The relationship between emotional state and alcohol consumption

Based on a November 1986 national probability sample of 1,069 American drinkers (i.e., people who drank at least one alcoholic beverage in the past 7 days) aged 21 and over, this study investigates the relationship between 10 emotional states (i.e., happy, sad, calm, tense, stimulated, bored, irritable, romantic, festive, and lonely) and the amount of beer, wine, distilled spirits, and/or wine cooler consumed during respondents' last drinking episode. The results indicate that: (1) Although all of the mediating variables studied affected the relationship between affect and alcohol consumption, age appears to be the most influential of these variables; and (2) For each alcoholic beverage type, at least one emotional state was significantly related to amount consumed.