The effect of alcohol on mood among males drinking with a platonic friend

Abstract

Background Despite the social nature of most drinking experiences, prior work has largely failed to incorporate social context into the study of alcohol's effects on emotion. The present study provides an initial test of the effect of alcohol on mood among platonic friends drinking together in a non‐stress setting. We hypothesized that subjects would report more positive postdrink mood after consuming alcohol than after consuming a nonalcoholic control beverage. Methods Dyads of platonic male friends (n = 36; 55.55% White, 38.88% Asian, 5.55% Black) attended two laboratory‐based experimental sessions, wherein their drink conditions (alcohol vs. no alcohol control) were randomized by dyad and counter‐balanced across sessions. They reported their mood before and after consuming their beverages together, using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and an 8‐item mood measure. Results As hypothesized, alcohol enhanced positive mood (β = 0.26, p < 0.01). Although in the expected direction, the effect of alcohol on negative mood was not significant (β = −0.12, p = 0.17). Post hoc analyses revealed that alcohol yielded greater increases in both stimulation (β=0.26, p = 0.00) and sedation (β=0.40, p = 0.00) as compared to the control condition. Conclusion This study highlights the positive mood‐enhancing and broader subjective effects of alcohol when drinking with a platonic friend and encourages further consideration of friendship contexts in the examination of alcohol's effects when developing models of the etiology of alcohol use disorder.

Effects of social drinking context on subjective effects, affect, and next‐day appraisals in the natural environment

“…Overall, the lack of effect of the social environment on subjective effects and affect deviates from past laboratory findings demonstrating that consuming alcohol in the presence of peers was associated with greater positive affect (Bowdring & Sayette, 2021;Fairbairn et al, 2015) and stimulation (Kirkpatrick & de Wit, 2013).…”

“…Overall, the lack of effect of the social environment on subjective effects and affect deviates from past laboratory findings demonstrating that consuming alcohol in the presence of peers was associated with greater positive affect (Bowdring & Sayette, 2021; Fairbairn et al., 2015) and stimulation (Kirkpatrick & de Wit, 2013). In the current study, average peak blood alcohol level at the second end drink report was less than 0.04, whereas the average peak was above 0.06 for all three studies demonstrating an effect of the social context on positive affect and stimulation.…”

“…Acute alcohol intoxication in the human laboratory consistently increases positive affect and decreases negative affect (Meredith et al., 2022). Further, laboratory research utilizing both self‐report (Bowdring & Sayette, 2021) and behavioral indicators (Fairbairn et al., 2015) of positive mood suggests that alcohol may increase positive mood when consumed in the presence friends or other known peers. A review by Fairbairn and Sayette (2014) found positive effects of alcohol on mood during self‐administration studies were greater in research designs where the participants could converse freely with research personnel, but not when participants could not converse freely, suggesting that socializing may improve alcohol's mood‐altering effects.…”

The impact of alcohol on affiliative verbal behavior: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Recently, an emerging literature has begun to examine alcohol's effects in social settings. In contrast to isolated laboratory studies, this research has found alcohol to enhance emotional (e.g., Bowdring & Sayette, 2021; Fairbairn et al., 2018) and social experience (e.g., Gurrieri et al., 2021; Kirkpatrick & De Wit, 2013; Sayette et al., 2012). Such socially enhancing effects may motivate drinking.…”