Stress and Addiction

(1) Alcohol consumption reduces stress-related fears and tensions; and

(2) It is the stress reduction effect that motivates people to drink.

However, it can be noted that all of the research and discussion of research presented in the book Stress and Addiction was conducted prior to 1987. It seems reasonable to state that a good deal of the findings presented in the book have been reworked during the last nine years. Given this fact, it can be noted that the purpose of this paper is to examine the more current research on the TRH, and to determine were it stands as a viable theory of alcoholism in more contemporary thought.

The Tension Reduction Hypotheses: Current Research

Since 1987, a good deal of the research on stress and its relationship to alcoholism has continued to utilize animals. In general, this research remains relatively mixed. For example, Champagne and Kirouac (1989) examined the effect of formaldehyde on voluntary alcohol intake in male rats.

Alcohol intake in Champagne and Kirouac's (1989) study was measured using individually determined alcohol concentrations. According to the authors, results did not support

. . .
the current perspective of behavioral scientists and their relationship to the TRH are more fully explicated and discussed in a review of literature presented by Pohorecky (1991). Of the Tension Reduction Hypothesis, Pohorecky states that research to date indicates that there is an increase in alcohol consumption with increases in anxiety but this effect only happens in certain types of groups and individuals. For example, the elderly and women do not appear to drink as a means of reducing stress. However, findings repeatedly confirm that adolescents do attempt to reduce stress through alcohol consumption. Pohorecky (1991) goes on to note that while the TRH can and does vary in validity from group to group, there is some evidence that when people are sorted solely into two groups, alcoholics versus non-alcoholics, the role of stress in alcohol ingestion is significantly stronger for the alcoholic group. Nonetheless, the different findings for different groups, according to Pohorecky, makes it clear that the Tension Reduction Hypothesis as originally postulated is no longer adequate. According to Porhorecky (1991), continuing research is also making it clear that there are a multidimensionality of factors that appear t
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Approximate Word count = 2032
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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