Drinking to cope as a mediator of the relationship between stress and alcohol outcomes

Abstract

Relationships between stress and alcohol consumption, alcohol dependence, and alcohol harms as mediated by drinking to cope and moderated by gender and education were investigated. Australian participants completed online surveys during 2020 (T1: n = 589, M age = 51.3, 67.7% female; T2: n = 493; T3: n = 487; T4: n = 311). Participants completed the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales stress subscale, the Drinking Motives Questionnaire for Adults ‘Drinking to cope’ subscale, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. T1 drinking to cope mediated the relationship between T1 stress and alcohol consumption at all time points (R 2 T1 = 0.24, R 2 T2 = 0.17, R 2 T3 = 0.21, R 2 T4 = 0.11). T4 drinking to cope mediated the relationship between T1 stress and T4 alcohol consumption (R 2 T1 = 0.15). Furthermore, a stronger effect was found for men in the relationship between T1 stress and T4 alcohol consumption as mediated by T4 drinking to cope (R 2 T4 = .18). No other relationships were found. Overall, drinking to cope appears to explain some of the increase in alcohol consumption across time due to stress and patterns of drinking to cope with stress appear to develop more strongly over time for men.