Project I

1. The relationship between perceived
stress, craving, and exposure on alcohol
consumption
Hannah Pickard
Dunya Latif-Aramesh
Shanky Kumar
Jennifer O'Connell
Sasha Nagra

2. Background
Craving and alcohol consumption:
 Self-reported levels of craving are among individuals who
had consumed greater levels of alcohol (Schoenmakers &
Wiers, 2009).
Stress and alcohol consumption:
 Keyes and colleagues (2011) found that stress
contributes to higher alcohol consumption and
has been suggested to lead to a development
of alcohol use disorders.
 However, a longitudinal study found no long-term effects of
stressful life events on levels of alcohol consumption (Skaff et
al. 1999).
 Inconsistencies possible mediators interacting with
stress on alcohol consumption.

3. Background 2
Craving, alcohol and stress:
 In combination exposure to alcohol and stress leads
to craving among alcohol dependent individuals.
Exposure and alcohol:
 Alcohol related problems present within family setting is
directly related to excessive levels of drinking among
adolescents (Mares et al., 2011).
 New items were created to investigate the effect of
negative exposure, as this had been widely neglected
throughout the alcohol literature.

4. Rationale
 UK population’s alcohol consumption is increasing
diminishment in ill-health and an increase in healthcare
costs
 Therefore, it is important to look at underlying
mediators to prevent further amelioration.
 Will self-report levels of alcohol craving and
consumption in a non clinical population reveal similar
findings present in clinical populations.

5. Hypothesis
1.Higher self-reported levels of perceived stress and
craving will be independently related to greater levels of
alcohol consumption.
2. There will be a interaction effect between craving and
perceived stress on alcohol consumption
3.Greater exposure to negative family and peer
experiences will be related to high levels of alcohol
consumption.

6. Method
Participants

Convenience sample of 117 participants, above 18
years of age -recruited online (29 excluded; 21 males;
67 females)

Inclusion Criteria:

native speakers of English;

lived in the UK for at least 3 years; and

no diagnosis of any psychiatric disorders
Design

2 X 2 X 2 Factorial

IV: Perceived Stress, Craving, Exposure

DV: Alcohol Consumption

7. MEASURES
 Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck and
Mermelstein, 1983): 10 item measure; range 1 (never)
to 5 (very often)
 Adapted Alcohol Urge Questionnaire (Bohn et al.,
1995) : 8 item measure; range 1 (Strongly disagree) to
5 (Strongly agree)
 Alcohol Measure Questionnaire (AUDIT; Saunders
et all 1993) : 3 items; Score of 5 indicates higher risk
drinking
 Exposure Questionnaire : 5 item measure; Yes or
No responses
Procedure
 Consent form, demographic details
 Four questionnaires (random order),debrief form

8. Results
Gender Differences:
There was a significant difference between gender
on alcohol consumption levels
Normality tests:
Normality was violated for craving and exposure
and data for these scales were transformed using
square-root transformation.

9. Low
Consumption
High
Consumption
Low
Exposure
High
Exposure
Low
Craving
High
Craving
Low
Stress
High
Stress
N 50 38 47 41 47 41 46 42
Mean 6.84 10.24 6.34 8.63 14.60 19.83 22.59 33.14
SD 1.36 1.13 0.73 0.70 1.57 2.98 3.61 4.30
Mean Total Scores

Our sample had a high mean consumption level overall
compared to standard guidelines.

Consumption= 8.31; Perceived Stress= 27.63; Exposure=
4.41; Craving= 17.03

10. Spearman's Correlations
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. Low
Consumption
- - .223 -.182 -.072 -.190 -.126 -.102
2.High
Consumption
- .203 .209 -.034 -.007 -.349 -.375
3.Low
Exposure
- - -.157 -.203 -.216 -.448*
4.High
Exposure
- -.476* -.113 .259 -.125
5.Low
Craving
- - -.189 .303
6.High
Craving
- -0.31 -.252
7.Low Stress - -
8.High Stress -

11. 
So, nothing was significant - this
made our brain sad :’(
There was no significant differences
between any of our IVs.
BUT some approached significance!!
Low consumption group:
 Craving and exposure (p=0.068).
 Exposure and perceived stress (p=0.061).
 A three-way interaction between craving,
exposure, and perceived stress (p=0.061)
ANOVAS

12. Interpretation of Results
•Less negative exposure to alcohol > less likely to
have high levels of stress*
•More negative exposure to alcohol > less likely to
have low levels of alcohol craving*
•Some interaction p values approaching significance
when alpha set to < .05 in low consumption group*
•Accept null hypotheses: No relationship between
stress, craving and negative exposure in
consumption of alcohol in non-clinical sample?

13. Methodological Issues
• Adjusted scales – low internal consistency
• Retrospective self report measures
• Lack of experimental control over alcohol
consumption during/before participation
• High levels of stress and alcohol consumption in
mostly student sample

14. Implications & Future Research
• High levels of stress and alcohol consumption in
sample highlight need for interventions to reduce
these
• Findings of complicated relationships between
variables in non-clinical sample
• Add to already mixed bag of results in literature
• Highlight need for further research with more
experimental control...
• Look at effects of experimentally induced exposure
and stress on craving and intentions to consume
alcohol, using intentions as a predictor of
behaviour?

15. References
Bohn, M. J., Krahn, D. D., & Staehler, B. B. (1995). Development and initial validation of a
measure of drinking urges in abstinent alcoholics. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental
Research, 19(3), 600–606.
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385-396.
Keyes, K. M., Hatzenbuehler, M. L., & Hasin, D. S. (2011). Stressful life experiences, alcohol
consumption, and alcohol use disorders: the epidemiologic evidence for four main types
of stressors. Psychopharmacology, 218(1), 1-17.
Mares, S. H., van der Vorst, H., Engels, R. C., & Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A. (2011). Parental alcohol
use, alcohol-related problems, and alcohol-specific attitudes, alcohol-specific
communication, and adolescent excessive alcohol use and alcohol-related problems: An
indirect path model. Addictive Behaviors, 36(3), 209-216.
Saunders, J. B., Aasland, O. G., Babor, T. F., & Grant, M. (1993). Development of the alcohol
use disorders identification test (AUDIT): WHO collaborative project on early detection of
persons with harmful alcohol consumption-II. Addiction, 88(6), 791-804.
Schoenmakers, T. M., & Wiers, R. W. (2009). Craving and attentional bias respond differently
to alcohol priming: a field study in the pub. European Addiction Research, 16(1), 9-16.