Social cognition in young adults with different levels of alcohol use

• Grant number: 20/16575-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Maria Lucia Oliveira de Souza Formigoni
• Grantee: Giovanna Teixeira Petucco
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of the study is to assess the association between deficits in social cognition and the risk use of or dependence on alcohol, considering the influence of socioeconomic factors and level of education. In a cross-sectional study, carried out in two stages, volunteers of both genders, aged between 18 and 25 years will be evaluated. In the first stage, volunteers will respond to an online questionnaire about problems associated with alcohol consumption (AUDIT and Inventory of Drinking Situations), family history of problems related to the use of alcohol or other psychoactive substances, level of education and sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex and place of residence) and economic status (Brazilian Economic Classification Criteria). Out of them, in the second stage, 240 volunteers, in a similar number of volunteers classified as: a) low-risk alcohol users or abstainers; b) risk users and c) users with possible alcohol dependence will be invited to respond to instruments that assess empathic skills (Davis Multidimensional Reactivity Scale), recognition of emotions (Task of Recognition of basic and complex Emotions in Faces), capacity of attribution of mental state (theory of mind, evaluated by RMET), social skills (Inventory of Social Skills) and use of other substances (ASSIST). Multivariate analysis models will be used to study the relationships among variables. According to our hypothesis, if deficits in social cognition constitute a risk factor for the development of alcohol dependence, they will be present more frequently or intensely in groups with risk use or dependence on alcohol than in the low risk group / abstainers. We also assume that the measures of these cognitive aspects may be influenced by socioeconomic factors and by the level of education of the participants.