Drinking to Cope, Negative Affect, and Affect Regulation: A daily diary study

Abstract

Alcohol-related negative consequences remain widespread, and it is crucial to understand etiologic factors that contribute to the development of alcohol-related consequences. Prior research has shown that individuals who report drinking to cope may have increased risks for alcohol-related consequences. It is assumed that drinking to cope implies drinking in response to negative affect, but it is unclear how negative affect, affect regulation strategies, and drinking to cope interact to predict alcohol-related consequences. The study utilized an EMA design to characterize daily risk for alcohol-related consequences. Young adults age 18-22 (N=504) were recruited for intensive longitudinal assessment of substance use and affect. Participants reported their affect, affect regulation strategies, drinking motives, alcohol use, and alcohol-related consequences. Results indicated that current and prior negative affect drive increases in drinking to cope motives. Drinking to cope motives also predicted daily alcohol-related negative consequences. These findings indicate that individuals drink in response to negative affect in specific situations rather than as a general pattern of behavior. Drinking to cope motives were also associated with higher frequency of other maladaptive coping strategies, and predicted consequences at the daily level. Findings from this study have identified individual differences in emotion regulation and coping-related alcohol use that may contribute to increased alcohol consequences at a daily level, as well as possible targets for intervention. The proposed study represents innovation over prior research due to synthesizing daily fluctuations in affect, affect regulation strategies, and daily motivations to drink and how these relate to consequences at the daily level.