title: Coping motives for drinking affect stress reactivity but not alcohol consumption in a clinical laboratory setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Stress evokes thoughts about alcohol and enhances alcohol's rewarding value in drinkers who use alcohol to cope with negative affect. The present study extends prior research by examining whether this effect applies to actual alcohol consumption following a stressor and whether individuals with high and low coping motives for drinking differ in stress reactivity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nondependent drinkers with high scores (﹥1 SD above national norms) on the coping motives subscale on the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (n = 41; 46% women) were enrolled along with age- and gender-matched nondependent drinkers with low coping motives (n = 41). Participants were randomized to receive the Trier Social Stress Test or a no-stress control condition. Following the stress manipulation, participants could consume up to 473 ml of beer in a "taste test," a covert measure of alcohol consumption. Stress reactivity was measured with both objective and subjective indices, and milliliters of beer consumed was the alcohol-relevant outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants with high coping motives showed a less robust stress response to the Trier Social Stress Test than participants with low coping motives for drinking. However, the stressor did not result in greater consumption of alcohol (i.e., no main effect of stress induction) or differential drinking in the two motive groups (i.e., no Stressor × Coping Motive group interaction).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that nondependent drinkers with and without coping motives for drinking may experience a stress provocation differently, but exposure to a standardized social stressor does not lead to differential drinking in these groups in a clinical laboratory setting.
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, Institute of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Suzanne E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Jennifer E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Merrill
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, Institute of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: von Hofe
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, Institute of Psychiatry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Viktoriya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Magid
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult