Social Drinking and Addiction: A Social-Cognitive Model for Understanding Alcohol Use Disorder Risk

Scientists have long focused on intrapersonal factors and solitary drinking settings in researching addiction etiology. Yet evidence has accumulated to indicate a key role for social contexts in alcohol use disorder development. Here we review four core characteristics of social drinking contexts relevant for the understanding of disordered drinking, including prevalence, developmental timing, negative consequences, and reward value. We present a social-cognitive model aimed at elucidating reinforcement from alcohol in social context, proposing a role for alcohol in inhibiting higher-order cognitive processes that otherwise dampen the experience of social reward. Finally, we review a series of empirical studies providing evidence for the role of social context in alcohol use disorder development, highlighting methodological challenges and indicating directions for future research.