Young Adult and Alcohol Research Laboratory
Our research aims to explicate the positive and negative reinforcement pathways that lead to problematic drinking, particularly for those transitioning from adolescence to early adulthood.
Within this framework we examine the role of individual-level factors such as personality (i.e., behavioural inhibition/approach systems), social anxiety, and cognitive processes (e.g., self-regulatory and impulsive processes) to distinguish who is at risk and the inherent mechanisms.
Recent Media and Publications
Alcohol & Anxiety
Alcohol abuse and anxiety sensitivity are linked in different but mutually reinforcing ways, according to new study. Concordia University News
Drinking Motives & BIS/BAS
Coping and conformity motives mediate the joint effects of the behavioural inhibition and approach systems on alcohol problems in young adults. Substance Use and Misuse
Social Norms & Drinking
Social norms and undergrad drinking: New Concordia Study. The Concordian
Anxiety Sensitivity
Explanatory pathways linking anxiety sensitivity to alcohol (mis)use: A prospective state-trait analysis among emerging adults. Addictive Behaviors

The Young Adult and Alcohol Research Laboratory was founded in 2009. Our research examines alcohol risk and resilience.