PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS, ALCOHOL-USE, AND HANGOVER SIGNS AMONG SOCIAL DRINKERS - A REAPPRAISAL

To reappraise a prior study of hangover signs and psychosocial factors among a sample of current drinkers, we excluded a subgroup termed Sob ers, who report ''never'' being ''tipsy, high or drunk.'' The non-sobe r current drinkers then formed the sample for this report (N = 1104). About 23% of this group reported no hangover signs regardless of their intake level or gender, and the rest showed no sex differences for an y of 8 hangover signs reported. Using multiple regression, including e thanol, age and weight, it was found that psychosocial variables contr ibuted independently in predicting to hangover for both men and women in this order: (1) guilt about drinking; (2) neuroticism; (3) angry or (4) depressed when high/drunk and (5) negative life events. For men o nly, ethanol intake was also significant; for women only, being younge r and reporting first being high/drunk at a relatively earlier age wer e also predictors of the Hangover Sign Index (HSI). These multiple pre dictors accounted for 5-10 times more of the hangover variance than al cohol use alone: for men, R = 0.43, R2 = 19%; and for women, R = 0.46, R2 = 21%. The findings suggest that hangover signs are a function of age, sex, ethanol level and psychosocial factors.