# Maximizing geospatial methods to understand emotional processes in Stress-Related Drinking Risk

> **NIH NIH R21** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2022 · $229,281

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 Negative affect (NA) and difficulty regulating this affect (ER) are key determinants of
drinking risk. Experimental data have shown that alcohol cues augment NA effects and
compromise ER capabilities, further contributing to drinking vulnerability. Yet, these studies
have been limited to the lab, and lack ecological validity. No studies have examined affect and
ER as they occur in daily life, in real time and in real settings. This is an important gap in the
knowledge base, as an understanding of how environmental circumstances may influence the
affective processes implicated in drinking could inform intervention. Geospatial information (GI)
technology can enhance understanding of the daily life alcohol cue environment. This includes
two key dimensions of the environment: momentary environmental cue influences (i.e. alcohol
environments that a person is exposed to while experiencing NA), and aggregate environmental
influences (i.e., typical patterns of movement within alcohol cue environments over time).
 In this application, we propose a fine-grained examination of how alcohol cue
environments contextualize affect, ER, and drinking risk in daily life. Our community sample
(N=220) will complete a baseline assessment, and a 14-day EMA protocol to examine how
alcohol cues in the environment may contextualize NA and efforts to regulate NA. Using time-
stamped geolocation data and daily EMA reports, environmental influences will be examined at
both the momentary (i.e., the context at the time that NA is occurring), and aggregate (i.e.,
typical patterns of interaction with the environment) level across the 14-day assessment period.
GPS, EMA self-report, and interview data will be used together to depict environmental
influences, and GPS/EMA self-report will be used to temporally link NA (Aim 1a,1b) and ER
(Aim 2a,2b) to alcohol cue environmental, and to examine how these factors lead to cognitive
(urge to drink) and behavioral (alcohol seeking, drinking) drinking risk in real-time. In exploratory
analyses, we will examine the interactive effects of NA X ER X Environment (Aim 2c). Because
a long-term goal is to use these data to inform intervention development, in Aim 3, a randomly
selected subset (n=30) of the sample will received personalized feedback about affect-related
drinking in the context of idiographic environmental risk. Another (n=30) will be assessed but
receive no feedback. Both groups with be followed over 1-month. This study will be the first to
our knowledge to examine the contributions of NA and ER to drinking risk in the context of daily
life environments. Findings can inform next steps for larger-scale studies, and can be applied to
the development of interventions that consider the individual in the context of daily life.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10391669
- **Project number:** 1R21AA029279-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer P. Read
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $229,281
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-03-25 → 2024-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10391669

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10391669, Maximizing geospatial methods to understand emotional processes in Stress-Related Drinking Risk (1R21AA029279-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10391669. Licensed CC0.

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