Daily-level Associations between Negative Mood, Perceived Stress, and College Drinking: Do Associations Differ by Sex and Fraternity/Sorority Affiliation?

BACKGROUND: Individuals experiencing elevated negative mood and stress may drink to self-medicate, yet daily-level evidence for these associations is mixed.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify daily associations between negative mood and perceived stress with alcohol use among high-risk college students and test whether these associations may vary by same-day versus next-day drinking, sex, and fraternity/sorority affiliation.

METHODS: Frequently drinking college students (n = 347) participated in a daily diary study, which included daily morning and evening assessments that occurred for two weeks in four consecutive academic quarters. Multilevel zero-inflated Poisson regressions were conducted to examine the effects of daily negative mood and perceived stress on same-day and next-day drinking.

RESULTS: Students with higher average negative mood and perceived stress across the sampled days reported a lower likelihood of drinking. Examination of daily-level associations showed that on days students experienced elevated negative mood and perceived stress, they were less likely to drink any alcohol the same day. However, days with elevated negative mood were associated with greater alcohol use the next day. Tests of cross-level interactions indicated that four daily-level associations between higher negative mood or perceived stress and reductions in drinking were found to be significant among females and students unaffiliated with fraternity/sorority only. Conclusions/Importance: Among high-risk college drinkers, negative mood and perceived stress were associated with decreased risk of drinking, particularly among females and students unaffiliated with fraternity/sorority. Daily elevations in negative mood may lead to drinking on a subsequent day and the reason for this lagged effect warrants future research.