Short-Term Associations Between Alcohol and Suicidal Thoughts: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

Suicide is a pressing public health concern. Suicide risk factors have been examined, though suicide rates are not declining despite identifying these risk factors. One such established risk factor for suicide is alcohol use. Yet, information related to the short-term associations and temporal dynamics of suicidal ideation and alcohol use is limited. This study aimed to examine the short-term associations between alcohol use and suicidal thoughts within the context of internalizing symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety), as well as coping and enhancement drinking motives for alcohol using ecological momentary assessments (EMA). Participants included 180 undergraduate college students 18 to 59 years (M = 21.53; 63.89% White, 78.89% cisgender women, 45.56% heterosexual). Participants completed an online consent form and a self-report questionnaire before enrolling into an EMA app. Findings demonstrated a significant association between alcohol use and suicidal thought presence and intensity at the between-person level but not at the within-person level. Depression and anxiety moderated the relationship between alcohol use and suicidal thought intensity both at the within-person level, but only anxiety at the between-person level. Lastly, enhancements motives were negatively related to suicidal thought intensity, yet coping motives were unrelated. In total, these findings implicate the role of greater than average levels of alcohol use on elevated suicidal thought intensity. This work also indicates important clinical implications, such that anxiety symptoms may be particularly important to target. Similarly, expanding on the benefits of enhancement motives (e.g., social connectedness) may be important in addressing suicidal ideation in college students. Future work should continue this work in a diverse sample that comprises of greater suicidal thought presence and alcohol use.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychological Research

Grantor

Texas State University

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Teasdale, Olivia

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Rogers, Megan L.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Schepis, Ty S.
• Perrotte, Jessica K.

• alcohol use
• suicide
• drinking motives
• college students

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/20718

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/20718