Association Between Alcohol Intoxication and Alcohol-Related Problems: An Event-Level Analysis

Heavy-drinking students experience a myriad of alcohol-related negative consequences. Use of event-level data permits predictions to be made regarding (a) the likelihood of alcohol-related consequences occurring after specific drinking events, and (b) moderators of the association between intoxication and consequences. College students (N = 183, 64% female) completed 4 consecutive 7-day drinking diaries and turned them in weekly. The diaries yielded prospective event-level data on daily drinks, time spent drinking, and negative consequences related to each drinking event. Alcohol intoxication on a given day was significantly associated with increased levels of risk, although this association was moderated by average level of intoxication. Furthermore, self-control was associated with increased likelihood of negative consequences at all levels of intoxication, and self-regulation and impulsivity moderated the event-level association between daily intoxication and likelihood of negative consequences. Results suggest that self-regulation subsumes impulsivity and self-control.

[1]  M. Carey,et al.  Does Alcohol Lead to Sexual Risk Behavior? Findings from Event-Level Research , 2000, Annual review of sex research.

[2]  Janice Brown,et al.  Self-regulation and the addictive behaviors: , 1997 .

[3]  T. O’Hare,et al.  Measuring problem drinking in first time offenders. Development and validation of the College Alcohol Problem Scale (CAPS). , 1997, Journal of substance abuse treatment.

[4]  W. Miller,et al.  Treating Addictive Behaviors , 1986, Applied Clinical Psychology.

[5]  D. J. Hanson,et al.  The Student Alcohol Questionnaire: An Updated Reliability of the Drinking Patterns, Problems, Knowledge, and Attitude Subscales , 1994, Psychological reports.

[6]  M. Larimer,et al.  An individual in context: predictors of alcohol use and drinking problems among Greek and residence hall students. , 2000, Journal of substance abuse.

[7]  L. Vandecreek,et al.  Innovations in Clinical Practice: A Source Book , 1992 .

[8]  K. Carey,et al.  A psychometric analysis of the self-regulation questionnaire. , 2004, Addictive behaviors.

[9]  H. Perkins,et al.  Gender patterns in consequences of collegiate alcohol abuse: a 10-year study of trends in an undergraduate population. , 1992, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[10]  Thomas Ashby Wills,et al.  Moderators of the relation between substance use level and problems: test of a self-regulation model in middle adolescence. , 2002, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[11]  C. Nagoshi,et al.  Stress, depression, irrational beliefs, and alcohol use and problems in a college student sample. , 1995, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[12]  W. Kayson,et al.  Effects of Sex, Religion, and Amount of Alcohol Consumption on Self-Reported Drinking-Related Problem Behaviors , 1993, Psychological reports.

[13]  J. Cheong,et al.  A social learning perspective: a model of parenting styles, self-regulation, perceived drinking control, and alcohol use and problems. , 2001, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[14]  J. Cheong,et al.  Irrational Beliefs and Behavioral Misregulation in the Role of Alcohol Abuse Among College Students , 1998 .

[15]  C. Nagoshi.  Perceived Control of Drinking and Other Predictors of Alcohol Use and Problems in a College Student Sample , 1999 .

[16]  J. Rossi,et al.  The College Alcohol Problems Scale. , 2001, Addictive behaviors.

[17]  Henry Wechsler,et al.  Magnitude of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18-24. , 2002, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[18]  N. Grant Harrington,et al.  Differences in alcohol use and alcohol-related problems among fraternity and sorority members. , 1997, Drug and alcohol dependence.

[19]  A. Buss.  Personality: Temperament, Social Behavior, and the Self , 1995 .

[20]  O. Parsons,et al.  Alcohol abuse and alcoholism. , 1996 .

[21]  The American College Health Association National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA), Spring 2003 Reference Group report. , 2005, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[22]  M. Wood,et al.  Alcohol norms and expectations as predictors of alcohol use and problems in a college student sample. , 1992, The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse.

[23]  M. L. Cooper,et al.  Drinking to regulate positive and negative emotions: a motivational model of alcohol use. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[24]  H. White,et al.  Towards the assessment of adolescent problem drinking. , 1989, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[25]  K. Carey,et al.  Using calculations to estimate blood alcohol concentrations for naturally occurring drinking episodes: a validity study. , 2005, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[26]  J. Simons.  Differential Prediction of Alcohol Use and Problems: The Role of Biopsychological and Social‐Environmental Variables , 2003, The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse.

[27]  Patrick M O'Malley,et al.  Selection and socialization effects of fraternities and sororities on US college student substance use: a multi-cohort national longitudinal study. , 2005, Addiction.

[28]  S. Stewart,et al.  Relationships between drinking motives and drinking restraint. , 2000, Addictive behaviors.

[29]  P. R. Pearson,et al.  Age norms for impulsiveness, venturesomeness and empathy in adults , 1985 .

[30]  H. Wechsler,et al.  Trends in College Binge Drinking During a Period of Increased Prevention Efforts: Findings from 4 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study Surveys: 1993–2001 , 2002, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[31]  C. Werch,et al.  Relationship between self-control and alcohol consumption patterns and problems of college students. , 1988, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[32]  T. O'hare,et al.  Drinking in college: consumption patterns, problems, sex differences and legal drinking age. , 1990, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[33]  College Alcohol Abuse: A Review of the Problems, Issues, and Prevention Approaches , 2002, Journal of Primary Prevention.

[34]  M. Goldman,et al.  Up close and personal: temporal variability in the drinking of individual college students during their first year. , 2004, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[35]  R. Clements.  Prevalence of alcohol-use disorders and alcohol-related problems in a college student sample. , 1999, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[36]  W. Miller,et al.  The self-regulation questionnaire. , 1999 .

[37]  K. Carey,et al.  Drinking motives predict alcohol-related problems in college students. , 1997, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[38]  K. Carey,et al.  Differential utility of three indexes of risky drinking for predicting alcohol problems in college students. , 2001, Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors.

[39]  W. Miller,et al.  Estimating blood alcohol concentration: two computer programs and their applications in therapy and research. , 1979, Addictive behaviors.

[40]  K. Carey,et al.  A follow-up psychometric analysis of the self-regulation questionnaire. , 2005, Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors.

[41]  J. Baer.  Student factors: understanding individual variation in college drinking. , 2002, Journal of studies on alcohol. Supplement.

[42]  K. Carey,et al.  Understanding fraternity drinking: five recurring themes in the literature, 1980-1998. , 1999, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[43]  The relation of alcohol use to HIV-risk sexual behavior among adults with a severe and persistent mental illness. , 2001, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[44]  K. Sher,et al.  Assessing alcohol problems in college students. , 1992, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[45]  D. Marlowe,et al.  The Approval Motive: Studies in Evaluative Dependence , 1980 .

[46]  N. Heather,et al.  Impaired Control Scale: cross-validation and relationships with treatment outcome. , 1998, Addiction.

[47]  R. Lyerla,et al.  Development of the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey: initial findings and future directions. , 1994, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[48]  P. D. Farber,et al.  A factor analytic study of reasons for drinking: Empirical validation of positive and negative reinforcement dimensions. , 1980 .

[49]  K. Carey,et al.  Risk and vulnerability for marijuana use problems: The role of affect dysregulation , 2002 .

[50]  J. Cashin,et al.  Alcohol use in the Greek system: follow the leader? , 1998, Journal of studies on alcohol.