A multimodal, longitudinal investigation of alcohol's emotional rewards and drinking over time in young adults.

Theories of alcohol use disorder (AUD) have long suggested that alcohol's emotional rewards play a key role in reinforcing problematic drinking. Studies employing survey methods, in which participants recall and aggregate their experiences with alcohol in a single questionnaire, indicate that self-reported expectancies and motivations surrounding alcohol's emotional rewards predict problematic drinking trajectories over time. The current study is the first to combine laboratory alcohol-administration, ambulatory methods, and longitudinal follow-ups to assess whether alcohol's ability to enhance positive mood and reduce negative mood predicts later drinking problems. Sixty young heavy social drinkers (50% female) participated in laboratory-based alcohol-administration, attending both alcohol (target blood alcohol concentration [BAC] .08%) and no-alcohol laboratory sessions. Forty-eight of these participants also wore transdermal alcohol monitors and completed mood surveys outside the laboratory for 7 days. Participants reported on their drinking at 18-month follow-up (90% compliance). Controlling for baseline drinking, greater negative mood reduction from alcohol at baseline predicted more drinking problems at follow-up, an effect that emerged as consistent across methods capturing alcohol's emotional rewards in the laboratory, b = -.24, p = .02, as well as via ambulatory methods, b = -3.14, p = .01. Greater positive mood enhancement from alcohol, captured via laboratory methods, also predicted drinking problems, b = .16, p = .03, and binge drinking, b = 3.22, p = .02, at follow-up. Models examining drinking frequency/quantity were nonsignificant. Results provide support for emotional reward as a potential factor in the development of problematic drinking. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Estimating the quantity and time course of alcohol consumption from transdermal alcohol sensor data: A combined laboratory-ambulatory study.

Transdermal alcohol sensors offer enormous promise for the continuous, objective assessment of alcohol use. Although these sensors have been employed as abstinence monitors for some time now, it is only recently that models have been developed aimed at allowing researchers to derive estimates of the precise amount and time course of drinking, directly from transdermal data. Using data from a combined laboratory-ambulatory study, the current research aims to examine the validity of recently developed methods for estimating BrAC (breath alcohol concentration) directly from transdermal data. Forty-eight heavy social drinkers engaged in 7 days of ambulatory assessment outside the laboratory, and also participated in a laboratory alcohol-administration session. Participants wore the SCRAM transdermal sensor throughout the study, and during the 7 days of ambulatory assessment, they provided daily self-reports of their drinking and also took randomly prompted photographs 6 times per day, which were then evaluated for evidence of alcohol consumption. Results indicated strong associations between daily self-reports of drinking quantity and estimates of BrAC derived from transdermal sensors at both the between- and within-subject level. Data from randomly prompted photos indicated that the time course of estimated BrAC also had validity. Results offer promise for novel methods of estimating BrAC from transdermal data, including those taking a nomothetic (population-based) approach to this estimation, thus potentially adding to our arsenal of techniques for understanding, diagnosing, and ultimately treating alcohol use disorder.