This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Thomas R. Lipscomb, PhD; Peter E. Nathan, PhD; G. Terence Wilson, PhD; David B. Abrams, MS

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1980;37(5):577-582.

Abstract
• Thirty-two male social drinkers were arranged into two tolerance groups, based on changes in standing stability after ingestion of alcohol. Subjects consumed either a large (1.0 g/kg) or small (0.5 g/kg) dose of alcohol. On finishing their drinks, subjects were requested to interact with a female confederate whose continued silence induced anxiety. Heart rate, skin conductance, overt behavior, and self-report measures were taken. Heart rate increased more at the small than the large dose, consistent with the tension-reduction hypothesis. Further, heart rate of high-tolerance subjects increased significantly more than that of low-tolerance subjects, which suggests that alcohol was less effective at tension reduction for the high-tolerance group. Finally, measures of both skin conductance and heart rate showed significant dose-by-tolerance interactions. High-tolerance subjects were more aroused than were low-tolerance subjects at the small but not at the large dose, suggesting that high-tolerance subjects must consume more alcohol to achieve the same autonomic effect experienced by the low-tolerance subjects.

Author Affiliations
From the Alcohol Behavior Research Laboratory, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication February 12, 1979.

Reprint requests to Alcohol Behavior Research Laboratory, Bldg 3521, Busch Campus, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 (Dr Nathan).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Effector Immediate-Early Gene Arc in the Amygdala Plays a Critical Role in Alcoholism
Pandey et al.
J. Neurosci. 2008;28:2589-2600.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effect of Alcohol on Social Phobic Anxiety
Himle et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 1999;156:1237-1243.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The EEG After Alcohol Administration in Men at Risk for Alcoholism
Pollock et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1983;40:857-861.
ABSTRACT