Emotion Differentiation as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Affect and Alcohol Use Among College Students: An Ecological Momentary Assessment
Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Alcohol use remains prevalent among young adults and particularly college students. Research shows a link between affective states and alcohol consumption, although recent findings appear to be unequivocal on the effect of negative and positive emotions on college drinking. While emotion differentiation (ED) has been associated with alcohol use, previous research has focused mostly on clinical treatment adult populations and / or negative emotions, focusing less on the role that positive emotions play in drinking, particularly among college students. The current study explored the moderating role of negative and positive emotion differentiation (NED / PED) in the association between negative and positive affect (NA / PA) and college drinking using an ecological momentary assessment framework. A total of 63 college students (57.14% female) were recruited via various recruitment methods (i.e., flyers, social media advertisements) and completed a virtual baseline appointment, a 14-day EMA period (two prompts per day), and a virtual follow-up appointment. Results revealed no significant moderating effect of NED and PED on the relationship between NA or PA with drinking behavior. Overall PA was inversely associated with drinking likelihood and daily PA significantly predicted drinking quantity. Overall NA significantly predicted drinking likelihood. These findings underscore the importance of disaggregating within- and between- persons effects of affect on drinking behavior and shed the light on alternative potential prominent factors in college drinking.
Author: El Helou, Gaelle
Institution: University of South Florida
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7221495653