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
. 2022 Jul 13:16:100448.
doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2022.100448. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Does loneliness before the age of twelve indirectly affect impaired control over drinking, alcohol use, and problems through perceived stress?

S Berberian  1 , J A Patock-Peckham  1 , K Guarino  1 , T Gupta  1 , F Sanabria  1 , F Infurna  1
Affiliations

Does loneliness before the age of twelve indirectly affect impaired control over drinking, alcohol use, and problems through perceived stress?

S Berberian et al. Addict Behav Rep. .

Abstract

Loneliness is the pain of feeling socially isolated from others (Russell et al., 1980). The Stress-Dampening Hypothesis (Marlatt, 1987; Sayette, 1993; Sher, 1987) posits that individuals drink to alleviate negative affect. To date, it has not been determined whether loneliness experienced as a child can indirectly influence at-risk patterns of alcohol use through the mediating mechanism of stress and impaired control. Impaired control over alcohol use (IC) is the difficulty adhering to one's own self-proscribed limits on drinking behaviors (Heather et al., 1993). Impaired control is an at-risk pattern of use that is particularly relevant to emerging adults. Methods: We examined the direct and indirect relationships between childhood loneliness, stress, IC, and alcohol-related problems with a structural equation model. In a college student sample, we utilized a (k = 20,000) bootstrap technique and a model indirect command in Mplus to examine potential mediational pathways. Cisgender sex was included as a covariate. Results: Loneliness was directly linked to stress as well as to alcohol-related problems. Higher levels of loneliness were indirectly linked to both more alcohol use and alcohol-related problems through more stress and in turn, more impaired control over drinking. Conclusions: The current study is consistent with the Stress Dampening Hypothesis (Marlatt, 1987; Sayette, 1993; Sher, 1987). Our findings suggest that therapeutic interventions combating loneliness in childhood may disrupt the stress-dampening pathway to dysregulated alcohol use in emerging adulthood.

Keywords: Alcohol use; Impaired control over alcohol; Lonely; Stress; Stress dampening.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. However, Dr. William Corbin should not be asked to review this manuscript because he has served as a mentor to the second author on her K01 grant.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conceptual model for all examined paths among the variables in the model.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Fit path model for 310 participants. Standardized coefficients are shown for all participants and Z scores are in the model; * p <.05; ** p <.01; *** p <.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Asher, S. R., & Paquette, J. A. (2003). Loneliness and peer relations in childhood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 75−78. 8721.01233.
    1. Ayer L.A., Harder V.S., Rose G.L., Helzer J.E. Drinking and stress: An examination of sex and stressor differences using IVR-based daily data. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2011;115(3):205–212. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2010.10.022. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baumeister R.F., DeWall C.N., Ciarocco N.J., Twenge J.M. Social exclusion impairs self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2005;88(4):589. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.88.4.589. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Baumeister R.F., Leary M.R. The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin. 1995;117(3):497. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bentler P.M. Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin. 1990;107(2):238–246. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.238. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources