Mood and drinking: a naturalistic diary study of alcohol, coffee and tea

Understanding the pattern of associations between mood and consumption of alcohol, coffee and tea may provide information about the factors governing beverage drinking. The associations between mood and the consumption of alcohol, coffee and tea during everyday life were assessed. A naturalistic study was carried out with 18 male and 31 female volunteers from two working groups (psychiatric nursing and school teaching). Participants completed daily records of drink consumption, together with ratings of anxious and positive moods for 8 weeks. Potential moderators of associations were self-reported drinking to cope, high perceived job demands and social support at work. Day-by-day associations were analysed using Spearman correlations. There were substantial individual-differences in associations between mood and daily alcohol, coffee and tea consumption. Overall, alcohol intake was associated with high positive and low anxious mood. This effect was not present among participants with high drinking to cope ratings. Coffee and tea drinking were not consistently related to mood across the entire sample. However, job demands influenced the association between coffee consumption and anxious mood in men, and those who experienced high job demands drank more coffee on days on which they felt anxious. In contrast, women but not men who enjoyed high social support at work felt more relaxed on days on which they drank more tea. These results indicate that people vary widely in the extent to which mood is related to the drinking of alcohol, coffee and tea. The strength of associations is influenced by gender, motivational factors, and by stress and coping resources.