The Relationship Between Social Skills and Coping Drinking Motives: A Test of the Social Skills Deficit Vulnerability Model

Because drinking alcohol to cope has many negative outcomes (e.g., alcohol use disorder, problematic drinking patterns, etc.), it is vital to understand what contributes to drinking to cope. Having adequate social skills and social support has been found to help overall mental health. As such, it was logical to reason that social skills and social support could also impact physical health. Specifically, social skills and social support were examined as potential ways to buffer coping drinking development. This study utilized information from 176 adults living in the United States to understand the role social skills and social support play in coping drinking motives. Findings showed that social support could decrease the likelihood of coping drinking motives. Further, social skills can assist in buffering the development of coping drinking motives through social support. The results suggest that having an adequate social network can help individuals refrain from turning to problematic coping mechanisms to manage life stressors