Mood and alcohol consumption: An experience sampling test of the self-medication hypothesis

In this investigation the authors applied the experience sampling method to prospectively test the self-medication hypothesis. In vivo reports gathere d in the context of daily life demonstrated that nervousness was the only n egative mood state to predict increases in alcohol consumption later in the course of the day. Further examination of this within-person relationship demonstrated that men were more likely to consume alcohol when nervous than were women, but this association was unrelated to family history of alcoho lism, problem drinking patterns, or trait anxiety and depression. Consisten t with the self-medication hypothesis, cross-sectional analyses also confir med that alcohol consumption was generally associated with lower levels of nervousness; this effect varied by several demographic and clinical variabl es. These findings are discussed in terms of the diversity of reasons for a lcohol consumption and their potential for explaining problem drinking.