Efficacy of Coping with Negative Affect via Alcohol Use Pre- and Post Acute Stress

Alcohol use is common for emotional coping due to stress. However, it may not effectively mitigate negative emotions or the stressors. The current study sought to test if use predicts negative affect (NA) relief on days prior to acute stress as predicted by theories such as the stress-response-dampening hypothesis, particularly among those who use to cope. Undergraduates (N = 226) preparing for a premedical examination participated in a 14-day diary study (N_Days = 2920). Reports included morning and evening NA, evening alcohol consumption, and a baseline measure of substance-use-directed coping. Multilevel mediation models indicated that only substance-use-directed coping was positively associated with alcohol use on days prior to the exam. In contrast, post-exam, coping was positively associated but morning NA and its interaction with coping were negatively associated with drinking quantity. While drinking was associated with lower prospective evening NA overall, only post-exam indirect effects were observed. NA may not potentiate alcohol use under acute stress, even though use does alleviate NA. Post-stress, NA and substance use coping unexpectedly reduced drinking, perhaps as a protective effort. However, this led to indirect effects whereby NA escalated. Among low/moderate users, the negative reinforcement process is likely not established, though at such levels of use it may be effective.