Does Drinking Reduce Stress?

Alcohol's Effects on Stress Responding
by National Institute of Health

(Page 2 of 4)

By the 1980s researchers had conducted numerous studies to determine whether drinking reduced stress. To the surprise of many investigators, the relationship between alcohol and stress was inconsistent. Alcohol consumption reduced stress in some studies, did not affect stress responses in other analyses, and exacerbated stress in still other investigations. These contradictory findings led some researchers to conclude that the tension-reduction hypothesis had not been confirmed. Other scientists argued, however, that despite some discrepancies, the study results generally supported the tension-reduction model. Perhaps the most common conclusion was that alcohol's effects on stress were complex and that further research was needed to specify the conditions under which drinking would most likely reduce stress.

In recent years many studies have been conducted to clarify the relationship between drinking and stress reduction. Two general areas of inquiry emphasized in those analyses assess the personal or individual differences and the situational factors that mediate alcohol's SRD effects. Research on individual differences seeks to identify those people in whom alcohol is most likely to reduce stress. Research on situational factors attempts to determine the circumstances under which alcohol consumption is most effective in reducing stress. The following sections review various individual and situational variables and the roles that they may play in alcohol's SRD effects.

Individual Differences

Researchers have suggested that several personal characteristics may influence the extent to which a person is sensitive to alcohol's SRD effects. These characteristics include a family history of alcoholism, personality traits, extent of self-consciousness, level of cognitive functioning, and gender.

Family History of Alcoholism. Children of alcoholics are at heightened risk of becoming problem drinkers compared with children of nonalcoholics. Scientists are investigating the mechanisms underlying this increased risk. One line of research in this field has examined whether alcohol consumption may produce an enhanced SRD effect and, consequently, provide greater reinforcement in people at increased risk for alcoholism. These studies have compared the SRD responses of participants with a family history of alcoholism (family-history positive individuals) to the SRD responses of participants without such a family history.

To date, the findings of those investigations have been equivocal. In the first large study conducted in this area, the investigators found that compared with the FHN participants, the FHP participants exhibited increased SRD responses to alcohol on two of five psychophysiological measures tested. Conversely, in a subsequent study, a family history of alcoholism did not influence the SRD effect of alcohol.

Still other studies have suggested that only participants with a multigenerational family history of alcoholism demonstrate an enhanced SRD response to alcohol. This observation indicates that the effects of paternal alcoholism on the SRD response of the offspring can best be assessed in subjects with an extensive family history of alcoholism affecting several generations (father and paternal grandfather).

Several reasons may contribute to the discrepant findings and the difficulties in determining the exact relationship between SRD and family history of alcoholism. Differences in that relationship between FHP and FHN participants may appear smaller than they actually are, because the participants' classification as either FHP or FHN typically is based solely on self-reports. Although studies demonstrate that such self-reports are generally accurate, an improved assessment of parental alcoholism (through corroboration by a parent) might strengthen the association between a family history of alcoholism and the relationship between alcohol and stress.

A second confounding factor is that alcohol administration studies only include participants who are of drinking age (at least 21 years old) and who have not yet developed a drinking problem. Accordingly, many of the FHP individuals at greatest risk for developing alcoholism may be ineligible for study participation because they have already developed a pathological drinking pattern before age 21. Such a selection bias may underestimate the effect of a family history of alcoholism on the impact of alcohol's SRD effect.

Although some evidence suggests, as discussed in this section, that a family history of alcoholism influences a person's SRD response to alcohol, many questions remain. For example, researchers are just beginning to identify mechanisms that may underlie the potential relationship between family history and SRD response. In one line of research, investigators are analyzing whether alcohol's SRD effects may be more pronounced in FHP subjects when blood alcohol concentrations are rising (on the rising limb of the BAC A second confounding factor is that alcohol administration studies only include participants who are of drinking age (at least 21 years old) and who have not yet developed a drinking problem. Accordingly, many of the FHP individuals at greatest risk for developing alcoholism may be ineligible for study participation because they have already developed a pathological drinking pattern before age 21. Such a selection bias may underestimate the effect of a family history of alcoholism on the impact of alcohol's SRD effect. Although some evidence suggests, as discussed in this section, that a family history of alcoholism influences a person's SRD response to alcohol, many questions remain. For example, researchers are just beginning to identify mechanisms that may underlie the potential relationship between family history and SRD response. In one line of research, investigators are analyzing whether alcohol's SRD effects may be more pronounced in FHP subjects when blood alcohol concentrations are rising (on the rising limb of the BAC may exhibit stronger physiological reactions to a variety of stimuli than do their FHN counterparts. For example, Finn and colleagues have hypothesized that children of alcoholics exhibit greater responses to various types of events, regardless of whether those events are stressful (exposure to an aversive electric shock) or not (exposure to nonaversive tones, such as a tone with a frequency of 1 kHz and a volume of 70 decibel). Furthermore, some studies have suggested that FHP drinkers are more physiologically reactive to alcohol consumption itself and that this reactivity may affect their subsequent response to a stressor.

About the Author

NIH is the nation's medical research agency - making important medical discoveries that improve health and save lives. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.