Daily Stress, Drinking Motives and Alcohol Co-Use with Other Drugs.

Background: Recent evidence indicates that alcohol and other substance co-use, compared to alcohol-only use, might be more closely associated with negative reinforcement processes, and thus more likely during periods of increased stress. The present study examined this possibility by using data from an intensive longitudinal (daily) study of college student drinkers (N = 1461, 54% women). We also examined individual differences in coping and enhancement drinking motives as predictors of alcohol and other substance co-use. Results: We used multilevel multinomial logistic regression to predict, relative to alcohol-only days, the likelihood of alcohol co-use with either cigarettes or marijuana, along with alcohol use with multiple substances and other substance-only use from daily interpersonal and academic stress, day-of-the-week, sex, and individual differences in coping and enhancement drinking motives. We found that, relative to alcohol-only, alcohol and marijuana co-use was more likely, and non-alcohol related substance use was less likely, on weekends. Alcohol and marijuana co-use was less likely, and other substance-only use was more likely, on days characterized by greater academic stress, whereas alcohol and cigarette co-use was more likely on days characterized by greater interpersonal stress. Individuals with higher levels of drinking to cope motivation were more likely to engage in alcohol and cigarette co-use, other substance-only use, and alcohol plus multiple substances, relative to alcohol-only. Individuals with higher levels of enhancement motives were more likely to engage in all types of alcohol and other substance co-use and other substance-only use relative to alcohol-only. Conclusions: Findings are discussed in terms of the complex nature of different patterns of co-use patterns when evaluating indicators of positive- and negative-reinforcement processes.

The daily association between affect and alcohol use: A meta-analysis of individual participant data.

Influential psychological theories hypothesize that people consume alcohol in response to the experience of both negative and positive emotions. Despite two decades of daily diary and ecological momentary assessment research, it remains unclear whether people consume more alcohol on days they experience higher negative and positive affect in everyday life. In this preregistered meta-analysis, we synthesized the evidence for these daily associations between affect and alcohol use. We included individual participant data from 69 studies (N = 12,394), which used daily and momentary surveys to assess affect and the number of alcoholic drinks consumed. Results indicate that people are not more likely to drink on days they experience high negative affect, but are more likely to drink and drink heavily on days high in positive affect. People self-reporting a motivational tendency to drink-to-cope and drink-to-enhance consumed more alcohol, but not on days they experienced higher negative and positive affect. Results were robust across different operationalizations of affect, study designs, study populations, and individual characteristics. These findings challenge the long-held belief that people drink more alcohol following increases in negative affect. Integrating these findings under different theoretical models and limitations of this field of research, we collectively propose an agenda for future research to explore open questions surrounding affect and alcohol use.

Individual Differences in Affect Dynamics and Alcohol-Related Outcomes.

Background: To examine whether individual differences in intensive longitudinal data-derived affective dynamics (i.e. positive and negative affect variability and inertia and positive affect-negative affect bipolarity) - posited to be indicative of emotion dysregulation - are uniquely related to drinking level and affect-regulation drinking motives after controlling for mean levels of affective states. Method: We used a large sample of college student drinkers (N = 1640, 54% women) who reported on their affective states, drinking levels and drinking motives daily for 30 days using a web-based daily diary. We then calculated from the daily data positive and negative affect variability, inertia, affect bipolarity and mean levels of affect and used these as predictors of average drinking level and affect-regulation drinking motives (assessed using both retrospective and daily reporting methods). Results: Findings from dynamic structural equation models indicated that mean levels of affect were uniquely related to drinking motives, but not drinking level. Few dynamic affect predictors were uniquely related to outcomes in the predicted direction after controlling for mean affect levels. Conclusion: Our results add to the inconsistent literature regarding the associations between affective dynamics and alcohol-related outcomes, suggesting that any effects of these indicators, after controlling for mean affect levels, might be more complex than can be detected with simple linear models.

Join the Party: Approval-Contingent Self-Worth, Drinking Motives, and Drinking Alone and With Others.

OBJECTIVE: Research links approval-contingent self-worth to college drinking but has not differentiated social and solitary consumption. High approval-contingent self-worth individuals might drink socially to derive approval. METHOD: In a sample of 832 undergraduates, approval-contingent self-worth and drinking motives were measured in an initial questionnaire, and social and solitary consumption were reported daily for 30 days. RESULTS: Results indicated an overall positive association between approval-contingent self-worth and social consumption and positive indirect effects via social and enhancement motivations, but a negative indirect effect via conformity motivation. The association between approval-contingent self-worth and solitary alcohol consumption was nonsignificant because of a negative direct effect counteracted by a positive total indirect effect. CONCLUSIONS: Results highlight the importance of drinking motives and of distinguishing between social and solitary consumption.

