Changes in affect and alcohol craving during naturally occurring drinking episodes: The role of day-level drinking motives.

Abstract

Day-level drinking motives are associated with intensity of drinking and occurrence of negative consequences. However, little is known about how day-level drinking motives relate to alcohol craving, an approach-oriented motivational state proximal to continued drinking. This study tested whether day-level (and between-person) drinking motives were associated with craving during drinking episodes and whether this effect varied by drinking-induced changes in negative/positive affect (PA). Emerging adults (N = 114) took part in up to two waves of 21-day ecological momentary assessments. Participants reported positive/negative affect (NA) prior to and during drinking episodes, drinking motives at beginning of episodes, and craving during all drink reports. Analyses tested whether day-level and between-person (aggregated) drinking motives were associated with heightened craving and whether any effects on craving were moderated by drinking-induced changes in affect. A significant interaction emerged for daylevel coping by negative affect, such that higher-than-average coping was associated with less drinkinginduced craving when negative affect decreased relative to predrinking levels. However, interactions of between-person coping by negative and positive affect also emerged, such that higher person-level coping was associated with more drinking-induced craving when negative affect and positive affect increased. Day-level and between-person conformity motives by negative affect interactions were also detected, such that higher day-level and between-person conformity motives were associated with more drinking-induced craving when negative affect decreased. Relations between day-level motivation and craving may be sensitive to changes in negative/positive affect while drinking. Future research is needed to differentiate mechanisms through which person-level versus day-level motives relate to craving. Public Health SignificanceFindings suggest that coping motives may operate differently at the event-and person-levels of analysis. For many drinkers, occasional use of alcohol to cope with negative moods may be a self-limiting phenomenon. However, postdrinking mood changes may promote desire for continued alcohol use in drinkers who habitually turn to alcohol for affective relief.

Modeling momentary reciprocal associations between negative affect and craving for alcohol and cannabis using dynamic structural equation modeling.

“…Hypotheses were partially supported, as within-person deviations in negative affect covaried alongside within-person deviations in alcohol and cannabis use cravings. Thus, in line with the prior studies (e.g., Waddell, Bartholow, & Piasecki, 2023;Waddell et al, 2021), moments characterized by negative affect were also characterized by higher levels of alcohol and cannabis cravings. However, in contrast, within-person deviations in negative affect did not prospectively predict within-person deviations in alcohol or cannabis craving hours later.…”

Retrospective self-reports of sensitivity to the effects of alcohol: Trait-like stability and concomitant changes with alcohol involvement.

“…Sociodemographic information for the sample is reported in Table 1. Additional findings from this study have been reported elsewhere (Cofresí, Kohen, et al, 2022; Cofresí, Piasecki, & Bartholow, 2022; Cofresí, Piasecki, Hajcak, & Bartholow, 2022; Kohen et al, 2023; Waddell et al, 2023).…”

Planned versus unplanned drinking and cannabis use: Do facets of trait impulsivity influence daily risk?

“…A similar pattern may be present with regard to the context where use occurs. Person–environment transactions theory suggests that impulsive individuals react differently to different contexts (e.g., Caspi et al, 2005; Waddell, Bartholow, & Piasecki, 2022) and thus behave differently. Therefore, one possibility is that stimulating social contexts may be associated with a desire to drink for individuals with higher levels of impulsive traits, thereby predicting plans to drink later that day/night.…”

“…One possibility is that impulsive individuals may tend to engage in unplanned use more frequently because they are more often in substance-involved contexts that involve social interactions (Waddell, King, et al, 2022). Another possibility is that impulsive individuals may tend to engage in unplanned use because they develop stronger positive expectancies (e.g., tension reduction, sociability; Corbin et al, 2011; Waddell, Sternberg, et al, 2021), and such expectancies purport unplanned use in the presence of a change in affect—either positive or negative (e.g., Waddell, Bartholow, & Piasecki, 2022). Taken together, future research is warranted to study both the event- and person-level antecedents to planned and unplanned alcohol and cannabis use.…”