# Maturing out of problem drinking: An intensive longitudinal burst study of drinking to cope motivation

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT · 2020 · $361,161

## Abstract

Abstract
During young adulthood drinking to cope (DTC) motivation becomes more highly associated with drinking-
related problems, and decreases in DTC motivation predict maturing out of problem drinking. The deleterious
effect of DTC has been attributed to its ineffectiveness as a coping strategy, i.e., it often fails to reduce distress
and hinders more adaptive emotion-regulation, thus continuing the distress-DTC cycle. Indeed, evidence
indicates that high levels of daily negative affect predict DTC motivation, which in turn predicts fatigue,
negative affect and stress-reactivity. However, no study to date has examined whether these daily processes
change during young adulthood. We propose conducting a third wave in our ongoing NIAAA-funded ARC
multi-year intensive longitudinal (daily diary) measurement burst study that has examined college drinkers in
wave 1 and the heavier drinkers within the cohort 5 years later (post-college). The proposed third wave, 6 years
after wave 2, will capture participants (N after attrition ≈ 760) in their late 20s/early 30s. Participants will
complete a phone-based research interview assessing AUD symptoms. They will then complete (a) an Internet-
based survey of personality and contextual factors and (b) a 30-day Internet-based daily survey of their stress,
affect, drinking level, drinking motives and drinking-related problems. Our first aim is to examine changes
across the 3 assessment waves in day-level associations among DTC motivation and its antecedents and
outcomes, and whether changes in these daily processes are related to individual differences in neuroticism,
impulsivity, recent life stress, adult social role attainment, 5-HTTLPR, FKBP5, and PER1, and PER2 genotypes,
and AUD symptoms. Our second aim is to assess the perceived coping effectiveness of episode-specific
instances DTC and to test whether these appraisals moderate the effect of DTC on next-day affect, self-control
depletion, stress-reactivity and drinking-related problems. In the proposed wave we will assess negative
urgency, i.e., the tendency to act rashly when experiencing negative emotions, and test whether it moderates
the day-level associations between DTC motivation and its proximal antecedents and outcomes. Results from
this study hold the promise of identifying individuals at risk for the development of AUDs in early adulthood.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9947841
- **Project number:** 5P50AA027055-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT
- **Principal Investigator:** HOWARD TENNEN
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $361,161
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9947841

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9947841, Maturing out of problem drinking: An intensive longitudinal burst study of drinking to cope motivation (5P50AA027055-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9947841. Licensed CC0.

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