Too tired to drink? Daily associations of sleep duration and fatigue with own and others' alcohol consumption.

OBJECTIVE: To better understand how sleep is associated with alcohol consumption among college students, the present study tested whether last night's sleep duration and current day fatigue were associated with being around others who were drinking that night and, if so, with alcohol consumption. METHOD: College student drinkers (N = 540; mean age = 18.78 years; 52% female; 86% White) reported daily for 30 days yearly for up to 4 years on aspects of their sleep, their own alcohol use, and the perceived drinking of others in an intensive longitudinal burst design. RESULTS: Participants were less likely to report that they were with others who were drinking on evenings following higher than average sleep duration or greater than average daytime fatigue. In addition, experiencing greater than average daytime fatigue was associated with a lower likelihood of consuming any alcohol and lower levels of alcohol consumption at the daily level. Thus, daytime fatigue may be protective against alcohol consumption through both selection and behavior moderation. CONCLUSIONS: Results may be useful in the development of interventions to prevent heavy drinking among college students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Thanks for the offer: Testing drink offers as predictors of sexual activity.

Objective: Drink offers are related to increased alcohol consumption, which is linked to sexual activity among college students. However, offers of alcohol may increase the odds of sexual activity that night independent of the amount of alcohol consumed. Participants: 540 undergraduate students were recruited for a longitudinal study of daily experiences. Method: Participants completed up to four annual waves of a measurement burst daily diary study. Using these longitudinal data, we examined whether receiving a drink offer on a given night was related to greater odds of having sex. Results: Receiving a drink offer (but not the number of drinks accepted) is related to greater odds of having sex, controlling for drinking level. Conclusions: Receiving a drink offer is uniquely related to odds of having sex when controlling for the amount of alcohol participants consumed. This may have implications for psychological functioning and relationship development.

To drink or not to drink: When drinking intentions predict alcohol consumption and consequences.

OBJECTIVES: We examined daily associations between drinking intentions and drinking behaviour and tested past drinking behaviour and current social environment as potential moderators of the daily intention-behaviour association. We expected both more frequent past drinking and being in a high drinking environment to weaken the intention-behaviour association. We also tested intentionality as a moderator of the association between alcohol consumption and next-day negative outcomes, expecting that less intentional alcohol consumption would be related to greater stress and regret. DESIGN: We tested these hypotheses using two separate micro-longitudinal studies of college students (Ns = 1,641, 540). METHODS: In two samples, participants completed bursts of data collection in which they indicated their previous alcohol consumption and then completed 30 days of diary surveys in which they reported their alcohol consumption and social environment the previous evening and their levels of stress, regret, and drinking intentions that day. RESULT: Consistent with our predictions, drinking intentions more strongly predicted drinking behaviour among individuals with less frequent past drinking behaviour, and, in Sample 1, drinking intentions more strongly predicted drinking behaviour among individuals in a low drinking environment. Contrary to hypotheses, results indicated that individuals with low drinking intentions were more likely to experience stress the next day, particularly if they consumed less alcohol. Greater consumption, however, was related to greater odds of experiencing regret, but this was stronger among individuals with higher drinking intentions. CONCLUSIONS: Findings are discussed in terms of the complex interplay between intentions and both social environment and contextual factors with respect to predicting drinking level and related problems.

Romantic relationship status, stress, and maturing out of problematic drinking.

OBJECTIVE: The current study examined the unique influences of romantic relationship status and episodic and chronic stress associated with relationships in predicting changes in alcohol consumption and drinking motivations from college to post-college life. METHOD: Moderate to heavy college student drinkers reported their drinking level and drinking motives using an Internet-based daily diary for 30 days in college and again 5 years later. At the post-college wave, participants also completed a semi-structured phone-based interview to assess romantic relationship stress. RESULTS: Multiple regression analysis indicated that chronic relationship stress and relationship dissolution stress were uniquely related to mean daily levels of post-college drinking to cope (DTC) motivation, but not to mean daily levels of enhancement motivation. Some evidence was found for the effect of relationship status, but not stress, on mean daily heavy drinking levels. We also found evidence that chronic stress moderated the effect of relationship dissolution stress, with individuals showing higher mean daily chronic stress levels displaying a stronger positive association between relationship dissolution and post-college DTC motivation. CONCLUSIONS: Results are discussed in terms of how negative reinforcement processes might be an important mechanism underlying commonly found associations between romantic relationship status and problematic drinking during young adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Drink (socially) and be merry: Predicting enjoyment and self-perceptions from alcohol consumption among college students.

