A recent study led by Duncan B. Clark, director of the Pittsburgh Adolescent Alcohol Research Center has built upon research showing that adolescents with alcohol use disorders tend to self-report more health issues than other adolescents.
Clark's study focused on negative emotionality, a trait every person has, but some people display more negative emotionality than others.
'Everyone has a degree of negative emotionality,' said Clark. 'This is not a disorder or a categorical trait; it is the degree to which an individual reports certain [negative] emotional characteristics.'
Clark postulates four reasons why this trend occurs: The problems may stem from biomedical reactions to the alcohol; it could stem from cigarette smoking, also common amongst sufferers; simple depression and anxiety; and poor health due to bad health maintenance. Clark said the study found evidence of all four conclusions.
