Date of Award
2026
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Behavioral Science
Specialization
Behavioral Science
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Amy Stamates
Abstract
A burgeoning literature suggests that alcohol use, rates of binge drinking, rates of alcohol use disorder, and experiences of alcohol-related consequences are increasing among women in comparison to men (Adams et al., 2022; Baraona et al., 1991; Peltier et al., 2019; White, 2020). As such, alcohol use among women is a growing public health concern, but historically, most existing research, including interventions, has focused on men (Agabio et al., 2017; Holzhauer et al., 2020; Maxwell et al., 2022; Verplaetse et al., 2021; White, 2020). Although there is a large literature on the role of negative emotion in alcohol use (Austin et al., 2020; Bresin & Fairbairn, 2019), the extent to which both positive and negative emotional states are associated with alcohol use and impacted by gender is mixed. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to determine how state emotion (via emotion induction) influences motivation to consume a beverage believed to contain alcohol (via self-reported craving and a placebo ad libitum taste rating task). There were two aims: (1) to assess how emotion influences motivation to consume a beverage believed to contain alcohol, and (2) to examine whether positive or negative emotion heighten the association between alcohol craving and the volume and speed of the drink consumed. Participants were 111 women at the University of Rhode Island between the ages of 21-35 years old (M= 21.91, SD = 1.86) who had at least one drink in the past month. Participants were exposed to either a positive, negative, or neutral emotion induction procedure and subsequently underwent a placebo ad libitum taste rating task. Findings suggest that in comparison to those in the neutral condition, participants in the positive and negative conditions drank for a longer duration and more in volume. Further, results indicated that alcohol craving fluctuated throughout the experiment overall, but those changes did not differ by condition. Lastly, results revealed that emotion did not moderate the relationship between alcohol craving and (1) speed and (2) volume. Since positive and negative emotion may motivate alcohol use among women, intervention and prevention efforts should incorporate this information into existing interventions. Additionally, the relationship between alcohol craving and drinking behavior may be independent of emotion or shaped by distinct psychological processes. Future research should consider using more momentary measures of emotion, such as physiological indicators, to better capture emotional changes and the role of emotion regulation in alcohol-related behaviors. Findings may clarify the role of state emotion in driving alcohol consumption behavior and may inform the tailoring of existing alcohol interventions for women.
Recommended Citation
Rothstein, Melissa C., "AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTION ON CRAVING AND ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AMONG WOMEN" (2026). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 4564.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/4564