Although many college students view drinking as a means of gaining a community and being social, research has not established whether alcohol consumption influences students' enjoyment and perceptions of how others view them or how this may differ based on the social or solitary nature of that consumption. The current study used online daily diary methods to examine the association between alcohol consumption and enjoyment and self-perceptions at the within- and between-person levels of analysis. Results indicated that undergraduate students (N=877; 52% female) enjoyed their evenings more when they consumed more than their typical number of drinks with others, but enjoyed evenings less when they consumed more than their typical number of drinks alone. In addition, consuming greater than their average number of drinks with others (but not alone) was related to feeling more social and attractive but less competent. These findings further highlight the distinct nature of social and solitary drinking and demonstrate positive outcomes of social alcohol consumption that may contribute to college alcohol consumption.

A daily level analysis of drinking to cope motivation and interpersonal stress.

Interpersonal stress is a commonly reported drinking-related problem and evidence indicates that it is associated with drinking to cope (DTC) motivation. The preponderance of evidence for DTC motivation as a risk factor for increased interpersonal stress, however, comes mainly from studies examining between-person associations. Findings suggest that individuals who commonly report drinking to cope with stress show higher average levels of drinking-related interpersonal problems. To better understand the dynamic processes linking DTC motivation with interpersonal stress, we used a micro-longitudinal design to examine whether nighttime drinking-episode specific levels of three subtypes of DTC motivation (DTC related to anxiety, depressive affect and anger) were associated with concurrent and next-day levels of interpersonal stress, controlling for drinking levels. Participants (N = 939) reported their drinking motives, drinking level, and drinking-related problems daily for 30 days during college and again approximately five years later (post-college). Results indicated that, controlling for drinking levels, DTC motivation associated with depressive affect and anger, but not anxiety, were positively associated with concurrent nighttime interpersonal stress. Only DTC related to anger was associated with higher levels of next-day interpersonal stress, controlling for previous night's stress. The only other motive to predict next-day interpersonal stress was conformity motivation. None of the effects of motives varied across study wave. Findings are discussed in terms of how DTC anger might exacerbate interpersonal problems via processes associated with alcohol myopia.

Patterns of stress generation differ depending on internalizing symptoms, alcohol use, and personality traits in early adulthood: a five year longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Depression is thought to generate stressful life events. However, other internalizing symptoms such as anxiety or post-traumatic stress and individual difference variables such as personality traits and alcohol use may contribute to stressful life events. Whether stress generation is specific to depression or generalized to these other variables is unclear. Therefore, we tested whether stress generation was depression specific or generalizable to anxiety, PTSD, alcohol use, neuroticism, and extraversion. DESIGN: Two-wave longitudinal study with a five-year follow-up. METHODS: 917 young adults completed measures of internalizing symptoms, alcohol use, neuroticism, and extraversion during college and five years later along with an interview-based measure of life events. RESULTS: Symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and neuroticism exhibited bivariate predictive effects on interpersonal-dependent events. When considering internalizing symptoms in the aggregate, stress generation was specific to symptoms rather than neuroticism. Furthermore, interpersonal-dependent life events mediated Time 1 internalizing symptoms predicting Time 2 symptoms. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that stress generation applies to internalizing symptoms broadly rather than specifically to depression. Moreover, neuroticism was no longer a significant predictor of life events when examined with internalizing symptoms simultaneously. These results support the value of integrative models that test numerous factors predicting stressful life events.

Does negative emotion differentiation influence how people choose to regulate their distress after stressful events? A four-year daily diary study.

Much is known about the types of strategies people use to regulate emotions. Less is known about individual differences that influence emotion regulation strategy selection. In this study, we tested the moderating role of negative emotion differentiation (NED; i.e., the ability to label and describe subtle differences among negative emotions) on the relationship between the intensity of stressful daily events and the strategies used to regulate distress arising from these events. Prior research shows that NED is associated with low endorsement of disengagement emotion regulation (e.g., substance use), but less is known about the link to engagement regulation (e.g., problem-solving, seeking social support). Participants were college students (N = 502) completing a 30-day daily diary survey for each of four college years. We preregistered hypotheses that 1) the intensity of each day's most stressful event would be associated with greater use of disengagement and engagement regulation strategies, and 2) people higher in NED would be less likely to use disengagement and more likely to use engagement strategies when highly stressed. Results suggest that higher stress intensity is associated with greater use of all regulation strategies. Greater NED is associated with less use of disengagement regulation strategies, whereas NED was unrelated to engagement regulation strategies and did not moderate the relationship between stress and engagement strategies. The majority of hypothesized moderation effects of NED were nonsignificant, prompting a reconsideration of whether, when, and how NED plays a role in stress responding. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Meet the parents: Parental interactions, social influences, and college drinking.

