Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2025

Modeling Alcohol Consumption in Rodents Using Two-Bottle Choice Home Cage Drinking and Microstructural Analysis
Published on: November 8, 2024
Risky Drinking in Adolescents and Emerging Adults: Differences between Individuals Using Alcohol Only versus
Autumn Rae Florimbio1,2, Lara N Coughlin1,2,3, José A Bauermeister4
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Background:
Factors related to risky drinking (e.g., motives, protective behavioral strategies [PBS]) may vary between youth who engage in polysubstance use compared to those who consume alcohol only. We examined differences in factors among youth who consume alcohol only compared to alcohol with other substances (i.e., polysubstance use), and correlates associated with risky drinking between the groups.
Methods:
Participants (N = 955; ages 16-24; 54.5% female) who reported recent risky drinking completed measures of alcohol/substance use, alcohol-related consequences, drinking motives, alcohol PBS, mental health symptoms, and emotion dysregulation. Participants were in the polysubstance group if they reported using at least one other substance (e.g., cannabis, stimulants) in addition to alcohol in the past three months. Chi-square and t-tests examined differences between the two groups and multiple regression analyses examined correlates of risky drinking.
Results:
Most participants (70.4%, n = 672) reported polysubstance use; these individuals engaged in riskier patterns of drinking, experienced more alcohol-related consequences, used fewer PBS, had stronger drinking motives (enhancement, social, coping), endorsed more mental health symptoms, and reported more emotion dysregulation. Regression models showed that emotion dysregulation significantly associated with risky drinking in the alcohol-only group; conformity and coping motives, alcohol PBS, and anxiety symptoms significantly associated with risky drinking in the polysubstance group.
Conclusions:
Among risky drinking youth, results indicated youth engaging in polysubstance use have greater comorbidities and individual-level factors associated with risky drinking than youth who consume alcohol only. These findings may inform the tailoring of interventions for individuals who engage in risky drinking and polysubstance use.
More Related Videos
07:31Murine Drinking Models in the Development of Pharmacotherapies for Alcoholism: Drinking in the Dark and Two-bottle Choice
Published on: January 7, 2019
05:40The Motivation for Alcohol Reward: Predictors of Progressive-Ratio Intravenous Alcohol Self-Administration in Humans
Published on: April 28, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
CNS Depressants: Alcohol and Nicotine
Depressants
Alcohol is a common depressant that can induce a sense of relaxation and reduced inhibition at low doses. Contrary to its occasional...
Factors Affecting Drug Response: Overview
Drug Dependence