HEAVY DRINKING AND NEGATIVE AFFECTIVE SITUATIONS IN A GENERAL-POPULATION AND A TREATMENT SAMPLE - ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS

Situations associated with heavy alcohol consumption were compared acr oss respondents with different levels of alcohol dependence within a g eneral population sample and within a sample of individuals in treatme nt. Results from both groups suggested that, associated with increasin g problem severity, there was a shift in the relative balance from dri nking heavily in positive affective situations to more often drinking heavily in negative affective situations. At least 3 alternative hypot heses could explain these cross-sectional findings: Heavy drinking is increasingly used as a coping response as problems increase in severit y; the relationship is epiphenomenal, reflecting a shift in overall li fe circumstances; or the shift reflects a respondent selection bias du e to individual differences. Implications of these alternatives are di scussed. The source of the relationship can only be definitively inves tigated using a longitudinal design.