Previous research suggests that, even in college, parents influence the alcohol consumption of their children directly and indirectly through peers. However, research has not tested whether face-to-face interactions with parents buffer students against social influences on drinking. In the current study, 1168 undergraduate students selected 5 people they contact regularly and then completed a 30-day daily diary reporting on interactions with those people and drinking behavior. The 401 students who selected a parent drank less and less often than those who did not select a parent as a frequent contact. In addition, on evenings when these students had met with their parents, they drank less alcohol and the association between others' drinking and participant drinking was weakened. This adds to evidence suggesting that parents continue to influence emerging adults after they have left home and may be helpful in informing future intervention efforts.

A daily study of stressors, continuously measured glucose, and diabetes symptoms in latinos with type 2 diabetes.

This study examined whether daily stressors and continuously monitored glucose levels and glucose variability predict daily diabetes symptoms. Fifty Latinos with type 2 diabetes were randomized to either diabetes education (DE-only; N = 23) or DE plus stress management and relaxation training (DE + SMR; N = 32). After treatment, for 7 days they wore 'blinded' continuous glucose monitors and reported common stressors and diabetes symptoms twice daily. Between individuals, participants with more numerous overall stressors and more time in hyperglycemia reported higher symptoms. Within individuals, symptoms were higher during intervals of greater than usual stressors. Yet, diabetes symptoms did not covary with changes in glucose levels or glucose variability. The within-person stressor-symptom association was stronger among older individuals and non-significant for participants in DE + SMR condition. Diabetes symptoms were associated with recent stressor exposure, but not recent glucose level or changes in glucose. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (No. NCT01578096).

Post-college changes in the association between drinking motives and drinking-related problems.

Evidence suggests that drinking cope (DTC) motivation becomes a greater risk factor for drinking-related problems as individuals progress through young adulthood. To test this, we examined how the effect of DTC motivation on a variety of drinking-related problems, controlling for drinking level, changed as individuals made the transition from college life to post-college life. We also included social, enhancement and conformity motives in our models to examine how their unique effects on drinking-related problems change across this developmental period. College students (N = 939) reported their drinking motives, drinking level, and drinking-related problems during college and again approximately five years later (post-college). Results showed that DTC motivation became a stronger positive predictor for drinking-related interpersonal problems, but none of the other problem types. Conformity motivation became a stronger positive predictor for five out of the six problem types examined and some evidence indicated that social motives become more protective post-college, showing unique negative associations with certain problems. Our findings highlight the need to better understand how the effects of drinking motives on distinct types of drinking-related problems might change as individuals advance through early adulthood.

Affect and alcohol: The moderating role of episode-specific drinking motives.

Findings regarding the moderating influence of drinking motives on the association between affect and alcohol consumption have been inconsistent. The current study extended previous work on this topic by examining episode-specific coping, enhancement, conformity, and social drinking motives as moderators of the association between daytime experiences of positive and negative affect and evening social and solitary alcohol consumption. Nine hundred and six participants completed daily diary surveys measuring their daily affect and evening drinking behavior each day for 30 days during college and again 5 years later, after they had left the college environment. Results of multilevel modeling analyses suggest that the associations between affect, drinking motives, and alcohol consumption are not straightforward. Specifically, whereas daytime positive affect and non-coping drinking motives predicted greater social consumption, daytime positive affect was related to lower solitary alcohol consumption among college students who were low in state social drinking motives. In addition, coping motives were related to greater social consumption during college and greater solitary alcohol consumption after college. Future research should continue to examine these episode-specific drinking motives in addition to trait-level drinking motives.

