Alcohol and Cannabis Use Predicted by Affect-Urgency Interactions in Everyday Life

The hypothesis that urgency, a trait quantifying individual differences in impulsive behaviors driven by intense emotions, moderates associations between affect and alcohol use has received inconsistent support in EMA research. This registered report tested whether trait- and state-level urgency moderate affect-substance use (alcohol and cannabis use) associations in young adults. 496 adults (aged 18-22) completed ecological momentary assessment surveys five times daily across 32 days over eight weekends. Positive affect was associated with increased alcohol use probability, while negative affect was associated with decreased alcohol use probability; cannabis use showed minimal associations with daily affect. Contrary to hypotheses, we found minimal evidence that urgency moderated daily affect-substance use associations. Interaction effects were consistently estimated around the null value with narrow credible intervals. Results challenge theoretical predictions about urgency's role in emotion-driven substance use and support simpler affect-substance use models.