ize stress-induced changes. The latter finding was said to support a tension-reduction hypothesis on the effects of ethanol. Pohorecky (1991) essentially summarizes the current body of literature regarding animal studies, stress and alcoholism by noting that:
(1) The controversy on the purported beneficial effect of alcohol on the cardiovascular system persists. A number of studies have shown a J- or U-shaped relationship between alcohol ingestion and incidence of coronary heart disease. Alcohol may also influence stress-induced changes in blood pressure. Although a number of studies have demonstrated lower blood pressure in individuals ingesting less than two drinks per day compared with abstainers or heavy alcohol imbibers, the evidence is not conclusive.
(2) It is not clear whether the interaction of alcohol and stress involves alterations in plasma catecholamines.
While, as just noted, animal studies may remain inconsistent (possibly because of the complexity of the bio-neurological response to alcoholism, there appears to be somewhat more clarity in human studies of stress and alcohol. In this regard, it will be remembered that in the book, Stress and Addiction, one of the points repeatedly made in the many presented papers was that the findings up to 1987 were mixed regarding the TRH.
Inconsistent findings often lead to the conclusion that the theory, if viable at all, was insufficiently broad to explain the general phenomenon of alcoholism. However, In a comprehensive review of the literature, Young, Oei and Knight (1990) offered some reasons for the inconsistent research findings other than the failure of the hypothesis itself.
With respect to the foregoing, Young, Oei and Knight (1990) note that the reasons for mixed findings could be methodological. Specifically, they stated that:
The tension reduction hypothesis has been historically and cross-culturally a predominant explanation of alcohol's e...