Personality and Daily Alcohol Use Across University: Interactions with Academically Intense Events Predicting Alcohol Use Problems

Extraversion and neuroticism are associated with alcohol use problems in university. Students higher in extraversion have heavier alcohol use, while neuroticism is not consistently associated with alcohol use. This study examined the hypothesis that students higher in neuroticism may drink in anticipation of stressors, namely tests and assignments, using archival data taken from the University Life Study, a longitudinal study assessing alcohol use across four years of university, with daily diary bursts each semester. Students higher in extraversion had heavier alcohol use and had increased alcohol use problems. Neuroticism was not associated with drinking outcomes, drinking before a test or assignment, or alcohol problems. Students lower in extraversion, or higher in introversion, who consumed relatively more alcohol before tests and assignments had more alcohol use problems at the end of university. Drinking alcohol in anticipation of stressors can increase alcohol dependence risk for students lower in extraversion.