A Longitudinal Examination of Stress, Affect Dynamics, and Alcohol-Related Outcomes Across Emerging Adulthood

We examined the associations between individual differences in intensive longitudinal data-derived affective dynamics (i.e., positive and negative affect variability and inertia and positive affect-negative affect bipolarity) and concurrent stress, drinking levels, and affect-regulation drinking motives across three time points spanning early adulthood. This allowed us to evaluate the stability of the affective dynamics and whether their associations with alcohol outcomes varied across this critical developmental period. Moderate-to-heavy college drinkers (N = 1139, 51% women) reported on their affective states, stress, drinking levels, and drinking motives daily for 30 days using a web-based daily diary in three assessment waves: during college and at two post-college waves, approximately 5 and 10 years after the initial assessment. Findings indicated moderate stability of the affect dynamic indicators, except for inertia. Negative affect variability showed the strongest positive association with mean daily stress. Individuals who demonstrated stronger affect bipolarity had lower drinking levels and higher enhancement motivation. None of the other dynamic indicators were consistently related to the drinking outcomes in the predicted direction after controlling for mean affect levels, and we found little evidence for changes in these effects across time. Our results add to the inconsistent literature regarding the associations between affective dynamics and alcohol-related outcomes.