TY - JOUR
T1 - A multimodal, longitudinal investigation of alcohol's emotional rewards and drinking over time in young adults
AU - Venerable, Walter J.
AU - Fairbairn, Catharine E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant R01AA025969 to Catharine E. Fairbairn. Thanks to R. Chris Fraley, Ben Hankin, Michael Sayette, and Kasey Creswell for their helpful comments on this research. Thanks also to the many outstanding undergraduate students of the Alcohol Research Laboratory.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Theories of alcohol use disorder (AUD) have long suggested that alcohol's emotional rewards play a key role in reinforcing problematic drinking. Studies employing survey methods, in which participants recall and aggregate their experiences with alcohol in a single questionnaire, indicate that self-reported expectancies and motivations surrounding alcohol's emotional rewards predict problematic drinking trajectories over time. The current study is the first to combine laboratory alcohol-administration, ambulatory methods, and longitudinal follow-ups to assess whether alcohol's ability to enhance positive mood and reduce negative mood predicts later drinking problems. Sixty young heavy social drinkers (50% female) participated in laboratory-based alcohol-administration, attending both alcohol (target blood alcohol concentration [BAC].08%) and no-alcohol laboratory sessions. Forty-eight of these participants also wore transdermal alcohol monitors and completed mood surveys outside the laboratory for 7 days. Participants reported on their drinking at 18-month follow-up (90% compliance). Controlling for baseline drinking, greater negative mood reduction from alcohol at baseline predicted more drinking problems at follow-up, an effect that emerged as consistent across methods capturing alcohol's emotional rewards in the laboratory, b =-.24, p =.02, as well as via ambulatory methods, b =-3.14, p =.01. Greater positive mood enhancement from alcohol, captured via laboratory methods, also predicted drinking problems, b =.16, p =.03, and binge drinking, b = 3.22, p =.02, at follow-up. Models examining drinking frequency/quantity were nonsignificant. Results provide support for emotional reward as a potential factor in the development of problematic drinking.
AB - Theories of alcohol use disorder (AUD) have long suggested that alcohol's emotional rewards play a key role in reinforcing problematic drinking. Studies employing survey methods, in which participants recall and aggregate their experiences with alcohol in a single questionnaire, indicate that self-reported expectancies and motivations surrounding alcohol's emotional rewards predict problematic drinking trajectories over time. The current study is the first to combine laboratory alcohol-administration, ambulatory methods, and longitudinal follow-ups to assess whether alcohol's ability to enhance positive mood and reduce negative mood predicts later drinking problems. Sixty young heavy social drinkers (50% female) participated in laboratory-based alcohol-administration, attending both alcohol (target blood alcohol concentration [BAC].08%) and no-alcohol laboratory sessions. Forty-eight of these participants also wore transdermal alcohol monitors and completed mood surveys outside the laboratory for 7 days. Participants reported on their drinking at 18-month follow-up (90% compliance). Controlling for baseline drinking, greater negative mood reduction from alcohol at baseline predicted more drinking problems at follow-up, an effect that emerged as consistent across methods capturing alcohol's emotional rewards in the laboratory, b =-.24, p =.02, as well as via ambulatory methods, b =-3.14, p =.01. Greater positive mood enhancement from alcohol, captured via laboratory methods, also predicted drinking problems, b =.16, p =.03, and binge drinking, b = 3.22, p =.02, at follow-up. Models examining drinking frequency/quantity were nonsignificant. Results provide support for emotional reward as a potential factor in the development of problematic drinking.
KW - Alcohol
KW - Ambulatory
KW - Emotion
KW - Laboratory
KW - Longitudinal
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U2 - 10.1037/adb0000567
DO - 10.1037/adb0000567
M3 - Article
C2 - 32118462
AN - SCOPUS:85081324896
SN - 0893-164X
VL - 34
SP - 601
EP - 612
JO - Psychology of Addictive Behaviors
JF - Psychology of Addictive Behaviors
IS - 5
ER -