Lower perceptions of day-level peer drinking strengthen the impact of personal drinking on negative and positive...

Several studies have demonstrated that perceived peer drinking is associated with problem drinking behavior. However, research focusing on the dynamic impact of day-level perceived peer drinking behavior on a given individual's day-to-day deviations in drinking behavior has received less attention. This study sought to test whether day-level deviations in (and person-level averages of) perceived peer drinking quantity moderated the impact of an individual's own day-to-day deviations in (and person-level averages of) drinking quantity on day-level alcohol consequences.

Young adults (N = 202; 55% female; mean age = 22.03 [SD = 2.75]) who reported high-intensity drinking (8+/10+ drinks/occasion for females/males) engaged in 28 days of ecological momentary assessment. Each day, participants reported on their past-day drinking quantity, perceived peer drinking quantity, and negative/positive alcohol-related consequences experienced.

At the day-level, within-person deviations in both personal and perceived peer drinking quantity were associated with increases in negative and positive consequences. However, significant interactions between the two suggested the day-level associations between increases in personal drinking quantity and both negative and positive consequences were weaker when perceived peer drinking was higher (vs. lower) than usual. At the person level, average personal and perceived drinking were unrelated to alcohol consequences. However, there was an interaction such that the association between an individual's average drinking quantity and negative consequences was statistically significant and positive only when average perceived peer drinking was lower than the sample average.

Findings indicate that perceived peer drinking behavior may play a role in the day-to-day experience of alcohol-related consequences both across and within individuals, particularly when individuals perceive peers to be drinking less. Interventions may benefit from increasing protective strategy utilization when individuals are in situations where they drink more heavily than usual while their peers are drinking less heavily than usual.