Emotion-related alcohol use motives are associated with greater parasympathetic nervous system responses to acute challenge.

Abstract

Individuals' psychophysiological responses to stress are related to alcohol use initiation and frequency, but it remains unclear whether these responses are related to drinking motives among alcohol users. College students (N = 88; M_age = 20.26, SD = 1.18; 72.7 % female; 34.1 % white, 31.8 % Asian American, 12.5 % Latine, 14.8 % biracial, 6.8 % different racial and ethnic backgrounds) who self-reported past month alcohol use completed an acute challenge task (i.e., the mirror tracing task). They reported emotion before and after the task, and electrocardiogram data were continuously collected as a means of measuring parasympathetic nervous system activity at the heart. Multilevel models revealed that individuals who endorsed greater coping motives for alcohol use tended to show greater parasympathetic nervous system withdrawal to the acute challenge task, as well as a larger decrease in negative affect from pre- to post-task. Greater enhancement motives were also related to greater parasympathetic nervous system withdrawal, whereas social motives were related to larger decreases in negative affect from pre- to post-task. These findings suggest that individuals' motives, particularly endorsement for using alcohol to regulate emotion, is related to how they physiologically respond to acute challenges. Increased physiological responses to everyday challenges may motivate individuals to use alcohol as a means of regulating their responses. Results suggest that increasing emotion regulation skills or promoting psychoeducation regarding stress and interoception may be a prevention target for individuals who use alcohol to cope.