Those in their adolescence or young adulthood are at higher risk for substance use. Roughly 72% of young adults report past-year alcohol use, 45% report heavy drinking (4+/5+ drinks), and 19% alcohol use disorder. Heavy alcohol use has been associated with many negative consequences. Anxiety and depression symptoms have been known to increase young adult college students’ risk for heavy alcohol use. The goal of this study is to examine whether coping style moderates or mediates the relationship between anxiety, depression, and alcohol use and consequences.
This study consisted of 250 college students between the ages of 18 and 25. All participants were from a southeastern university during the 2014 fall semester. Coping style was measured via the Brief COPE, a 28-item measure of how often a participant engaged in specific coping strategies. Anxiety, depression, hazardous alcohol use, and social and personal consequences of alcohol use were measured, as well as social demographics. Alcohol use was found to correlate with social consequences and emotional consequences. Gender is shown to have a significant relation to alcohol use and social consequences but not personal consequences.
The results of this study suggest that reducing avoidance coping strategies or weakening the ties from depression to avoidance coping could help reduce the likelihood of hazardous alcohol use. In the future, interventions should be targeted at lowering avoidance and increasing approach coping. Avoidance coping is highest during college and decreases with age. Approach coping could be beneficial for many college students. There is value in doing more research on educational and skill-building interventions to increase approach coping.
Takeaway: This study suggests that reducing avoidance coping strategies or weakening the ties from depression to avoidance coping could help reduce the likelihood of hazardous alcohol use.