The event‐based influence of incentivizing and physical contexts on daily alcohol initiation and consumption

• Published in: Alcohol, clinical & experimental research Vol. 47; no. 4; pp. 763 - 771
• Main Authors: Howe, Lindy K., Finn, Peter R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.04.2023
• Subjects: alcohol; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Alcohol use; Cognition; context; daily diary; drinking; Drinking behavior; ecological momentary assessment; Ethanol; Humans; incentives; Mood; Motivation; Young Adult; Young adults; alcohol; context; incentives; drinking; daily diary; ecological momentary assessment
• DOI: 10.1111/acer.15027
• ISSN: 0145-6008

Background Young adults often decide to engage in heavy drinking. Learning more about the real‐time factors that predict decisions to initiate a drinking episode and how much is consumed in any single drinking episode is necessary in developing our understanding of momentary alcohol use and discrete decisions surrounding alcohol use. Methods The current study examined the association between contextual factors and decisions to initiate and consume alcohol in 104 young adult individuals over 2 weeks via mobile daily diary. Participants responded to daily notifications about decisions to drink or not and the contextual factors surrounding each event. The contextual factors included the situation (e.g., bar setting and pregaming) and incentives (e.g., alcohol, social, and mood enhancement). Results Multilevel analyses revealed that incentives predicted both the initiation of drinking and the amount consumed. Event‐based alcohol and mood incentives predicted the initiation of drinking, while alcohol, mood, and social/party incentives predicted how much was consumed at a specific event. However, context had a more complex association with drinking outcomes. Being in a bar, alone, or at a residence predicted decisions to initiate drinking, while being in a bar, pregaming situation, or other party situation with others who are drinking predicted how much a person drank. Conclusions The results highlight the importance of studying event‐specific predictors of drinking decisions and the complex association between context/location and the type of drinking decision or outcome. The current article suggests event‐based factors, such as rewarding incentives and context, are influential in decisions to initiate momentary alcohol use and in the quantity consumed. Findings should be considered when developing interventions related to alcohol use harm reduction, specifically those aimed at identifying factors that contribute to disadvantageous decisions regarding alcohol use.