The temporal patterning of tension reduction: stress and alcohol use on weekdays and weekends

A sample of 328 students provided reports of drinking episodes and ratings of situational stress experienced during two series of 4-hour time blocks covering early and late evening hours on weekdays (Tuesday and Wednesday) or weekends (Friday and Saturday). Although baseline levels of "predrinking" stress were not strongly related to the onset of drinking episodes in subsequent time blocks, analyses of temporal changes in stress from "predrinking" to "drinking" blocks show a significant tension-reduction effect among respondents who used alcohol--in contrast to those who did not drink--on both weekday evenings and early Friday evening (4-8 PM). No significant changes in stress ratings occurred among late Friday or Saturday evening drinkers. Multivariate analyses indicate that the weekday tension reduction effect is not systematically contingent on questionnaire measures of individual characteristics (age, sex, coping motives and typical drinking patterns) nor on situational measures of consumption and intoxication. The results suggest that weekday drinking after work or class is a culturally defined occasion for "time out" from stress.