(PS1-11) Depression and Anxiety in Relation to Human Laboratory Alcohol Self-administration and a Model of Negative Consequences in Young Adults Who Drink Heavily

Depression and anxiety rates among young adults are higher than other age groups. Many studies have explored comorbidities between depression and anxiety and alcohol use disorder (AUD), noting a relationship between difficulty regulating negative emotions and AUD risk. However, difficulty regulating negative affect typically has stronger associations with alcohol-related negative consequences than with amount of alcohol consumed. In this secondary analysis, we utilized human laboratory alcohol self-administration data for a novel investigation of relationships between self-reported depression and anxiety and both alcohol consumption and a model of alcohol-related negative consequences.
Data were collected across three studies using the same alcohol self-administration paradigm recruiting young adults =188, 54% male, M_age=22.7, 72% White, non-Hispanic) who engaged in frequent heavy drinking (M=21.38 drinks/week. SD= 11.4). The paradigm assessed alcohol self-administration and negative alcohol-related consequences, operationalized as decline in performance on four cognitive/psychomotor tasks from baseline to post alcohol self-administration. Participants incurred a probabilistic pay reduction for performance decline post-drinking compared to baseline. Self-reports of depression and anxiety were also collected at baseline using the full 42-item Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-42).
Separate multiple regression models were tested with depression and anxiety as predictors of alcohol self-administration as well as post-drinking performance on each cognitive/psychomotor task: Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Grooved Pegboard, Time Production, and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test. Sex, self-reported drinks per week and task performance at baseline were held constant in these models. We hypothesized null relationships between depression and anxiety and alcohol self-administration but significant relationships between depression and anxiety and post-drinking performance.
As predicted, participant reports of depression and anxiety did not significantly predict alcohol self-administration. There was a significant relationship between anxiety and performance on the Grooved Pegboard post-alcohol administration >3.35, SE B=1.59, β=.13, p=.036). A non-significant trend was noted between anxiety and post-administration Time Production performance, square root transformed to reduce skew (B=0.41, SE B=0.23, β=.13, p=.078). There were no further significant relationships between anxiety or depression and task performance.
These results support past literature reporting a limited relationship between self-reports of depression and anxiety and amount of alcohol consumption in young adults. Partial support was found relating anxiety and our operationalization of alcohol-related negative consequences. Future studies should incorporate other measuremodels of negative consequences. A laboratory alcohol paradigm that reliably and validly models relationships between depression and/or anxiety andwith negative alcohol-related consequences would be valuable for testing novel interventions to improve these relationships.