How social context shapes alcohol use disorder risk

Professor Kasey Creswell from Carnegie Mellon University will present a program of research that aims to better understand the social and affective mechanisms driving addiction and to identify those who may be particularly vulnerable to addiction.

She will describe my social-contextual theory of alcohol use disorder (AUD) risk and point to two distinct pathways by which social factors shape alcohol use risk trajectories. Specifically presenting a series of studies on the unique antecedents and deleterious consequences of social compared with solitary alcohol use in adolescents and young adults. She will end by considering the conceptual, methodological, and clinical implications of this social-contextual account of AUD risk.