Citation

Joyce KM, Hudson A, O'Connor RM, Thompson K, Hodgin M, Perrot T, Stewart SH. Depress. Anxiety 2018; 35(4): 313-320.

Affiliation

Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/da.22699

PMID

29244908

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use has been reported to fluctuate over women's menstrual cycles (MCs), with increased intake occurring premenstrually/menstrually (phases characterized by heightened negative affect) and during the ovulatory phase (a phase characterized by positive affect). This suggests women may drink for particular emotion-focused reasons at specific points in their cycles. However, no research had yet examined MC variability in drinking motives, or links between cycle-related changes in drinking motives and alcohol consumption.

METHODS: Ninety-four normally cycling women (Mage  = 22.9 years old, SDage  = 4.7) completed daily diary measures (via Smartphone surveys), with questions pertaining to state drinking motives and quantity of alcohol consumed for the course of a full MC.

RESULTS: Drinking motives differed by cycle phase. Women reported a slight increase in drinking to self-medicate for negative affect premenstrually, with drinking to cope peaking in the menstrual phase and declining mid-cycle. Women reported a slight increasing trend across the cycle in social motives for drinking, while enhancement motives remained relatively stable across the cycle. Cycle-related changes in drinking motives predicted increases in the quantity of alcohol consumed. Drinking to cope with negative affect predicted a greater number of drinks menstrually (days 1-5). While social motives predicted a greater number of drinks during the follicular and ovulatory phases (days 5-16), enhancement motives were unrelated to drinking quantity across cycle phase.

CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should be attentive to cycle phase when treating reproductive-aged women with alcohol disorders (e.g., encouraging the use of healthier means of coping with negative affect during menses).

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

alcoholism/alcohol use disorders; anxiety; coping; depression; gender; mood disorders