Emotional Distress May Increase Risk for Self-Medication and Lower Risk for Mood-related Drinking Consequences in Adolescents

The current study examines indicators of emotional distress and coping that may define sub-populations of adolescents at risk for two potential affect-related mechanisms underlying substance misuse: self-medication and mood-related drinking consequences. Although theory and empirical evidence point to the salience of affect-related drinking to current and future psychopathology, we have little knowledge of whether or for whom such mood-related processes exist in adolescents because few studies have used methods that optimally match the phenomenon to the level of analysis. Consequently, the current study uses multi-level modeling in which daily reports of negative mood and alcohol use are nested within individuals to examine whether adolescents with more emotional distress and poorer coping skills are more likely to evidence self-medication and mood-related drinking consequences. Seventy-five adolescents participated in a multi-method, multi-reporter study in which they completed a 21-day experience sampling protocol assessing thrice daily measures of mood and daily measures of alcohol use. Results indicate that adolescents reporting greater anger are more likely to evidence self-medication. Conversely, adolescents displaying lower emotional distress and more active coping are more likely to evidence mood-related drinking consequences. Implications for identifying vulnerable sub-populations of adolescents at risk for these mechanisms of problematic alcohol use are discussed.