Perceived impaired control over alcohol use is a key cognitive construct in alcohol dependence that has been shown to predict treatment outcome. It has also been shown to mediate the risk for problem drinking conveyed by impulsivity in non-dependent drinkers.The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether the risk conveyed by high impulsivity also operated though this pathway in alcohol-dependent drinkers. Furthermore, the extent to which this hypothesized relationship was moderated by genetic risk (A 1 allele of the D2 dopamine receptor DRD2 gene) and verbal fluency as an indicator of executive cognitive ability (Controlled Oral Word Association Test) was also examined. A sample of 143 alcohol-dependent inpatients provided an extensive clinical history of their alcohol use, 10 milliliters of blood for DNA analysis, as well as completed self-report measures of impulsivity, impaired control and severity of dependence. As hypothesized, perceived impaired control (partially) mediated the association between impulsivity and dependence severity. This risk mechanism was not moderated by the DRD2 polymorphism or verbal fluency. These results suggest that, in alcohol dependence, perceived impaired control is a cognitive mediator of impulsivity that is unaffected by DRD2 and neurocognitive processes underlying the retrieval of verbal information.

Social capital is upheld for its value in explaining variations in crime across place. Collective efficacy is understood to be the superlative link between less effectual components of neighbourhood social capital (such as social ties and reciprocity) and lower rates of crime. The current study examines the value of neighbourhood social capital in explaining another community attribute