TY - JOUR
T1 - Specifying the relations between affect and heavy alcohol use among young adults
AU - Hussong, Andrea M.
AU - Hicks, Richard E.
AU - Levy, Suzanne A.
AU - Curran, Patrick J.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034883730&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037//0021-843X.110.3.449
DO - 10.1037//0021-843X.110.3.449
M3 - Article
C2 - 11502088
AN - SCOPUS:0034883730
SN - 0021-843X
VL - 110
SP - 449
EP - 461
JO - Journal of Abnormal Psychology
JF - Journal of Abnormal Psychology
IS - 3
ER -