Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May 2;14(5):384.
doi: 10.3390/bs14050384.

A Test of the Self-Medication Hypothesis Using a Latent Measurement Model: Are Stress and Impaired Control over Alcohol Mediating Mechanisms of Parenting Styles on Heavy Episodic Drinking and Alcohol-Related Problems among University Students?

Felix B Muniz  1 , Elena Kalina  2 , Julie A Patock-Peckham  1 , Sophia Berberian  1 , Brittney Fulop  1 , Jason Williams  3 , Robert F Leeman  4
Affiliations

A Test of the Self-Medication Hypothesis Using a Latent Measurement Model: Are Stress and Impaired Control over Alcohol Mediating Mechanisms of Parenting Styles on Heavy Episodic Drinking and Alcohol-Related Problems among University Students?

Felix B Muniz et al. Behav Sci (Basel). .

Abstract

Introduction: The self-medication hypothesis (SMH) suggests that individuals consume alcohol to alleviate stressful emotions. Still, the underlying mechanisms between stress and heavy episodic drinking remain to be explored. Impaired control over drinking (IC) reflects a failure of self-regulation specific to the drinking context, with individuals exceeding self-prescribed limits. Parenting styles experienced during childhood have a lasting influence on the stress response, which may contribute to IC.

Method: We examined the indirect influences of parenting styles (e.g., permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative) on heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related problems through the mediating mechanisms of stress and IC. We fit a latent measurement model with 938 (473 men; 465 women) university students, utilizing bootstrap confidence intervals, in Mplus 8.0.

Results: Higher levels of authoritative parenting (mother and father) were indirectly linked to fewer alcohol-related problems and less heavy episodic drinking through less stress and IC. Maternal permissiveness was indirectly linked to more alcohol-related problems and heavy episodic drinking through more stress and, in turn, more IC. Impaired control appeared to be a mediator for stress and alcohol-related problems.

Conclusions: Maternal permissiveness contributes to the use of alcohol to alleviate stress. Thus, reducing stress may reduce problematic heavy drinking and alcohol problems among emerging adults with high IC who may also have experienced permissive parenting. Stress may exacerbate behavioral dysregulation of drinking within self-prescribed limits.

Keywords: alcohol-related problems; heavy-episodic-drinking; impaired control over drinking; latent measurement model; parenting styles; stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual model. In our conceptual model we have included every path that we have tested among the different variables in the model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Fit model of all significant paths among the different variables in the model. ** p < .01, *** p < .001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Latent variable model for stress.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Latent variable model for impaired control over drinking (IC).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Cohen S., Kamarck T., Mermelstein R. A Global Measure of Perceived Stress. J. Health Soc. Behav. 1983;24:385–396. doi: 10.2307/2136404. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cole S.R. Assessment of Differential Item Functioning in the Perceived Stress Scale-10. J. Epidemiol. Community Health. 1999;53:319–320. doi: 10.1136/jech.53.5.319. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alm S., Låftman S.B., Sivertsson F., Bohman H. Poor Family Relationships in Adolescence as a Risk Factor of In-Patient Psychiatric Care across the Life Course: A Prospective Cohort Study. Scand. J. Public Health. 2020;48:726–732. doi: 10.1177/1403494820902914. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lazarus R.S., Folkman S. Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. Springer; New York, NY, USA: 1984.
    1. Maier S.U., Makwana A.B., Hare T.A. Acute Stress Impairs Self-Control in Goal-Directed Choice by Altering Multiple Functional Connections within the Brain’s Decision Circuits. Neuron. 2015;87:621–631. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.07.005. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources