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Stress and Alcohol Consumption in Heavily Drinking Men: 2 Years of Daily Data Using Interactive Voice Response
Author(s) -
Helzer John E.,
Badger Gary J.,
Searles John S.,
Rose Gail L.,
Mongeon Joan A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00093.x
Subject(s) - consumption (sociology) , alcohol consumption , stress (linguistics) , interactive voice response , multilevel model , telephone interview , psychology , medicine , alcohol , demography , computer science , statistics , telecommunications , mathematics , social science , biochemistry , chemistry , linguistics , philosophy , sociology
Background: The relationship between stress and alcohol consumption has been shown in recent research to be more complex than originally thought. Cross‐sectional and short‐term longitudinal studies may not provide adequate data to address subtle but important relationships that impact consumption frequency and/or quantity. Methods: Participants were 33 males recruited from local bars who reported their alcohol consumption, stress, and other related variables every day for 2 years. Reports were provided by automated telephone to a computer‐based interactive voice response (IVR) system. By closely monitoring call completion, we were able to collect over 95% of the daily calls. Results: Using hierarchical linear modeling, daily stress was found to be associated with daily alcohol consumption, but in the opposite direction than would be predicted by a “drinking to cope” hypothesis. That is, same‐day stress was found to be inversely related to consumption levels. Prior day's stress was not significantly associated with subsequent day's consumption; however, prior day's consumption was predictive of subsequent stress for up to 2 days. Similar analyses using week, rather than day, as the unit of measure paralleled these findings. Conclusions: This study highlights the utility of using long‐term daily process data to address important research and clinical questions in the alcohol field.