Km. Carpenter et Ds. Hasin, Drinking to cope with negative affect and DSM-IV alcohol use disorders: A test of three alternative explanations, J STUD ALC, 60(5), 1999, pp. 694-704
Citations number
39
Categorie Soggetti
Public Health & Health Care Science","Clinical Psycology & Psychiatry
Objective: previous studies of drinking motives have demonstrated greater l
evels of drinking to cope with negative affect among problem drinkers relat
ive to nonproblem drinkers. These findings suggest that the use of alcohol
to cope with negative affect may place individuals at greater risk for the
development of alcohol problems. However, several alternative explanations
exist, each with different intervention implications. This study evaluated
three alternative explanations or models: risk-factor, generalizing, and ep
iphenomena. A cross-sectional design was used to compare levels of self-rep
orted drinking to cope with negative affect between individuals who had cur
rent DSM-IV alcohol use disorders-and those who did not. Method: Participan
ts consisted of a sample of community residents (N = 777, 55% men). All par
ticipants completed an in-person structured psychiatric interview and a sel
f-report questionnaire assessing alcohol use, drinking motives. depressive
affect, and negative alcohol consequences. Results: Linear regression model
s yielded significant differences in mean drinking to cope with negative af
fect scores between participants with a DSM-IV alcohol dependence diagnosis
and participants with Ilo diagnosis. These differences remained after cont
rolling for depressive affect and frequency of negative alcohol consequence
s in three of the four adjusted comparisons. No significant differences in
adjusted mean drinking to cope with negative affect scores were demonstrate
d between subjects with a DSM-IV alcohol abuse diagnosis and those with no
diagnosis. Conclusions: The DSM-IV alcohol dependence and no-diagnosis comp
arisons were most consistent with the predictions of a risk-factor model. T
hese results provide further evidence that drinking to cope with negative a
ffect may haven etiological role in development of alcohol dependence.