Publication Date

5-2023

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Jenni Teeters, Andrew Mienaltowski, Amy Brausch

Degree Program

Department of Psychological Sciences

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

Alcohol use among emerging adults is a public health concern as it has been associated with negative consequences, such as accidental injury (Hingson et al., 2009). Given the negative consequences experienced for emerging adults, there is a need to identify factors contributing to alcohol use to determine ways to reduce these consequences. Poor sleep has been associated with higher alcohol-related consequences (Miller et al., 2016), and alcohol use has been associated with poor sleep (Goodhines, Gellis, Kim, et al., 2019), however there may be other factors contributing to this relationship, such as alcohol craving and depression. Higher alcohol craving has been associated with poor sleep (Chakravorty et al., 2010). Moreover, depression was linked to poor sleep and drinking to alleviate negative mood states (Barahona-Correa et al., 2018). However, there is little research examining how depression and alcohol craving influence poor sleep quality and alcohol use among emerging adults.

The primary objective of this study was to determine how poor sleep quality, depression, and alcohol craving contribute to alcohol use. The specific aims of the study were to 1) elucidate the relationship between poor sleep quality, alcohol use, depression, and alcohol craving within emerging adults, 2) explore if depression moderates the relationship between poor sleep quality and alcohol use, 3) examine whether craving mediates the relationship of poor sleep quality and alcohol use, and 4) determine if this connection is stronger for those with depression. Participants were 373 emerging adults (56.6% White; 54.2% Male) from the United States with an average age of 24.63. Results indicated there were no associations between poor sleep quality and alcohol use or depression and alcohol use, but there were significant associations between poor sleep quality, depression, and alcohol craving. Depression did not moderate the relationship between

poor sleep quality and alcohol use. Alcohol craving mediated the relationship between poor sleep quality and alcohol use. Last, depression did not moderate the indirect association of poor sleep quality and alcohol use through alcohol craving. Future research should examine if targeting poor sleep quality and alcohol craving in an intervention would reduce alcohol use and consequences.

Disciplines

Clinical Psychology | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

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