Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 1, 2026

Author Spotlight: Understanding Adolescent Social Adversity Effects on Neurodevelopment in Mice
Published on: March 15, 2024
Education, income and alcohol misuse: a stress process model
Marta Elliott1, Jennifer Lowman
1Department of Sociology/300, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV, 89557-0300, USA, melliott@unr.edu.
Purpose:
This study applies stress process theory to study and explain the negative association between socioeconomic status (SES) and alcohol misuse. SES is theorized to reduce alcohol misuse by reducing exposure to stressors and increasing access to resources.
Methods:
The National Co-Morbidity panel sample (N = 4,979) interviewed in 1990-1992 and 2000-2002 are analyzed to estimate direct and indirect pathways between SES and alcohol misuse over time via stressors and resources.
Results:
Higher education and income predict decreased alcohol misuse via internal and external locus of control. External locus of control is associated with increased alcohol intake over time, whereas internal locus of control is associated with a lower likelihood of developing future alcohol-related disorders. Income is also associated with increased alcohol misuse via religiosity, which is more common among people of low income, and protects against alcohol misuse.
Conclusions:
SES is negatively associated with alcohol misuse because low SES increases people's perceptions that their lives are determined by luck, and reduces their sense of personal control. However, low income has a countervailing negative influence on alcohol misuse via its association with religiosity.
Related Concept Videos
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques IV
Stress and Mental Health
Individuals with depression often experience challenges in both their personal and professional...
Psychological Responses to Stress
Introduction to Stress and Lifestyle
Components of Stress
Interestingly, the hidden cube faces also experience these stresses, equal and...
Lazarus's Cognitive Appraisal Theory
Primary Appraisal:...

