Citation

Sayette MA. Alcohol Res. Health 1999; 23(4): 250-255.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10890821

Abstract

For centuries, people have used alcohol to relieve stress--that is, the interpretation of an event as signaling harm, loss, or threat. The organism usually responds to stress with a variety of behavioral, biological, and cognitive changes. Alcohol consumption can result in a stress-response dampening (SRD) effect, which can be assessed using various measures. Numerous individual differences and situational factors help determine the extent to which a person experiences SRD after consuming alcohol. Individual differences include a family history of alcoholism, personality traits, extent of self-consciousness, cognitive functioning, and gender. Situational factors influencing alcohol's SRD effect include distractions during a stressful situation and the timing of drinking and stress. The attention-allocation model and the appraisal disruption model have been advanced to explain the influence of those situational factors.

Language: en