A Declaration of Independence: Implicit Alcohol Associations Have Independent, not Interactive, Relationships with Alcohol Consumption and AUD Risk

We investigated the independent and interactive effects of three implicit associations on alcohol consumption and risk of AUD in two US undergraduate student samples. We found that implicit associations had independent but not interactive effects on concurrent and subsequent alcohol consumption and risk of AUD in two independent samples. Abstract Aims The current study aimed to test for potential interactive effects of three implicit alcohol-related associations (drinking identity, alcohol approach and alcohol excitement) in predicting concurrent and prospective alcohol consumption and risk of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in two samples of the US undergraduate drinkers and non-drinkers. Short summary We investigated the independent and interactive effects of three implicit associations on alcohol consumption and risk of AUD in two US undergraduate student samples. We found that implicit associations had independent but not interactive effects on concurrent and subsequent alcohol consumption and risk of AUD in two independent samples. Methods Implicit drinking identity, alcohol approach and alcohol excitement associations were assessed in two US undergraduate student samples (Sample 1: N = 300, 55% female; Sample 2: N = 506, 57% female). Alcohol consumption and risk of AUD were assessed at baseline (Samples 1 and 2) and 3 months later (Sample 2). We fit zero-inflated negative binomial models to test for independent and interactive effects of the three implicit associations on alcohol consumption and risk of AUD. Results Although we found multiple, unique main effects for alcohol associations, we found minimal evidence of interactions between implicit alcohol-related associations. There was no reliable evidence of interactions in models in predicting alcohol consumption or risk of AUD, concurrently or prospectively, in either sample. Conclusions Contrary to expectations, results from both studies indicated that implicit alcohol-related associations in the US undergraduate samples generally have independent, not interactive, relationships with alcohol consumption and risk of AUD.