Previous studies have shown a strong link between cigarette smoking and drinking, so the researchers hypothesised that a similar connection may be found with e-cigarette use and drinking.
The researchers from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in the US, surveyed two groups of people who drink alcohol using a modified version of the Nicotine and Other Substance Interaction Expectancy Questionnaire (NOSIE) to find out whether people expected to use e-cigarettes and alcohol together.
In both groups, of 692 and 714 people, the survey found that drinking alcohol leads to e-cigarette use and vice versa. E-cigarette users were significantly more likely to drink problematically than non-users in both groups.
The results suggest that using e-cigarettes to quit smoking could mean people miss out on the benefits of quitting; smoking cessation generally results in people drinking less alcohol, but using e-cigarettes means this decrease may not happen.
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"If you quit smoking cold turkey, it affects other behaviours associated with smoking, such as drinking," said Alexandra Hershberger, lead author of the study.
"By replacing smoking with e-cigarette use, it could be that you're at risk of continuing behaviours you don't want to continue. This is particularly serious for people with alcohol addiction - using e-cigarettes could make it harder to stop drinking," Hershberger said.
The findings suggest that women may not perceive e-cigarette use as risky.
"We were surprised to see higher e-cigarette use in women. Generally men tend to report more risk-taking across the board, but in our study, women outnumbered men in terms of e-cigarette use," Hershberger said.
"This could be because women perceive the device differently to other risk-taking behaviour; e-cigarettes tend to be viewed more positively than cigarettes. Those views could be driving more use in women than we'd expect," she said.