title: Drinking to Cope Motivation as a Prospective Predictor of Negative Affect.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Consistent with research indicating that drinking to cope (DTC) motivation might exacerbate negative affective states within or immediately proximal to discrete drinking episodes, we examined whether yearly deviations in more global levels of DTC motivation prospectively predicted depressive and anxious affect over several weeks.
  
  
  METHODS
  College students (N = 521, 52% women) completed baseline measures of drinking motives, recent depression and anxiety symptoms, recent alcohol use, and alcohol use disorder symptoms on a secure website. Approximately 2 weeks after completing this survey, participants completed the 30-day daily diary portion of the study in which they reported on their current-day affective states. This yearly assessment burst in which participants completed a baseline survey and a daily diary assessment was repeated for 3 additional years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that changes in DTC motivation were positively associated with changes in depressive and anxious affect in the subsequent month, after we controlled for changes in concurrent anxiety and depressive symptoms, drinking level, enhancement drinking motivation, and alcohol use disorder symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings are consistent with the notion that DTC motivation confers a unique vulnerability for emotion dysregulation, and that drinking for such reasons possibly prolongs or exacerbates negative affective states.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Armeli
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Tami P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine and Health Care, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tennen
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult