# Multi-method investigation of social facilitation of alcohol effects and alcohol misuse in young adults

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2024 · $736,668

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Young adulthood is a critical period for alcohol initiation and changes in alcohol use patterns, including increased
risk for alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorders (AUD). Among young adults, social contexts are strong
determinants of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences. As such, it is critical for research
studies to investigate social factors as mechanisms to understand future AUD risk in young adults. Rigorous
prior research has shown that an individual’s response to alcohol is greater when they are drinking with another
person compared to when they are drinking alone. We refer to this phenomenon as “social facilitation of alcohol
effects”. We propose social facilitation of alcohol effects may represent the rewarding aspects of social contexts
combined with alcohol-related rewarding effects to produce an additive rewarding experience. Social facilitation
of alcohol effects may be relevant to young adults, as this developmental period is marked by lifetime peaks in
alcohol use and heightened sensitivity to social factors. In Study 1, participants will complete 4 counterbalanced
lab sessions: alcohol (0.0 g/kg vs 0.8 g/kg) × social context (alone vs with friend). During each session,
participants will complete measures of affect and subjective alcohol effect prior to and following beverage
consumption. During social sessions, participants will also complete a standardized conversation task with
behavioral coding. The goal of Study 1 is to extend prior research characterizing the phenomenon of social
facilitation alcohol effects to investigate person-level predisposing factors to social facilitation alcohol effects and
mechanisms of social facilitation alcohol effects. Based on prior studies demonstrating that extraversion and
social alcohol expectancies may associate with greater social reward and positive alcohol effects, we propose
these as predisposing factors to social facilitation alcohol effects. Based on prior research demonstrating that
alcohol consumed in social settings increases affiliative behavior and emotional contagion (i.e., individual’s affect
can alter the affect of others in a coordinated manner), we propose increased agreeableness, emotional
responsiveness, and emotional contagion as mechanisms of social facilitation of alcohol effects. The same
participants will then complete Study 2, which includes 28-days of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)
and 6- and 12-month follow ups. EMA will capture social context and EMA and follow-up will assess naturalistic
alcohol use outcomes (i.e., alcohol use, binge alcohol use, alcohol consequences). Study 2 will extend findings
by investigating the role of acute social alcohol response (i.e., social facilitation of alcohol effects measured in
Study 1) on future alcohol use and consequences. The combined EMA/longitudinal follow-up will allow for
granular assessment (including social context) of real-time alcohol use uncontaminated by retrospective recal...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10980338
- **Project number:** 1R01AA031240-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew Gesner Kirkpatrick
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $736,668
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-05 → 2029-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10980338

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10980338, Multi-method investigation of social facilitation of alcohol effects and alcohol misuse in young adults (1R01AA031240-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10980338. Licensed CC0.

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