Cheers together, but not alone: Peer drinking moderates alcohol consumption following interpersonal stress

In view of the importance of the need to belong in motivating behavior, we examined whether interpersonal and academic stress differentially influence social and solitary alcohol consumption and whether social and solitary alcohol consumption differentially predict next-day interpersonal and academic stress. Based on research suggesting that drinking with friends is related to increased alcohol consumption following belongingness threat, we also examined whether peer consumption moderates associations between daily interpersonal stress and social drinking. Each day for 30 days, 1641 undergraduates reported stress, alcohol consumption, and peer consumption. Academic stress was related to lower levels of social and solitary alcohol consumption. Interpersonal stress was associated with greater social alcohol consumption, but only when students reported being around others who were drinking greater than average peer quantities. However, although social drinking was related to lower next-day academic stress, it was unrelated to next-day interpersonal stress. Findings are consistent with the notion that individuals’ perceptions of peers’ alcohol use might serve as a signal to join in this behavior to reduce belongingness threats associated with interpersonal stressors, although this may not be an effective strategy.

Drinking among friends: The role of personality in links between online exposure to peer drinking and adolescent alcohol use

The roles of conscientiousness and excitement seeking were investigated in the relationship between exposure to peer alcohol use online and adolescent alcohol consumption. It was hypothesized that higher levels of perceived peer alcohol use online would be associated with reports of higher adolescent alcohol consumption. Additionally, it was proposed that the relationship between perceived levels of peer alcohol use online and individual alcohol consumption would be stronger for adolescents lower in conscientiousness, and higher in excitement seeking, than it was in more conscientious, and less excitement-seeking students. Control variables included gender, pubertal timing, frequency of social networking site use, social networking site investment, and in-person peer alcohol norms. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey from a sample of 1,018 students (M = 16.45 years old, SD = 0.32 years). Higher levels of in-person peer drinking norms and social networking site alcohol exposure were associated with higher adolescent drinking. Furthermore, excitement seeking significantly moderated the relationship between social networking site alcohol exposure and alcohol use. Participants reporting higher excitement seeking appeared more susceptible to online alcohol exposure than those reporting lower excitement seeking. The current study contributes to understandings of adolescent drinking by demonstrating personality differences in adolescent susceptibility to online alcohol consumption norms.

Perception of peer drinking and access to alcohol mediate the effect of residence status on alcohol consumption

Alcohol consumption is common in college attending populations and can have a negative impact on an individual's academic, physical, and mental health. Previous research suggests that living at home could act as a protective measure. The current research looks at potential mediators of the association between living with parents while attending college and amount of alcohol consumed. In particular, this study examined access to alcohol, parental involvement, and perception of peer drinking as mediators of the association. This study examined freshman data collected from a survey conducted at a large public university in the mid-Atlantic United States. A pathway model was fit to test the relationships between residence status, access to alcohol, parental involvement, and perception of peer drinking on alcohol consumption. We observed statistically significant indirect effects of residence status on alcohol consumption through the perception of peer drinking and access to alcohol. Parental involvement was significantly related to lower alcohol consumption and there was a direct effect of residence status on alcohol consumption. There were significant indirect effects of residence status on alcohol consumption through both peer drinking and access to alcohol. Parental involvement was associated with decreased alcohol consumption, with no indirect effect in association with residence status. These effects were persistent in the presence of a range of covariates, including age, gender, ethnicity, and parental education. KEYWORDS: Emerging Adult; Alcohol; Residence Status; Peer Drinking; Access to Alcohol; Parental involvement; Path Analysis