Differential Effects of Alcohol Consumption Behaviours on Working Memory Processes

Note. * Non-drinkers (0 alcohol units per week), moderate drinkers (women: 1–14 alcohol units per week and men: 1–21 alcohol units per week) (International Centre for Alcohol Policies, 2010; National Institute for Health Clinical Excellence, 2010; World Health Organisation, 2011), intermediate drinkers (women: 15–20 units per week and men: 22–27 units per week) and 13 heavy drinkers (women: more than 21 units per week and men: more than 28 units per week) (Baliunas et al., 2009; Batty, Lewars, Emslie, Gale, & Hunt, 2009; Di Castelnuovo et al., 2006; Rehm et al., 2010).

Table 2

Pearson’s R Correlations for BDS, FDS, CBT average span and Stroop, NvTMT cost.

	BDS	FDS	CBT	VPT	Stroop
FDS	.133	1
CBT	.317^**	.044	1
VPT	.448^**	.108	.398^**	1
Stroop	–.031	.118	–.043	–.159	1
NvTMT	–.263^*	.080	–.096	–.259^**	.270^**

Note. * Correlation is significant at α = .05 level (2-tailed). ** Correlation is significant at the α = .01 level (2-tailed). FDS = Forward Digit Span, BDS = Backward Digit Span, CBT = Corsi Block Test, VPT = Visual Pattern Test.

Table 3

Working Memory Task Performance.

	Mean	Std.
FDS	7.328	1.548
BDS	5.473	1.898
CBT	5.356	1.270
VPT	8.112	1.617
NvTMT	2.059:1	.560
Stroop	1.219:1	.188

Note. FDS = Forward Digit Span, BDS = Backward Digit Span, CBT = Corsi Block Test, VPT = Visual Pattern Test, NvTMT = Non-Verbal Trail Marking Test.

Table 4

Pearson’s R Correlations for Alcohol consumption behaviours.

	Years of Alcohol Use	Alcohol Abstinence	Age
Alcohol Units per Week	.375^*	.026	.120
Years of Alcohol Use	1	.099	.629^*
Alcohol Abstinence		1	–.105

Note. * Correlation is significant at α = .01 level (2-tailed).

Table 5

Mediator variables entered in working memory models.

		Model		Standardised
		Summary		Coefficients
Tasks	Entry	R2 (adj)	SE	β	p
BDS	1	.056	1.853
Age				–257	.018*
BDS	2	.116	1.793
Age				–.294	.024*
Alcohol Units per week				.069	.507
Alcohol Abstinence				.257	.011*
Years of Alcohol Use				.089	.517
VPT	1	.255	1.407
Age				–.064	.021*
BDS				.343	.000*
CBT				.279	.003*
VPT	2	.270	1.394
Age				–.096	.481
BDS				.392	.000*
CBT				.307	.002*
Alcohol Units per week				–.046	.626
Alcohol Abstinence				–.205	.031*
Years of Alcohol Use				.052	.678
CBT	1	.162	1.170
Age				–.067	.492
BDS				.161	.133
VPT				.314	.003*
CBT	2	.188	1.152
Age				.080	.525
BDS				.114	.308
VPT				.342	.002*
Alcohol Units per week				.026	.795
Alcohol Abstinence				.202	.044*
Years of Alcohol Use				–.215	.104
FDS	1	.028	1.531
Age				–.195	.053
FDS	2	.088	1.483
Age				–.130	.315
Alcohol Units per week				–.042	.693
Alcohol Abstinence				–.244	.016*
Years of Alcohol Use				–.136	.326
NvTMT	1	–.006	.564
Age				–.067	.509
NvTMT	2	.118	.528
Age				.048	.707
Alcohol Units per week				–.181	.085
Alcohol Abstinence				–.240	.016*
Years of Alcohol Use				–.188	.168
Stroop	1	–.010	.187
Age				.001	.991
Stroop	2	.000	.187
Age				–.034	.802
Alcohol Units per week				–.126	.257
Alcohol Abstinence				–.171	.104
Years of Alcohol Use				.051	.722

Note. FDS = Forward Digit Span, BDS = Backward Digit Span, NvTMT = Non-Verbal Trail Marking Test. * Variable selected in each step (α = .05). BDS. excluded factor in entry 2: FDS.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/jeps.dd | Journal eISSN: 2222-6931

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Language: English

Page range: 14 - 23

Published on: Nov 23, 2015

Published by: Ubiquity Press

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