# Drinking to Cope, Negative Affect, and Affect Regulation: A daily diary study

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $46,036

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Alcohol-related consequences remain widespread, despite extensive prevention efforts, and alcohol misuse by
young adults results in over 1,500 deaths per year. Thus, it is crucial to understand etiologic factors that
contribute to the development of alcohol-related consequences. Prior research has shown that individuals who
report drinking to cope may have increased risks for alcohol-related consequences. It is assumed that drinking
to cope implies drinking in response to negative affect, but it is unclear how negative affect, affect regulation
strategies, and drinking to cope interact to predict alcohol-related consequences. Thus, further exploration into
the daily dynamics of these factors is warranted. This study proposes to investigate how individual differences
in negative affect and deployment of affect regulation strategies may interact to predict drinking to cope
motives at the daily level, and if daily fluctuations in drinking to cope are related to daily alcohol-related
consequences.. The study will utilize an EMA design in order to characterize daily processes that may lead to
daily risk for alcohol-related consequences. Young adults age 18-22 (N=500) will be recruited for intensive
longitudinal assessment of substance use and affect. Participants will use daily diary to report their affect,
affect regulation strategies, drinking motives, alcohol use, and alcohol-related consequences. Findings from
this study could inform prevention efforts by identifying individual differences factors that contribute to
increased alcohol consequences at a daily level, as well as possible targets for intervention. The proposed
study represents innovation over prior research because there has not yet been a study that synthesizes daily
fluctuations in affect, affect regulation strategies, and daily motivations to drinking and how these relate to
alcohol-related consequences at a daily level. This study is aligned with the strategic plan of the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), as it has possible implications for improving prevention of
alcohol misuse and alcohol-related consequences during the high risk developmental period of young
adulthood.. The funding of this project will provide substantial training to an emerging predoctoral researcher in
ethics, research methodology, advanced quantitative methods, and career development. Overall, this project
will illuminate processes by which negative affect can drive increased motivation to drink to cope, and how
these processes relate to the development of alcohol-related consequences.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10293560
- **Project number:** 5F31AA028695-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Lauren McClain
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $46,036
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-16 → 2023-09-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10293560

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10293560, Drinking to Cope, Negative Affect, and Affect Regulation: A daily diary study (5F31AA028695-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10293560. Licensed CC0.

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