Specifying the relations between affect and heavy alcohol use among young adults.

Abstract

Current reformulations of the tension reduction hypothesis posit that only a subset of vulnerable individuals are at risk for drinking in response to negative affect. To further specify this model, this study examined the types of mood and social contexts under which affect and alcohol use are associated. Participants were 74 college students who completed repeated assessments of mood, alcohol use, friendship quality, and social support. A complex pattern of findings supported the moderating influences of gender, friendship factors, and the timing of behavior (i.e., weekends vs. weekdays) on the relation between affect and alcohol use. Young adults with less intimate and supportive friendships, as compared with their peers, showed risk for greater drinking following relative elevations in sadness and hostility. Such drinking episodes, in turn, predicted subsequent elevations in these same negative moods the following week. Gender differences in such a cyclical pattern of affect and alcohol use were found to vary across differing emotional experiences. Recommendations for a more refined theory of affect and alcohol use are discussed.

A Finer Examination of the Role That Negative Affect Plays in the Relationship Between Paternal Alcoholism and the Onset of Alcohol and Marijuana Use

“…Similar to the research on anxiety, some research suggests that children with lower levels of fear are at risk for substance-use initiation because they are more likely to engage in risky behaviors in comparison with more fearful children (Wills et al, 1999). However, other studies focusing on college students (Hussong et al, 2001) and adolescent males (Shoal et al, 2005) have failed to fi nd a signifi cant association between fear and substance use. Clearly, additional research focusing on the role that fear may play in substance use in both adolescent boys and girls is needed.…”

“…Hostility has been found to predict alcohol use in both community (Hussong et al, 2001;McCreary and Sadava, 2000) and high-risk (Hussong and Chassin, 1994) samples. In addition, hostility has been found to predict increased drug use in individuals who have a substance-use problem (Rao et al, 2004).…”

“…In contrast, in other studies examining college students, guilt has been found to be positively related to substance use. For example, in a daily process study conducted by Hussong et al (2001), drinking was found to predict guilt. However, it should be noted that guilt did not predict drinking.…”

“…Pardini et al found that anger was signifi cantly related to alcohol-use initiation, whereas depressed mood and fear were not. Using an entirely different type of methodology (28-day experience sampling), Hussong et al (2001) examined the differential relations of specifi c components of negative affect (sadness, guilt, fear, and hostility) with alcohol use in a sample of 74 college students. Results indicated that weekday drinking predicted greater weekend hostility.…”

The heart's content: The association between positive psychological well-being and cardiovascular health.

“…In contrast, studies of mostly college students show a positive or null relationship between hedonic well-being and excessive alcohol consumption. Because young adults may consume alcohol for different reasons than other age groups-for example, for celebratory or social reasons (Hussong, Hicks, Levy, & Curran, 2001)-findings need to be evaluated accordingly.…”