STRESS-RELATED PROBLEM DRINKING AND ALCOHOL-PROBLEMS - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY AND EXTENSION OF MARLATT MODEL

Single-variable tension-reduction models fail to account for much of the variance in alcohol or other drug use in relation to stress. Marlatt's multivariate model of stress-related substance abuse postulates that stress-related problem drinking is a function of 1. the intensity of perceived stress, 2. degree of perceived personal control, 3. availability of adequate coping responses to the perceived stress, 4. availability of the substance, and 5. the person's expectancies about the effects of the substance as a coping strategy. This model was tested within a longitudinal design, following university students during the transitional year of their graduation from university. Greater consumption of alcohol (Q-F) and a greater frequency of intoxication, as well as changes toward higher scores on these measures were related to and predicted by higher levels of perceived stress and stressful life events, greater external locus of control, social supports and life satisfaction, more opportunities for heavy drinking in a supportive social context and attributing greater importance to coping functions of drinking. Higher levels of alcohol-related problems amongst drinkers, after accounting for the effect of consumption levels on problems, were related to these variables as well, and particularly to depression and social supports. The findings are interpreted as supporting the model, and extending it to explain both stress-related drinking behaviour and vulnerability to alcohol-related problems.