Examining the moment-to-moment association between drinking and problems: The moderating role of emotional...

Though the link between alcohol use and alcohol-related problems is intuitive, meta-analyses show that drinking explains <20% of the variance in problems. This suggests that other factors play an important role in when and for whom drinking leads to problems. Moreover, most research in this area has relied on either cross-sectional data or macrolongitudinal methods (e.g., 3-month follow-up). This study aimed to examine the moment-to-moment association between drinking and problems, and whether positive and negative affect moderated the strength of this within-person relationship.

Data were collected using ecological momentary assessment from a college student sample exhibiting hazardous drinking patterns (n = 160, observations = 4980). Momentary positive and negative affect were examined as within-person moderators. Person-level averages of positive and negative affect as well as trait savoring (i.e., ability to hold on to positive emotions-shown to be protective against problems) were examined as cross-level moderators of this effect.

Results showed that drinking at the previous moment was strongly associated with reporting more problems at the next moment (IRR = 1.74), and higher-than-average levels of negative affect at the previous moment strengthened this moment-to-moment relationship (IRR = 1.28). Average positive affect exhibited a cross-level interaction with the moment-to-moment link between drinking and problems (IRR = 0.69) such that those with lower-than-average positive affect overall had a stronger association between drinking at the previous moment and the number of problems reported at the next moment. Trait savoring was inversely related to problems (IRR = 0.74), and average negative affect was positively associated with problems (IRR = 1.27).

This study demonstrates that affect can exacerbate or buffer the moment-to-moment relationship between alcohol use and problems.