title: Protective behavioral strategies mediate problem-focused coping and alcohol use in college students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Protective behavioral strategies have emerged as a construct protective against alcohol use. The current study examines the theoretical associations among general coping styles, protective behavioral strategies, drinking to cope motives, and alcohol use in college students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analyses of fully latent variables were conducted using structural equation modeling in a sample of 327 college students.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Protective behavioral strategies partially mediated the association between problem-focused coping and alcohol use. Behaviorally oriented problem-focused coping strategies accounted for the positive relationship between problem-focused coping and protective behavioral strategies whereas cognitively oriented problem-focused coping strategies were associated with less use of protective behavioral strategies and increased alcohol use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to find that protective behavioral strategies are more likely to be used by college students who endorse using a problem-focused coping style, especially if they tend to use behaviorally oriented problem-focused coping strategies. These findings extend the literature on protective behavioral strategies and indicate that students less likely to use problem-focused coping skills to deal with stress in general may need additional interventions to increase their use of protective behavioral strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-9119, United States. Electronic address: Robrina.Walker@utsouthwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Robrina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 109 Williams Hall (0436), Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States. Electronic address: Stephens@vt.edu.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Stephens
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D015144:Southeastern United States; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol use; Coping styles; Drinking self-regulation; Drinking to cope; Protective behavioral strategies