RESEARCH ON RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ALCOHOL AND VIOLENCE

NIH GUIDE, Volume 22, Number 21, June 11, 1993



PA AVAILABLE:  PA-93-095



P.T. 34



Keywords:

  Alcohol/Alcoholism 

  Violent Behavior 



National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism



THE PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT (PA) ANNOUNCED IN THIS NOTICE CONTAINS

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION FOR THE PREPARATION OF AN APPLICATION.

POTENTIAL APPLICANTS SHOULD OBTAIN THE PA FROM A CONTACT NAMED IN

INQUIRIES, BELOW.



PURPOSE



Alcohol is present in a significant proportion of violent events,

including between one-half and two-thirds of all homicides and

serious assaults.  Moreover, alcohol-related problems have been found

disproportionately among both juvenile and adult criminal offenders.

Nevertheless, understanding of the mechanisms by which alcohol

influences violent behavior has been limited, largely because the

causes are multifactorial.



The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

invites research grant applications that advance understanding of the

biological and psychosocial mechanisms underlying associations

between alcohol consumption and interpersonal violence and that

identify and test interventions to reduce and/or prevent alcohol

related violence and the alcohol-related sequelae of such violence.

Of primary interest are studies that identify: (1) individual and

environmental conditions, situations, populations, and circumstances

under which alcohol and violence are causally connected; (2)

sequential processes by which alcohol intake may lead to violent

behavior and vice versa; (3) physiological and neural mechanisms that

mediate the relationship between alcohol and violence; (4) behavioral

consequences of alcohol-related violence, including subsequent

alcohol abuse and violent behavior; and (5) interventions that may

effectively reduce alcohol-related violence.



HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000



The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health

promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000,"

a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas.  This program

announcement, Research on Relationships Between Alcohol and Violence,

is related to the priority areas of reducing violent and abusive

behavior and decreasing morbidity and mortality associated with

alcohol consumption 4).  Potential applicants may obtain a copy of

"Healthy People 2000" (Full Report:  Stock No. 017-001-00474-0, or

Summary Report:  Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the

Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington,

DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-783-3238).



ELIGIBILITY



Applications may be submitted by domestic and foreign non-profit and

for-profit organizations, public and private, such as universities,

colleges, hospitals, laboratories, units of State and local

governments, and eligible agencies of the Federal government.  Women

and minority investigators are encouraged to apply.  Foreign

applicants are not eligible for First Independent Research Support

and Transition (FIRST) Awards (R29s).



MECHANISM OF SUPPORT



Research support may be requested through applications for a regular

research grant (R01), Small Grant (R03), or FIRST Award (R29).

Specialized announcements for the FIRST Award program (R29) and the

Small Grant program (R03) are available from the National

Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI), P.O. Box

2345, Rockville, Maryland 20852, telephone: (301) 468-2600 or

1-800-729-6686.



FUNDS AVAILABLE



Applications received in response to this announcement will compete

with others submitted for funding.  The amount of funding available

will depend on appropriated funds, quality of proposals, and program

priorities at the time of the award.  No specific funds are allocated

for this program at this time.



RESEARCH OBJECTIVES



The NIAAA seeks studies that systematically explore linkages among

psychological, situational, and sociocultural factors that may

contribute to or reduce the occurrence of alcohol related violence.

Diverse designs, methodologies, and disciplinary approaches are

welcome.  The use of multiple methods and development of

multidisciplinary research teams are desirable.



Prevention research not only measures the effectiveness of

interventions, but includes domains of pre-intervention research

related to the causes and nature of alcohol-related violence that may

inform intervention research.  Basic neurobehavioral research seeks

to explore the neurobiological, pharmacological, and physiological

mechanisms underlying violent behavior and effects of genetic and

environmental factors on animal and human behavior in the presence of

alcohol.  Relevant research topics include, but are not limited to,

the following areas:



Basic Research on Biological and Physiological Mechanisms.



o  Controlled animal studies to identify the discrete brain

mechanisms underlying distinct types of aggressive behavior and their

relationship with genetic and environmental variables.



o  The role of neurotransmitter systems in specific types of

alcohol-induced aggression and in various species.



o  The actions of alcohol on neuroendocrine events that control

testosterone and adrenal hormones.



o  Gene-environment interactions using animals selectively bred for

high alcohol preference or high levels of aggressive behavior.



o  The genetic linkage between antisocial personality, alcoholism,

and violence.



