The role of positive affect in the association between stress and college student alcohol use

Abstract

Objective To examine the associations among stress, positive affect, binge drinking, and coping drinking motives. Participants Students (n = 351, M age=19.7, 74.6% female) at a northeastern public university. Methods Participants completed an online survey assessing perceived stress, frequency of experiencing positive emotions, frequency of binge drinking, and coping drinking motives. Results Stress and positive emotions were not significantly related to frequency of binge drinking but were significantly correlated with coping motives for drinking. Regression analyses with all predictors, age, and gender in the model revealed the same: stress and positive emotion were not significantly related to binge drinking but were significantly related to coping motives. The interaction between stress and positive emotions predicting frequency of binge drinking or coping motives was nonsignificant. Conclusions Findings suggest the utility of exploring positive emotions in risk and resilience research focused on college student drinking and of targeting positive emotions to decrease students’ coping-related alcohol use.