Drinking Archives

The Authors’ Own Words:

We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Effects of Drinker Self-Schema on Drinking- and Smoking-Related Information Processing and Behaviors

Chia-Kuie Lee, PhD; Karen F. Stein, PhD; & Colleen Corte, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 39, Iss. 1, 2018

“Given that many college students smoke when they drink alcohol, the authors tested the hypothesis that a stable belief about oneself as a drinker, called a drinker self-schema, may be a vulnerability for tobacco use in addition to being a known vulnerability for alcohol use. In college students who were “phantom smokers” ― individuals who smoke only when they drink and do not identify as smokers ― they found that strong identification as a drinker was associated not only with high levels of drinking as expected, but also, favorable ratings of the known characteristics of smokers and high-levels of co-occurring alcohol and tobacco use. Though further research is needed to replicate these findings, alcohol-use prevention and interventions that also address non-conscious associations with smoking and include strategies for resisting experimentation with smoking may be effective to prevent an enduring pattern of alcohol and tobacco use. The findings also suggest that clinicians should conduct behavioral assessments of tobacco use regardless of whether college students identify as smokers.”