An Application of the Stressor-Vulnerability Model of Drinking in College Student Drinkers

Background: The stressor vulnerability model provides theoretical support for conditions under which drinking to cope (DTC) is likely to occur (i.e., decreased adaptive coping, increased positive alcohol expectancies). However, research has only tested this model in a college sample reporting trauma. Generalizability to a non-trauma-specific sample college drinkers would support applications of the model and inferences about coping-related drinking across a broader group of young adults. Objectives: Our sample included 565 college student drinkers (M_age = 20.3 years; SD_age = 2.0 years; 77.0% female; 54.2% White) from a large southeastern university. Mediation analyses examined DTC as a mediator between negative affect and alcohol-related outcomes (i.e., drinking quantity, drinking frequency, binge drinking frequency, and alcohol-related consequences). Moderated mediation models tested the influence of tension reduction expectancies and cognitive reappraisal on mediation pathways. Results: Drinking to cope was found to be a full mediator for associations between negative affect and drinking-related outcomes. For associations between negative affect and alcohol-related consequences, DTC was a partial mediator. For all alcohol outcomes, results indicated the mediation between negative affect and outcomes through DTC is strongest for individuals with greater cognitive reappraisal use. Positive alcohol expectancies did not moderate any indirect effects. Conclusions: Although cognitive reappraisal is typically considered an adaptive emotion regulation technique, our results suggest that this may not always be the case with drinking outcomes. Given our findings, further research is needed to discern the conditions wherein cognitive reappraisal may and may not be adaptive. This could be useful in informing interventions to reduce harmful DTC behaviors.