Relationships between alcohol-related memory association and changes in mood: systematic differences between high- and low-risk drinkers

Alcohol Alcohol. 2008 Sep-Oct;43(5):551-8. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agm174. Epub 2008 May 9.

Abstract

Heavy alcohol use is common in undergraduates and is associated with health-risk behaviors, negative consequences, and increased risk for future alcohol dependence. Alcohol-related memory associations (AMAs) and mood changes are independently related to student drinking, but more research on how these variables interact is needed.

Aims: To examine (i) how AMAs predict drinking behavior after accounting for depression, and (ii) how changes in negative and positive mood predict AMAs among low- and high-risk drinkers.

Methods: Positive and negative moods were manipulated using a musical mood induction procedure immediately prior to completion of memory association measures. A bootstrapped structural equation model was tested, permitting a sampling distribution free of the requirement of normality.

Results: Negative mood changes predicted AMAs in high-risk drinkers but not in low-risk drinkers, and the opposite was found for positive mood changes.

Conclusion: The negative mood-AMA association appeared related to risky drinking, and these subtle implicit cognitive processes may warrant a special focus in intervention programs for high-risk drinkers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Alcohol Drinking / psychology*
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Australia
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Memory Disorders / psychology*
  • Mood Disorders / psychology*
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Regression Analysis
  • Risk
  • Students / psychology