Pre-intervention Studies of Behavior, Cognition and Expectancies.



o  How alcohol modifies perceptions of cues interpreted as aggressive

or its effect on affective responses.



o  Alcohol-expectancies and violence: how children develop

expectancies that associate alcohol and violence; the effects of

social institutions, demographic variables, individual drinking

history, personality traits, and perceptions of victimization risk on

expectancies regarding post-drinking aggression; and how drinking is

used to justify violence or mitigate its punishment.



o  Experiments varying alcohol dose and type, subject

characteristics, and contextual factors to assess differences in

individual aggressive responses.



o  Observational studies of social interaction involving alcohol to

distinguish violent and non-violent sequences and outcomes.



o  The contribution of alcohol to violence by persons with comorbid

psychiatric symptoms.



Pre-intervention Studies of the Social and Environmental Context.



o  Effects of such contexts as physical environment, group settings,

interpersonal relationships and the role of witnesses on the

intoxication-aggression relationship.



o  The salience of social controls: police attitudes and behavior

toward drunken individuals and situations when they are likely to

intervene; relationships between violence and the density of alcohol

outlets.



o  The role of alcohol in abuse against children, spouses, and the

elderly.



Aggregate Level Studies of Legal and Policy Effects.



o  The impact of changes in the law and other public policies that

affect alcohol-related violence such as changes in alcohol

availability or shifts in levels of law enforcement.



Prevention/Intervention Research.



o  Educational programs that address alcohol's effect on judgment and

the increased likelihood of victimization after drinking.



o  Therapeutic interventions with relevant prison population.



o  Interventions involving server training, routine police patrol,

and alteration of the drinking environment.



o  Community-wide campaigns and their assessment.



STUDY POPULATIONS



SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN

CLINICAL RESEARCH STUDIES



For projects involving clinical research, NIH requires applicants to

give special attention to the inclusion of women and minorities in

study populations.  If women or minorities are not included in the

study populations for clinical studies, a specific justification for

this exclusion must be provided.  Applications without such

documentation will not be accepted for review.



APPLICATION PROCEDURES



Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS

398 (rev. 9/91) and will be accepted at the standard application

deadlines as indicated in the application kit.



Application kits are available from most institutional offices of

sponsored research and from the Office of Grants Inquiries, Division

of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, Westwood Building,

Room 449, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone 301-710-0267.  The number and

title of the announcement must be typed in item number 2a on the face

page of the application.



FIRST (R29) applications must include at least three sealed letters

of reference attached to the face page of the original application.

FIRST (R29) applications submitted without the required number of

reference letters will be considered incomplete and will be returned

without review.



The completed original and five permanent, legible copies of the PHS

398 form must be sent or delivered to:



Division of Research Grants

National Institutes of Health

Westwood Building, Room 240

Bethesda, MD  20892**



REVIEW PROCESS



Applications received under this announcement will be assigned to an

Initial Review Group (IRG) in accordance with established PHS

Referral Guidelines.  The IRG, consisting primarily of non-Federal

scientific and technical experts, will review the applications for

scientific and technical merit.  Applications will receive a

second-level review by an appropriate National Advisory Council,

whose review may be based on policy considerations as well as

scientific merit.  Small Grants (R03s) do not receive a second level

review.



REVIEW CRITERIA



Research grant applications will be reviewed based on standard

criteria for scientific/technical merit review of applications for

regular research grants (R01).  The review criteria for Small Grants

(R03) and FIRST Awards (R29) are contained in their program

announcements.



AWARD CRITERIA



Applications recommended by a National Advisory Council will be

considered for funding on the basis of overall scientific and

technical merit of the research as determined by peer review, program

needs and balance, and availability of funds.



INQUIRIES



Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged to clarify any issues

or questions from potential applicants.  Direct inquiries regarding

pre-intervention, prevention, and policy studies, and requests for

the program announcement to:



Susan E. Martin, Ph.D.

Prevention Research Branch

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 13-C23

Rockville, MD  20857

Telephone:  (301) 443-1677



Direct inquires regarding biological mechanisms to:



Ellen D. Witt, Ph.D.

Neuroscience and Behavior Research Branch

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 16-C05

Rockville, MD  20857

Telephone:  (301) 443-4223



Direct inquiries regarding fiscal issues to:



Elsie Fleming

Grants Management Branch

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 16-86

Rockville, MD  20857

Telephone:  (301) 443-4703



AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS



This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance, No. 93.273.  Awards are made under authorization of the

Public Health Service Act, Sections 301 and 464H, and administered

under PHS policies and Federal Regulations at Title 42 CFR Part 52,

"Grants for Research Projects," and Title 45 CFR Parts 74 and 92,

"Administration of Grants" and 45 CFR Part 46, "Protection of Human

Subjects."  This program is not subject to the intergovernmental

review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency

review.



.

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