Trait risk factors will be measured using validated self-report measures. Aggression will then be assessed using a version of the well- established Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP; Taylor, 1967) in which subjects administer and receive electric shocks to/from a fictitious opponent under the guise of a competitive reaction-time task. Aggression will be operationalized as a composite index of the shock intensity and duration administered by the subject to the fictitious opponent. STUDY 2 builds on Study 1 by testing the external validity of the AMM (to the extent possible in a laboratory setting) in explaining alcohol's effects on aggression by assessing the effectiveness of a contextual cue manipulation designed to mimic a more real-world setting. Its results will lend further credence to the AMM as it will demonstrate that a more externally valid distraction (i.e., a contextual manipulation comparing aggression-inhibiting vs. aggression-promoting cues) will also be effective in suppressing aggression. Subjects will be 240 adult male and female social drinkers, randomly assigned to 1 of 3 beverage groups (alcohol, placebo, sober) and 1 of 2 cue manipulation groups (aggression-inhibiting or aggression-promoting). Aggression will be measured using the TAP.
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0.936 |