Association between alcohol intoxication and alcohol-related problems: An event-level analysis.

Abstract

Heavy drinking students experience a myriad of alcohol-related negative consequences. Use of eventlevel data permits predictions to be made regarding (a) the likelihood of alcohol-related consequences occurring after specific drinking events, and (b) moderators of the association between intoxication and consequences. College students (N = 183, 64% female) completed four consecutive 7-day drinking diaries and turned them in weekly. The diaries yielded prospective event-level data on daily drinks, time spent drinking, and negative consequences related to each drinking event. Alcohol intoxication on a given day was significantly associated with increased levels of risk, although this association was moderated by average level of intoxication. Furthermore, self-control was associated with increased likelihood of negative consequences at all levels of intoxication, and self-regulation and impulsivity moderated the event-level association between daily intoxication and likelihood of negative consequences. Results suggest that self-regulation subsumes impulsivity and self-control. KeywordsAlcohol-related consequences; Event-level analyses; daily drinking diaries; moderation effects College students report experiencing a wide range of academic, interpersonal, health, and legal consequences due to alcohol use (e.g., Presley, Meilman, & Lyerla, 1994); estimates place the number of alcohol-related deaths among college students at 1,400 per year and alcohol-related injuries at over 500,000 per year (Hingson, Heeren, Zakocs, Kopstein, & Wechsler, 2002). As such, alcohol-related problems continue to concern college administrators, alcohol researchers, and the parents of students (National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2002). Relevant foci for research on alcohol-related consequences include: (a) identification of patterns of alcohol consumption that lead to problems; and (b) risk factors that can increase the likelihood of experiencing alcohol-related consequences.The association between alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences can be characterized using global-or event-level data. Global measures summarize some aspect of a person's drinking as a sum or average (e.g., average drinks per drinking day), whereas eventlevel data capture details of a particular drinking event (e.g., daily quantities). Although global measures of alcohol use have considerable utility in many contexts, their use can obscure information such as frequency or variability. A similar problem exists with measures of alcohol-related consequences. Although questionnaires such as the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI; White & Labouvie, 1989) and the Young Adult Alcohol Problem Screening Test (YAAPST;Hurlbut & Sher, 1992) and intensity of alcohol-related consequences, they fall short in capturing the acute relation between a drinking event and consequences experienced as a result of that event.The primary strength of event-level data collection is that it provides greater flexibility in modeling the relation between consum...

Examining the relationship between typical drinking behavior and 21st birthday drinking behavior among college students: implications for event‐specific prevention

“…Rather, these results provide empirical evidence for suggestions by Greenbaum and colleagues [6], that those who do not normally drink heavily and have lower tolerance may be especially at risk on occasions where they drink much more than they would normally. The present findings are also consistent with Neal & Carey's [7] findings that average intoxication moderated the association between daily drinking and negative consequences, such that lighter drinkers were at greater risk for negative consequences than heavier drinkers. Furthermore, Neal & Fromme [8] found that the association between alcohol use and behavioral risks increased among college students as their level of intoxication reached above their average level of intoxication.…”

“…However, research suggests that this may be especially true for lighter drinkers. For example, Neal and colleagues [7,8] found that average intoxication moderated the association between alcohol consumption and negative consequences such that lighter drinkers were at greater risk for negative consequences than heavier drinkers.…”

Premeditation moderates the relation between sensation seeking and risky substance use among young adults.

“…For instance, Wills and colleagues (2008) operationalized "good self-control" as a combined measure of planning and problem solving, and found that high levels of this trait reduced the effect of risk factors such as peer use and family events on frequency of cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use in adolescents. Related findings have been observed in a daily diary study of college students (Neal & Carey, 2007), in which higher scores on the Eysenck Impulsiveness Scale (Eysenck, Pearson, Easting, & Allsopp, 1985)-a broad measure of acting without forethought and making hasty decisions -enhanced the relation between daily intoxication and the likelihood of experiencing consequences as a result of drinking. In a more recent study examining premeditation -or the tendency to think before acting -as a moderator, higher levels of the trait buffered the effect of depressive symptoms in predicting levels of alcohol problems, and enhanced this relation at low levels of premeditation (King et al, 2011).…”

A Dual-Process Examination of Alcohol-Related Consequences Among First-Year College Students

“…Studies have shown that the relationship between drinking and consequences is imperfect, typically leaving 40%-50% of the variance unexplained (Larimer et al, 2004;Mallett et al, 2011;Turner et al, 2000). Although drinking is consistently and positively associated with consequences, studies have demonstrated that alcohol-related consequences are multi-determined and influenced by additional factors (Benton et al, 2006;Mallett et al, 2013;Neal & Carey, 2007;Turrisi et al, 2000). Specifically, Mallett and colleagues (2011) found that students' willingness to experience consequences significantly predicted consequences after controlling for drinking.…”