Effects of alcohol, rumination, and gender on the time course of negative affect

Abstract

This study modeled associations between gender, ruminative cognitive style, alcohol use, and the time course of negative affect over the course of 43,111 random assessments in the natural environment. Participants (N=263) completed 49-days of experience sampling over 1.3 years. The data indicated that rumination at baseline was positively associated with alcohol dependence symptoms at baseline as well as higher negative affect over the course of the study. Consistent with negative reinforcement models, drinking served to decrease the persistence of negative affect from moment to moment. However, this ameliorative effect of drinking was evident only among women, suggesting an increased risk for negative reinforcement driven drinking behavior. In addition, rumination appeared to counteract the desired effects of alcohol on mood among women. This suggests that women who ruminate more may be motivated to consume larger amounts of alcohol to achieve the desired effects. Overall, the results indicate that ruminative cognitive style and the persistence of negative affect from moment to moment may reflect an individual vulnerability for the development of alcohol use disorder especially among women.

Does Repetitive Negative Thinking Influence Alcohol Use? A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Other authors used different tools with or without a self-report questionnaire. For example, Simons et al (2016) used an EMA methodology to examine daily the dynamic link between alcohol consumption and rumination in the participants' environment. Six researchers did not use a validated questionnaire but rather questions to evaluate the quantity of alcohol commonly consumed by the participants [e.g., “How many drinks do you typically drink when you are engaged in alcohol use?” (Nichter and Chassin, 2015)].…”

“…In this version, adolescents rated their habitual responses to feeling “upset” rather than “depressed.” Other self-reported questionnaires were used as the Rumination Reactivity subscale from the revised Leiden Index of Depressive Sensitivity (Van der Does, 2002) and the Rumination subscale from the Response to Stress Scale (Connor-Smith et al, 2000), evaluating the tendency to ruminate in response to negative life events. For the rumination-trait measure, Simons et al (2016) used three items scored on a 5-point scale evaluating depressive rumination (e.g., “When people do something to make me sad, I don't forget about it”) and three items measuring anger rumination (e.g., “I often find myself thinking about things that have made me angry”). Some researchers did not use a validated questionnaire but rather their own questions to evaluate the depressive rumination as Simons et al (2016).…”

“…For the rumination-trait measure, Simons et al (2016) used three items scored on a 5-point scale evaluating depressive rumination (e.g., “When people do something to make me sad, I don't forget about it”) and three items measuring anger rumination (e.g., “I often find myself thinking about things that have made me angry”). Some researchers did not use a validated questionnaire but rather their own questions to evaluate the depressive rumination as Simons et al (2016). Aldridge-Gerry et al (2011) asked participants daily on 5 consecutive days to first describe the most stressful event that they had experienced that current day.…”

“…Second, the results obtained with an EMA demonstrated that in university students, rumination was positively linked to alcohol dependence. Specifically, the negative reinforcement effect of drinking on persistence of affective states resulting from rumination was only observed among girls (Simons et al, 2016). A positive relationship between rumination and alcohol use was also find in Bravo et al (2018)'s study.…”

“…For example, PEP and co-rumination seem to predict alcohol use among girls but not boys (Ciesla et al, 2011; Battista et al, 2014). With EMA, Simons et al (2016) demonstrated that depressive rumination predicted AUD symptoms in undergraduate university students. Furthermore, the negative reinforcement effect of alcohol use on persistence of negative mood resulting from rumination was only observed among girls.…”