Testing the solitary drinking component of the social-contextual framework for AUD risk among young adults using Directed Acyclic Graphs

Objective: Solitary drinking is a low base rate behavior present in some young adults that could be an indicator for the development of later alcohol use problems. The present work will use a combination of observational data, Directed Acyclic Graphs, and latent variable models to test a between-person causal model of the role of solitary drinking in the etiology of alcohol use disorder risk in young adults. Method: Participants were young adults at baseline (n = 496, aged 18–22, Mage = 20.3, SD = 1.3) recruited from the Pacific Northwest who reported drinking or using cannabis “about once per week” or more over the past three months. Participants completed a baseline assessment and about 32 days of ecological momentary assessments, answering questions about negative emotionality, social withdrawal, urgency, and their alcohol use. Results: will be added at Stage 2. Conclusions: will be added at Stage 2.