TY - JOUR TI - Alcohol related problems as a mediator of the association between alcohol use and subsequent psychosocial functioning DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-3fje-j993 PY - 2021 AB - Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is characterized by both physical (e.g., withdrawal symptoms) and psychosocial (e.g., alcohol use interfering with major obligations at school, work, or home) characteristics. Furthermore, it has been shown that alcohol use and alcohol related problems tend to be reciprocal, at least amongst individuals suffering AUD. More in-depth understanding of the associations among alcohol use, alcohol problems, and subsequent psychosocial functioning has important clinical as well as theoretical implications regarding post AUD intervention/treatment clinical course and intervention/treatment delivery. Given this background, secondary data analyses were conducted, using data from the outpatient arm of Project MATCH (N=952), to examine post AUD treatment initiation associations among alcohol use, alcohol related problems, and subsequent psychosocial functioning; mediation and moderated-mediation analyses were conducted to explore these relationships. In addition, analyses were conducted to examine the associations between post AUD treatment initiation drinking behavior stability and psychosocial functioning. Study results showed that greater alcohol use post AUD treatment initiation was associated with a greater occurrence of alcohol problems, and that a greater occurrence of alcohol problems, in turn, was associated with poorer psychosocial functioning (i.e., alcohol related problems mediated the association between alcohol use and subsequent psychosocial functioning). In addition, drinker stability analyses revealed substantial stability throughout the follow-up period, while simultaneously reflecting considerable instability. With respect to drinker stability, individuals classified within abstainer or moderate drinker groups reported better psychosocial functioning than individuals classified within the heavy drinker group. Study results indicate that alcohol related problems are important determinants of psychosocial functioning and that the avoidance of frequent heavy drinking is associated with better psychosocial functioning. KW - Psychosocial functioning KW - Alcoholism -- Psychological aspects KW - Public Health LA - English ER -