Drinking to cope as a mediator of the relationship between stress and alcohol outcomes

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant demographics and mean AUDIT, DASS-Stress, and drinking to cope scores at the initial (T1), second (T2), third (T3), and fourth (T4) time points of the study.

Time point	Demographic	n	%	Age		AUDIT		DASS-stress		Drinking to cope
				M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
T1	Total	589	100	51.3	10.9	15.5	6.8	13.1	4.0	2.3	1.0
	Male	190	32.3	54.0	9.5	15.8	7.0	12.8	3.9	2.3	1.0
	Female	399	67.7	50.0	11.3	15.3	6.7	13.3	4.1	2.3	1.0
	No tertiary qualification	207	35.1	53.1	9.2	16.3	6.9	13.1	4.2	2.5	1.1
	Tertiary qualification	382	64.9	50.3	11.6	15.0	6.8	13.1	3.9	2.2	1.0
T2	Total	493	100	51.4	11.0	15.4	6.6	13.0	4.8	–	–
	Male	156	33.7	54.7	9.3	15.4	6.8	12.8	4.8	–	–
	Female	307	66.3	49.8	11.4	15.3	6.8	13.1	4.8	–	–
	No tertiary qualification	156	33.7	53.1	9.2	16.5	7.0	13.0	5.0	–	–
	Tertiary qualification	307	66.3	50.6	11.7	14.8	6.6	13.0	4.7	–	–
T3	Total	487	100	51.8	10.9	15.5	6.7	12.6	4.8	–	–
	Male	163	33.5	54.6	9.4	15.8	7.3	12.1	4.7	–	–
	Female	324	66.5	50.3	11.3	15.3	6.4	12.8	4.8	–	–
	No tertiary qualification	162	33.3	53.7	9.2	16.3	6.8	12.4	4.9	–	–
	Tertiary qualification	325	66.7	50.8	11.5	15.1	6.7	12.7	4.7	–	–
T4	Total	311	100	52.8	10.5	15.4	6.7	12.7	4.6	2.2	0.9
	Male	116	37.3	55.3	8.7	15.5	7.0	12.5	4.3	2.2	0.9
	Female	195	62.7	51.2	11.1	15.4	6.3	12.9	4.7	2.1	0.9
	No tertiary qualification	110	35.4	54.3	8.8	15.8	6.1	12.9	4.4	2.2	1.0
	Tertiary qualification	201	64.6	51.9	11.2	15.2	6.8	12.7	4.7	2.2	1.0

Drinking to cope was not measured at T2 or T3.

Figure 1. (A) Drinking to cope mediating the stress and alcohol outcomes (alcohol consumption, alcohol dependence alcohol harms) relationship; (B) drinking to cope mediating the stress and alcohol outcomes relationship, with moderation by gender or education.

Table 2. Standardised Indirect effect (R²) of stress (measured at T1) on AUDIT-C subscales (measured at T1, T2, T3, and T4) as mediated by DMQ-a drinking to cope (measured at T1).

Alcohol Outcome	Time Point	n	R^2	LCI	UCI
AUDIT-C	T1	589	0.24*	0.18	0.30
	T2	493	0.17*	0.11	0.23
	T3	487	0.21*	0.15	0.28
	T4	311	0.11*	0.05	0.18
AUDIT-Dependence	T1	589	0.02	−0.02	0.06
	T2	493	0.01	−0.03	0.05
	T3	487	0.05	0.00	0.11
	T4	311	−0.02	−0.07	0.03
AUDIT-Harms	T1	589	0.02	−0.02	0.06
	T2	493	0.03	−0.01	0.08
	T3	487	0.00	−0.05	0.05
	T4	311	−0.03	−0.08	0.01

Table 3. Standardised Indirect effect (R²) of stress (measured at T1) on alcohol outcome (measured T4) as mediated by DMQ-a drinking to cope (measured at T4).

Alcohol outcome	n	R^2	LCI	UCI
AUDIT-C	311	0.15*	0.09	0.22
AUDIT-dependence	311	−0.01	−0.05	0.03
AUDIT-harms	311	−0.01	−0.05	0.03

Table 4. Index of moderated mediation for the relationship between stress and AUDIT-C (measured at T1, T2, T3, T4) as mediated by DMQ-a drinking to cope and moderated by gender and education.

Alcohol Outcome	Moderator	Time Point	n	Index	LCI	UCI
	Gender	T1	589	0.09	−0.03	0.21
	Gender	T2	493	0.05	−0.07	0.19
	Gender	T3	487	0.07	−0.06	0.19
AUDIT-C	Gender	T4	311	0.09	−0.05	0.23
	Education	T1	589	0.12	0.00	0.23
	Education	T2	493	0.09	−0.03	0.19
	Education	T3	487	−0.03	−0.17	0.11
	Education	T4	311	0.06	−0.07	0.18

Positive index values indicate greater indirect effects for males for those with a tertiary qualifications.

SE: Standard Error (SE); LCI: Lower Confidence Interval; UCI: Upper Confidence Interval.

*Significant relationships for confidence intervals between LCI and UCI not including zero.

Table 5. Index of moderated mediation for gender (male or female) and education (tertiary qualification and no tertiary qualification) on the relationship between stress (measured at T1) and AUDIT-C (measured at T4) as mediated by DMQ-a drinking to cope (measured at T4).

Alcohol outcome	Moderator	n	R^2	LCI	UCI
AUDIT-C	Gender	311	0.18*	0.04	0.31
	Education	311	0.08	−0.06	0.20

Positive index values indicate greater indirect effects for males for those with a tertiary qualifications.