Associations between post-traumatic stress disorder severity, drinking motives, and unhealthy alcohol use among women veterans

OBJECTIVE: Unhealthy drinking, defined as patterns of alcohol use that increase risk for adverse consequences, is common among US military veterans. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity has been positively associated with alcohol-related consequences and, less consistently, alcohol consumption among veterans. PTSD is highly heterogeneous, with specific symptom clusters showing varying patterns of association with indices of unhealthy drinking. Drinking motives, particularly coping-related motives, have also been associated with greater alcohol-related consequences and PTSD severity. Although women are the fastest growing veteran population, extant research examining links between PTSD severity, drinking motives, and unhealthy alcohol use has predominantly focused on men. The current study examined associations between PTSD severity and clusters, drinking motives, and unhealthy alcohol use among women veterans identified in primary care. METHODS: Participants included 115 women veterans recruited from a Veterans Health Administration primary care clinic who completed an online survey and endorsed trauma exposure and unhealthy drinking. RESULTS: The re-experiencing PTSD symptom cluster was uniquely associated with greater alcohol-related consequences (b = 0.41, SE = 0.12, P < .01) and overall unhealthy drinking (b = 0.37, SE = 0.16, P = .03). Coping, conformity, and social drinking motives were associated with greater alcohol consequences. Drinking to cope moderated the association between re-experiencing symptom severity and alcohol-related consequences (b = 0.20, SE = 0.06, P < .003). CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that re-experiencing PTSD symptoms and drinking to cope motives are associated with alcohol-related consequences and that associations between PTSD severity and alcohol-related consequences are stronger among those with higher drinking to cope motives. Future research should target coping-motivated drinking within trauma-informed alcohol interventions.