Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Alcohol misuse is common among university students in Canada. Approximately one-third of students drink at harmful levels. This behaviour costs individuals and society, as heavy drinking leads to many negative health outcomes, such as death and/or injury from drunk driving accidents. Research has identified two primary motives for drinking. Students either drink to increase positive feelings or to decrease feelings of stress (so-called coping-motivated drinking). Evidence suggests that the relationship between stress and alcohol use is complex. It remains unclear as to how alcohol reduces stress in coping-motivated drinkers. Some studies have found that people who drink to cope show higher bodily and emotional responses to stressful events. This led researchers to believe that alcohol dampens these elevated stress responses, eventually leading to strong alcohol cravings in times of stress. However, this prediction has not been supported because of methodological limitations in existing studies. The proposed study will improve on these limitations and clarify how alcohol reduces stress in coping-motivated drinkers. In a realistic bar lab, participants will complete two public-speaking stress tasks. Immediately following each task, participants will either be exposed to an alcohol or neutral (water) cue. Coping-motivated drinkers are expected to show higher bodily and emotional responses to stress, along with stronger alcohol cravings, compared to controls. Also, coping-motivated drinkers are hypothesized to show the largest reductions in stress when alcohol is administered following the stress tasks. This research will help clarify the link between stress and alcohol use in university students. Further, this work has the potential to inform clinical treatment and prevention programs targeting alcohol misuse in young Canadians.