Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8947-0652

Date Available

5-8-2024

Year of Publication

2024

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Mark Fillmore

Abstract

Rates of heavy drinking and Alcohol Use Disorder are rising dramatically in young adult women, making it important to better understand female-specific risks for problematic drinking. Circulating levels of ovarian hormones are one potential mechanism influencing alcohol use in women. Many young adult women use oral contraceptives (OCs) that alter endogenous hormone levels, and little is known about how OCs and the synthetic hormones they contain may influence alcohol use. This dissertation consists of three studies that investigated alcohol consumption in women using OCs and explored potential mechanisms through which OCs may influence alcohol use. Study 1 compared self-reported alcohol consumption between young adult naturally-cycling (NC) women (n=16) and OC users (n=16). Results from Study 1 showed that OC users reported increased quantity of alcohol consumption, including more drinks per drinking day and binge episodes, compared to NC women. The groups did not differ in the frequency of drinking. This finding suggests that OC users consume more alcohol than their NC peers. Study 2 investigated associations between synthetic hormone levels, pill phase, and alcohol consumption in OC users (n=38). Results from Study 2 showed a trend toward circulating levels of ethinyl estradiol predicting drinking frequency in the active pill phase. Synthetic hormone levels were not associated with other measures of alcohol consumption, either in the active or inactive pill phase, and alcohol consumption did not differ between pill phases. These results suggest that ethinyl estradiol levels may be weakly related to increased frequency of alcohol use in OC users. Study 3 further explored potential mechanisms underlying alcohol consumption in OC users by examining associations between inhibitory control and circulating levels of synthetic hormones and testing for differences in inhibitory control between pill phases in OC users (n=20). Results from Study 3 did not show associations between inhibitory control on the stop signal task and circulating levels of synthetic hormones. Similarly, inhibitory control did not differ between pill phases and OC users did not show associations between inhibitory control and alcohol consumption. These findings suggest that poor inhibitory control is not an underlying mechanism related to increased alcohol use in women using OCs. Taken together, these studies provide preliminary evidence that OC users may consume more alcohol than NC women, and circulating levels of synthetic hormones may have a small influence on frequency of alcohol consumption. However, poor inhibitory control does not appear to be a driving mechanism between synthetic hormones and alcohol consumption in OC users. More research is needed to better understand the specific mechanisms underlying increased drinking in OCs users to reduce or prevent problematic drinking in young adult women.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2024.110

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