Prior research typically has found either negative associations of alcohol use with indicators of subjective well-being (e.g., Zullig et al., 2001) or statistically non-significant associations (e.g., Bogart et al., 2006), but these studies rarely have accounted for multiple dimensions of alcohol involvement in multivariate analyses. Consistent with findings from a small but growing literature (e.g., Molnar et al., 2009), our results provide evidence for a positive association of alcohol use with subjective well-being when adjusting for adverse consequences. The specific pattern of findings is unique in this study. In contrast to the predictive results for college students reported by Molnar and colleagues (2009), the current results suggest that subjective well-being positively predicts alcohol use among adolescents. Because underage drinking is predominantly a social activity (Mayer, Forster, Murray, & Wagenaar, 1998), alcohol initiation and escalation during adolescence may require a certain degree of social skills and networks that are held by those who have a high degree of subjective well-being. Additional research with expanded assessments (e.g., social skills measures) and alternative methods (e.g., social network analysis) is needed to further test this possible explanation for the findings.
