Impaired Control and Alcohol Consumption

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Table of Contents

Study overview, purpose, and relevance
Hypothesis
The key variables in the study
Sample Characteristics
The type of methodology of the study
Study procedure and methodology
Reference

Study overview, purpose, and relevance

A brief overview of the study

The study will focus on the relationship between mood/attitude and impaired control in the context of alcohol consumption. The purpose of the study is to identify whether certain moods or attitudes result in a greater likelihood of impaired control during alcohol consumption in regular nondependent drinkers. The premise stems from some evidence indicating that problematic alcohol drinking behaviors may arise from different emotional states.

The rationale behind the interest in testing the idea

This idea seemed interesting to test because problematic alcohol consumption that is both a cause and a consequence of impaired control are often driven not just by the addictive properties of alcohol as a drug, but external factors as well. The original study by Vaughan et al. (2019) established that there is a relation between impaired control leading to impulsivity and alcohol intake in non-dependent drinkers. This study aims to identify factors that may lead to impaired control from a psycho-emotional perspective. Alcohol use disorder is defined as problematic patterns of alcohol consumption associated with impulsivity, impaired control over intake, and negative emotional state when not using. Therefore, emotional states of the individual may play a role in the cyclical nature of this disorder.

Hypothesis

H1: Nondependent drinkers demonstrating impaired control while consuming alcohol are experiencing negative emotional states including but not limited to depression, anxiety, grief, or anger.

H2: Nondependent drinkers experience fewer instances of impaired control when in a positive emotional state including but not limited to happiness, excitement, or calmness.

Overall, the study expects to demonstrate that negative emotional states lead to greater instances of impaired control, while positive emotional states tend to reduce impaired control. Therefore, problematic drinking behavior can be dependent on mood and regulated, potentially limiting impaired control if being aware of ones emotional state or doing something to improve it without relying on alcohol.

The key variables in the study

Variables

Nothing is being manipulated, longitudinal study. Variables that will be measured include mood of the participant, alcohol consumption patterns, and subjective reflection by participant. The mood/emotional state of the participant is the independent variable, while alcohol consumption is the dependent variable in this study.

Operational definitions

Mood of participant will be measured on a simple scale from -10 (most negative) to +10 (most positive) that is self-reported every time the individual chooses to consume alcohol. Alcohol consumption will be measured by number of drinks consumed and approximate time spent drinking to identify impaired control, also self-reported. The NIAAA defines heavy drinking for males as consuming more than 4 drinks per day or more than 14 per week, while binge drinking is 5 or more drinks in the span of 2 hours. The participants will be asked to leave a short reflection with subjective descriptions on emotions they felt prior and during the drinking process and whether their emotional state contributed to their alcohol consumption.

Sample Characteristics

The study would like to focus on young adults and middle-aged adults, aged 24 to 45. This population is most likely to be affected by problematic drinking behavior and experience life-affecting conditions. Populations younger are still likely to be affected by college drinking where alcohol is part of the social culture, while adults older are typically more mature and settled down in life. The selected age range is most likely to be affected by the so-called mid-life crisis and other major key life changes in human development. The study would like to focus on men primarily, as evidence demonstrates that there are empirical differences in the patterns that women consume alcohol as well as other influencing factors. The selected sample must be nondependent drinkers but those who experience issues with problematic alcohol consumption.

The type of methodology of the study

The research design

The study will follow a cohort longitudinal design, with self-reported survey data collection. It will be a special exposure cohort, closed study, with no comparison group. Using multinomial logistic regression, many data points of several people and time, certain patterns should emerge allowing to determine the strength of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

The rationale behind the choice of the research design

This research design was selected because it offers a more realistic, real-world insight into the observed behavior. Both, emotional states and emotional alcohol consumption in relation to impaired control are extremely difficult to recreate in a research setting. Emotions are felt by individuals in the moment based on their existing contexts and interactions. The longitudinal design helps to provide more data points and draw patterns in such a complex topic, as emotional drinking can be both, a one-time occurrence or a constant behavior. That is, a person may demonstrate impaired control over multiple drinking sessions, but only one of them is because they are depressed, while the rest are just due to addiction. The collection of data over time will demonstrate any such tendencies or variations in the relationship between variables.

Study procedure and methodology

Over a period of 6 months, participants will be asked to fill out a survey with the variables described above, after they have completed a drinking session. Participants will be neither encouraged to drink at any point or have to meet any minimal requirements in alcohol consumption. The study is meant to be observational with minimal disruption to daily patterns of participants. The survey will be quick to fill out after any drinking session, with participants encouraged to be fully honest without any diagnosis being made based on their results. It is assumed sufficient amount of data will be gathered. Through the surveys, the research team can determine an association between mood/attitude and alcohol consumption behavior, whether certain emotions lead to levels associated with impaired control. This experimental design is ethical and voluntary, it is not encouraging detrimental behavior but simply collecting data based on events and behaviors that have happened to individuals. No harm will be caused to anyone or anything as a consequence of this experiment.

Reference

Vaughan, C. L., Stangl, B. L., Schwandt, M. L., Corey, K. M., Hendershot, C. S., & Ramchandani, V. A. (2019). The relationship between impaired control, impulsivity, and alcohol self-administration in nondependent drinkers. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 27(3), 236246. Web.

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