Specifying the relations between affect and heavy alcohol use among young adults

Current reformulations of the tension reduction hypothesis posit that only a subset of vulnerable individuals are at risk for drinking in response to negative affect. To further specify this model, this study examined the typ es of mood and social contexts under which affect and alcohol use are assoc iated. Participants were 74 college students who completed repeated assessm ents of mood, alcohol use, friendship quality, and social support. A comple x pattern of findings supported the moderating influences of gender, friend ship factors, and the timing of behavior (i.e., weekends vs. weekdays) on t he relation between affect and alcohol use. Young adults with less intimate and supportive friendships, as compared with their peers, showed risk for greater drinking following relative elevations in sadness and hostility. Su ch drinking episodes, in turn, predicted subsequent elevations in these sam e negative moods the following week. Gender differences in such a cyclical pattern of affect and alcohol use were found to vary across differing emoti onal experiences. Recommendations for a more refined theory of affect and a lcohol use are discussed.