Physical context of alcohol use and craving: An EMA exploratory study

While environmental and physical contextual factors play an important role in alcohol use and motivation for use, assessment of the physical context of use, even when using ecological momentary assessments (EMA), has been limited. While EMA research has examined drinking locations at the event level using categories of drinking locations, there is considerable within-category variability in the attributes of drinking locations. Using data from a 6-week EMA study (N = 207), this exploratory study sought to determine drinking locations through the combination of EMA self-report and GPS coordinates. Through multilevel modeling, we also tested whether specific locations were associated with variability in drinking (self-reported drinking and breathalyzer readings) and craving for alcohol. Results indicated significant differences in both alcohol consumption and craving between home, friend's houses, and on-premises drinking locations. Our results offer proof of concept for using mobile and geospatial data to passively identify on-premise drinking locations. This approach has the potential to aid in the development of targeted intervention strategies that identify and mitigate risks associated with specific drinking environments.