Potions for emotions An investigation of the psychological processes underlying alcohol consumption in response to positive and negative emotion

The respective tendencies to drink alcohol in response to positive emotion (positive emotional drinking) and negative emotion (negative emotional drinking) are both associated with alcohol problems. The present research aimed to: (1) determine whether individual differences in self-reported positive and negative emotional drinking respectively predict individual differences in observed positive and negative emotional drinking; and (2) test the validity of four candidate accounts of the psychological processes underlying individual differences in positive and negative emotional drinking. These aims were addressed across a series of four studies which have implications for future research into, and the treatment of, alcohol problems.