Emotion regulation strategies moderate the impact of negative affect induction on alcohol craving in college drinkers: an experimental paradigm

Objectives: Observational studies suggest emotion regulation (ER) as a potential treatment target for problematic college drinking. The primary aim of this laboratory study was to determine whether trait ER strategies would moderate the impact of negative affect induction on alcohol craving in college drinkers. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to a neutral (n = 74) or a negative affect induction (n = 76) and reported their craving after the affect inductions. Results: Greater use of drinking to cope and less use of cognitive reappraisal predicted greater alcohol craving after the negative affect induction, but not after the neutral condition. In contrast, emotion suppression did not predict alcohol craving in either condition. Conclusion: Our results highlight the role of ER tendencies-particularly the benefits of cognitive reappraisal-on alcohol craving when experiencing emotional distress. Therefore, ER strategies may be an important target for college drinkers to prevent and reduce problematic drinking.

Problematic alcohol use in young adults during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy

This study investigated the individual and contextual correlates of problematic alcohol use among young adults during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. Participants were 1533 young adults aged 18 to 26 (M_age = 23.12, SD_age = 2.11; 73.2% women), who completed an online survey during national lockdown. Inclusion criteria for this study were the age-range (18-26 y. o.), and living in Italy during COVID-19 lockdown. Participants with low or very low socioeconomic levels (vs. higher levels) were more at risk for problematic alcohol use, as well as participants who lived alone or with roommates/friends during lockdown. Conversely, participants who spent the lockdown with their family or partner were less at risk for problematic alcohol use. Finally, participants who had their job suspended due to pandemic (vs. other job conditions) were more at risk for problematic alcohol use during lockdown. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.

Heavy episodic drinking in late adolescents: The role of theory of mind and conformity drinking motives

BACKGROUND

Heavy episodic drinking (HED) implies severe consequences for health, both in the short and long term. Peer conformity has shown contradictory relationships with HED, suggesting the presence of a complex interaction between social and individual factors.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the moderation role of conformity in the relationship between theory of mind (ToM) and HED.

METHOD

Participants were 170 Italian adolescents (M_age = 18.71, SD_age = 0.77) recruited in public high schools. Self-report measures were administered for evaluating drunkenness and HED. The Drinking Motives Questionnaire was used to assess three drinking motives, namely coping with negative emotions, enhancement of positive feelings, and the need for peer conformity, whereas the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test was adopted to test advanced theory of mind skills. ANOVAs, MANOVAs and regression moderation analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Drunkenness, HED and drinking motives did not vary with gender. Only social motives were higher in boys (vs. girls). HED was positively related to drunkenness and to social, coping and enhancement motives. However, only enhancement significantly predicted HED. Finally, conformity moderated the relationship between ToM and HED. In the presence of high conformity, adolescents with impaired ToM reported significantly more HED than adolescents with high ToM.

CONCLUSIONS

In the presence of conformity needs, social cognition impairment appeared to be a risk factor for HED, whereas good socio-cognitive skills were protective. Implications for research, clinical assessment and prevention are discussed.

The Effects of Trait Emotional Intelligence on Adolescent Substance Use: Findings From a Hungarian Representative Survey

Previous research has emphasized the importance of emotions in the development of adult and adolescent substance use. There is substantial evidence for deficits in emotional processing among teenagers with substance use, but few studies have investigated the association between emotional intelligence and adolescent substance use. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs and level of emotional intelligence among adolescents. A representative sample of high school students participated in the study (N = 2,380). Substance use patterns were assessed using data from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) Survey, and emotional intelligence was assessed with the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory Youth Version. Self-esteem and depressive symptomatology were also assessed to compare their effects on the frequency of substance use with the effect of emotional intelligence. Results demonstrated that greater difficulty in stress management and empathy predicted a higher frequency of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use. However, the level of emotional intelligence showed only a weak relationship to substance use habits. Latent profile analyses supported the hypothesis that different emotional patterns and problems underlie different types of psychoactive substances. Using a multiple linear regression model, the present study found that although emotional intelligence is not a key factor underlying substance use habits, it has an individual effect on substance use beyond depressive tendencies and self-esteem. These results can be applied to both drug prevention programs and interventions in substance abuse treatment.