Thus, there is suggestive evidence from multiple lines of research that negative affect, drinking motives, and alcohol expectancies may serve mediating roles from discrimination to alcohol-related outcomes. To date, however, only one study has directly tested drinking to cope as a mediator of the relation between discrimination and drinking behaviors (Hatzenbuehler, Corbin, & Fromme, 2008b). In this study of over 2,300 young adults (with 109 LGB participants), discrimination among LGB respondents was significantly associated with negative affect as well as positive alcohol expectancies. These processes in turn led to coping motives, which contributed to greater alcohol-related problems, controlling for alcohol consumption.
