Group Drinking During Stress: Effects on Drinking Behavior, Affect, and Psychopathology

Three chronic alcoholics took part in a 32-day study in which relationships between experimentally imposed stress and alcohol consumption, mood, and psychopathology were explored. Subjects drank most when stress and socialization periods coincided; they drank least when stress and periods of isolation occurred together. Stress produced significant increases in tension, depression, and anger, while alcohol independently increased prevailing levels of depression and anxiety. The relevance of these findings to questions of etiology and treatment is discussed.