Friendship-Related Stress and Alcohol Use Among Post-college Emerging Adults

Abstract

Friendship-related stress is an understudied factor that may explain variation in coping-motivated and socially-motivated drinking among emerging adults. This study examined chronic and episodic friendship stress as predictors of drinking levels and motivations among emerging adults transitioning to post-college life. College drinkers reported drinking motives and alcohol consumption daily for 30 days using an Internet-based diary in college and five years later (N = 897, 54.2% women, M_age = 24.6 at follow-up, 86.0% White). Post-college, participants completed by phone the UCLA-Life Stress Interview assessing chronic and episodic friendship/social life stress. Chronic friendship/social life stress was positively correlated with mean levels of post-college drinking-to-cope motivation and was negatively related to post-college heavy drinking and social drinking motivation. Emerging adults experiencing friendship stress are more likely to use alcohol as a coping mechanism, elevating their risk for alcohol-related problems. Those with low friendship stress may require public health interventions around the risks of heavy drinking.

Keywords

emerging adults alcohol use drinking to cope friendships and social life stress

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