The new normal: Changes in drinking norms from college to postcollege life.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 34(4) of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors (see record 2020-38542-001). In the article, the description of the prospective sample in the second sentence of the second paragraph and the second sentence of the third paragraph of the Participants section is incorrect. The description should appear, respectively, as follows: These were participants who were contacted if they reported at least one heavy drinking day (≥4 drinks for women and ≥5 drinks for men) in both a 30-day retrospective assessment and a 30-day daily diary reporting phase at Wave 1. . . . Of these, 1,141 were identified as moderate to heavy drinkers. Due to a coding error, 23 of these individuals did not meet these criteria but were contacted for Wave 2. However, all of these individuals reported drinking levels at Wave 1 (using a drinking composite comprised of standardized retrospective and daily diary drinking variables) within the range of values for the individuals who met the correct criteria. All were retained for analysis and 906 (79%) completed at least 15 days of recording in Wave 2.²] Despite the wealth of research on the effects of drinking norms on college students' alcohol consumption, researchers have not yet examined changes in drinking norms and their association with drinking level after students leave the college environment. The current study filled this gap by following students into postcollege life, measuring drinking norms and daily drinking behavior. College students (N = 1,848) were recruited to take part in a daily diary study measuring social and solitary alcohol consumption, and 1,142 moderate to heavy drinkers from the college cohort were invited to complete a second wave of daily diaries 5 years later, with 906 providing at least 15 days of diary data in each wave. Results of multilevel modeling analyses suggest that family injunctive drinking norms become more strongly related to alcohol consumption after individuals leave college. In contrast, institutional injunctive norms may have a greater limiting effect among college students (i.e., the association was greater among college students) and the relations between friend injunctive and descriptive norms to drinking behavior did not change between waves in the current study. This suggests that friend drinking continues to be related to own drinking behavior among adults after leaving the college environment, and highlights the changing importance of institutional norms and family approval. These results may have implications for intervening in young adults' heavy drinking. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The moderating effect of FKBP5 and 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms on the day-level association between drinking to cope motivation and negative affect.

Daily levels of drinking to cope (DTC) have been found to be related to negative outcomes such as increased negative affect, and these effects vary across person. We examined whether daily-level effects of DTC motivation were related to two genetic polymorphisms (rs1360780 in the FKBP5 gene and 5-HTTLPR in SLC6A4) thought to be associated with maladaptive drinking and stress-reactivity. We also examined whether these associations changed during the transition from college to post-college life. Participants (N = 839, 55% women) completed an Internet-based 30-day daily diary during college and again five years later in which they reported their previous night's drinking and drinking motivation, and their current day's negative affect. Saliva was collected at wave 1 to provide DNA for genotyping. The within-person association between nighttime DTC motivation and next-day anxiety and depression was stronger (more positive) for FKBP5 rs1360780 T-allele carriers, compared C/C-allele individuals. We also found that 5-HTTLPR L'/S' subjects (but not S'/S' homozygotes), compared to L'/L' homozygotes, showed stronger positive associations between DTC and anxiety. Results for FKBP5 T-allele carriers are discussed in terms of past findings indicating that such individuals tend to demonstrate increased attention toward stressors, thus possibly intensifying the deleterious effects of DTC-motivated drinking.

Fluctuations in daily PTSD symptoms are related to proximal alcohol use: a micro-longitudinal study of women victims of intimate partner violence.

Background: One-third of women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) are identified as having alcohol use problems. Yet, little research has examined factors that may increase the risk of alcohol use among this high-risk population. Objectives: This study overcomes limitations of previous research by using micro-longitudinal methods to examine how fluctuations in PTSD symptoms throughout the day are associated with proximal drinking behavior and whether these associations are related to individuals' overall PTSD severity and race/ethnicity. Methods: Using phone-based interactive voice response, 244 female victims of current IPV reported their PTSD symptoms and drinking four times daily for 14 days. Results: Results indicated positive associations between PTSD symptom cluster severity and drinking level at the person, daily and within-day levels. The effects of within-person fluctuations in daily levels of PTSD severity on levels of drinking were stronger for individuals with lower PTSD severity. No evidence was found for within-person differences on time-lagged effects of PTSD on drinking or by racial/ethnic group. Further, in time-lagged models no evidence was found for reverse causation whereby alcohol use predicts increased PTSD symptom severity. Conclusions: Findings suggest that IPV-exposed women use alcohol to alleviate their PTSD symptoms at the micro-process level and that prevention and treatment efforts targeting PTSD symptoms may be useful in reducing alcohol use in this population. Further, these efforts should consider the overall severity of PTSD symptoms experienced given the differential findings among women with higher vs. lower PTSD symptom severity.

Daily- and Person-Level Associations Between Physical Activity and Alcohol Use Among College Students.

Emerging adults, particularly university students, who are physically active, drink more than their less physically active peers. We extended this between-person relationship to the within-person level of analysis, by examining whether students are more likely to drink on days when they exercise, and whether this within-person association remains after controlling for potential confounding factors. We also explored the temporal sequence of the physical activity (PA)-alcohol use association. University students (N = 426) completed a 30-day online diary. The small positive within-person association between PA and alcohol use was not retained after controlling for day of the week. However, previous day's drinking was inversely associated with next day's PA on weekdays. These findings suggest that the previously reported positive PA-alcohol association does not necessarily align with the within-person daily association. Future studies with more nuanced measurement strategies, such as ecological momentary assessment, are needed to better understand the association between PA and alcohol use.