THE EFFECTS OF STRESS AND COPING ON DAILY ALCOHOL-USE IN WOMEN

To evaluate the notion that perceived stress and drinking covary over time, daily logs were periodically collected over a 6-month period fro m 32 middle-aged women. Results indicated that significantly less alco hol was consumed on high-stress weeks than low-stress weeks. Problem-f ocused (P-F) coping preference moderated this relationship, with low P -F copers consuming more alcohol per occasion than did high P-F copers but only during low-stress weeks. These findings support a model of s tress and alcohol use that includes coping preference as an important moderator of women's drinking. In addition, our data are consistent wi th the notion that stress can influence alcohol consumption but that l ow P-F women regulate their use, preferring to delay their drinking un til after the termination of the stressor.