Antecedents, concurrent correlates, and potential consequences of young adult solitary alcohol use

Research on young adults has found solitary alcohol use to be positively associated with negative emotions, coping motives for drinking, and negative alcohol-related consequences, but most research has been cross-sectional and based on samples of college students. We examined associations across multiple time points within a sample that was diverse with respect to educational status and age.

A community sample (N = 754, ages 18-26; 56% female) completed surveys at baseline, monthly for 2 years, and at 30-month postbaseline. Multilevel and single-level regression models assessed longitudinal and concurrent associations between solitary drinking and potential correlates, adjusting for frequency of alcohol use.

Moderate depressive symptoms at baseline were associated with a greater likelihood of solitary drinking in drinking months in the subsequent 2 years (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 2.22, 95% CI [1.54-3.20]). During those 2 years, both depressive symptoms and coping motives were positively concurrently associated with solitary drinking at the between- and within-person level. Although solitary drinking in a particular month had a small and nonsignificant association with negative alcohol-related consequences, the proportion of drinking months that involved solitary drinking was positively associated with negative alcohol-related consequences across months. More solitary drinking during monthly data collection was associated with greater likelihoods of hazardous drinking and moderate depressive symptoms at 30-month follow-up, but these associations were not statistically significant after adjusting for earlier measures of drinking and depressive symptoms.

The findings point to the importance of considering the drinking context when screening and providing treatment for alcohol misuse. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).