Caffeinated and non-caffeinated alcohol use and indirect aggression: The impact of self-regulation

Abstract

Research shows that heavier alcohol use is associated with physical aggression. Scant research has examined the way in which alcohol relates to other forms of aggression, such as indirect aggression (e.g., malicious humor, social exclusion). Given the possible negative consequences of indirect aggression and the limited evidence suggesting alcohol use can elicit indirectly aggressive responses, research is needed to further investigate the association between drinking behavior and indirect aggression. Additionally, specific alcoholic beverages, such as caffeinated alcoholic beverages (CABs; e.g., Red Bull and vodka), may potentiate aggression above the influence of typical use, thus warrant examination with regard to indirect aggression. One factor that may impact the strength of the alcohol-indirect aggression and CAB-indirect aggression relationships is one's level of self-regulation. Consequently, our study examined the relationships between (1) alcohol use and indirect aggression, (2) CAB use and indirect aggression, and (3) self-regulation as a moderator. Participants were 733 (67.6% female) undergraduate students who reported their CAB and alcohol use, self-regulation, and aggressive behaviors. Results revealed that heavier alcohol use was associated with more frequent indirect aggression after controlling for dispositional aggression. Heavier CAB use was related to more frequent indirect aggression after accounting for typical use and dispositional aggression. Self-regulation moderated these associations such that for those with lower self-regulation, greater alcohol and CAB consumption was associated with greater indirect aggression. Our findings suggest that heavier alcohol and CAB consumption may be risk factors for engaging in indirect aggression and this risk is impacted by one's regulatory control.

Perpetration of Alcohol-Related Aggression by Male and Female College Students: An Examination of Overt and Relational Aggression

“…Knowledge regarding the specific forms of aggression associated with alcohol has been limited by the way aggression has been operationalized in past event-level research (Tomlinson et al, 2016), typically analyzed as an overarching aggression score encompassing multiple forms of aggression (Neal & Fromme, 2007). In fact, the dearth of information on the types of aggression associated with alcohol has been argued to be a limitation across the field of alcohol-related aggression (Sheehan, Linden-Carmichael, & Lau-Barraco, 2016). Thus, questions remain about the specific types of aggression that are more likely to be associated with drinking.…”

Alcohol hangover impacts learning and reward processing within the medial‐frontal cortex

“…For example, alcohol intoxication has been linked to increased risk for engaging in violent behavior (e.g., Giancola et al, 2011), as well as for demonstrating indirect aggression such as social manipulation or bullying (Crane, Licata, Schlauch, Testa, & Easton, 2017). In a study of bystander intervention, Sheehan, Linden-Carmichael, and Lau-Barraco (2016) were able to demonstrate both that alcohol intoxication was linked to an increased risk for participating in sexual violence, and that men who met the criteria for heavy drinking were also less likely to intervene when witnessing a sexually violent act in comparison to their peers who consumed less alcohol.…”

Alcohol Mixed with Energy Drinks (AmED) Use among University Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…As for the quality assessment, a total of 25 articles showed a poor quality rating, which means with important limitations that could invalidate the results and high risk of bias in general [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 31 , 34 , 36 , 38 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ]. A total of 15 assessed studies reported a fair quality rating, with no known important limitation that could invalidate the results and with a moderate or acceptable risk of bias [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 35 , 37 , 42 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 58 , 61 ] and only two studies reported a good quality rating with all criteria met and a very low risk of bias [ 32 , 33 ].…”

“…For meta-regression analysis, sample size, gender and age of participants, WHO Regions location (European Region, African Region, Region of the Americas, South-East Asia Region, Eastern Mediterranean Region, Western Pacific Region), years since publication and methodological quality of the studies were considered as possible sources of heterogeneity; the time considered to assess AmED consumption was also included into the meta-regression analysis by considering four subgroups (Past week, Past 30-days, Past 60-days, Past 90-days and Past year). Three articles [ 23 , 24 , 25 ] were excluded from the meta-analysis and meta-regression analyzes because they did not report the prevalence rate of AmED consumption. Two other papers were excluded because they involved the same cohort of participants [ 26 ].…”