Living in the here and now: interrelationships between impulsivity, mindfulness, and alcohol misuse

The Association Between Mindfulness Facets and Substance Use via Emotional Psychopathology and Coping Motives in Argentinian College Students

Background: Prior studies suggest that lower levels of mindfulness contribute to the motivation of using alcohol to cope with distress. Research examining this possibility is scarce or limited to alcohol, but not marijuana, related outcomes. Objectives: We examined separate models (for alcohol and for marijuana) to determine the associations between trait mindfulness (describing, acting with awareness, non-judging, non-reactivity) and alcohol and marijuana outcomes (use indicators and negative consequences) via emotional psychopathology (i.e., a latent variable assessing symptoms of depression and anxiety) and alcohol/marijuana coping motives. Results: The final analytic sample consisted of 456 participants (Mean age = 22.96 ± 3.12 years; 66.2% women) for the alcohol model; and 232 participants (Mean age = 22.96 ± 3.01 years; 66.2% women) for the marijuana model. Two path models were conducted, such that indirect paths were examined for each trait mindfulness facet on alcohol/marijuana outcomes (e.g., describing → emotional psychopathology → alcohol coping motives → binge drinking frequency). Within the comprehensive alcohol model, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging and non-reactivity were associated with less binge drinking frequency and lower number of alcohol-related negative consequences via lower severity of emotional psychopathology symptoms and lower endorsement of drinking to cope motives. For the marijuana model, describing, acting with awareness, and non-judging of inner experience were associated with less marijuana quantity (grams) consumed and lower number of marijuana-related negative consequences via lower severity of emotional psychopathology symptoms and lower endorsement of marijuana coping motives. Conclusions: Prevention and intervention programs of alcohol and marijuana in Argentina may benefit from improving mindfulness skills and targeting emotional psychopathology and motives to use drugs, to prevent or reduce negative drug-related consequences.

Brain changes following mindfulness: Reduced caudate volume is associated with decreased positive urgency

Mindfulness training has been shown to improve psychological health and general well-being. However, it is unclear which brain and personality systems may be affected by this practice for improving adaptive behavior and quality of life. The present study explores the effects of a 5-week mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) at the neuroanatomical level and its relationship with dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity. Sixty-six risky drivers were quasi-randomly assigned to a mindfulness training group (MT) or a control group (N). Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging and completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the UPPS-P impulsivity scale twice, at baseline and after receiving the MBI. We observed that MBI changes dispositional mindfulness in the non-reactivity and observing facets. Further, we observed that the magnitude of change in impulsivity was associated with the change in dispositional mindfulness. Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis revealed that the volume of the right caudate nucleus of the MT group (n = 27) showed a reduction compared to that of the control group (n = 33), which increased in terms of the pre-post measurement (MT=-1.76 mm3; N = 6.31 mm3). We also observed that reduced caudate nucleus volume correlated with decreased positive urgency in the MT group. Taken together, our results show that MBI improves the skills of observing and non-reactivity to inner experience, while producing changes in the structure of the caudate nucleus. These structural changes are associated with a reduction in impulsivity levels, decreasing the tendency to act rashly in situations that generate positive emotions and thus facilitating more adaptive behavior.

Does mindfulness moderate the association between impulsivity and well-being in Lebanese university students?

Limited evidence showed that impulsivity is negatively related to life satisfaction and wellbeing; however, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. We aimed through this work to investigate the relationship between impulsivity dimensions and well-being and to explore the moderator role of mindfulness on this relationship in a sample of Lebanese university students. This cross-sectional study was carried out among 363 university students recruited through convenience sampling through several universities in Lebanon's governorates. Higher mindfulness was significantly associated with better wellbeing in the models that considered urgency and sensation seeking as independent variables. A lack of premeditation and a lack of perseverance were both inversely associated with well-being. The interaction lack of perseverance by mindfulness was significantly associated with wellbeing; for students who were low in mindfulness, more lack of perseverance was significantly associated with a lower wellbeing. Our study suggested that mindfulness practice may offer a promising avenue for implementing strategies aiming at improving the well-being of students with high levels of impulsivity.

Interactive effects of mindfulness and negative urgency on intimate partner aggression perpetration

Intimate partner aggression (IPA) is a costly and incompletely understood phenomenon. Negative urgency, the tendency to act impulsively in response to negative affect, is predictive of IPA perpetration. Mindfulness, by virtue of its emphasis on nonreactivity to negative affect, is an opposing force to urgent tendencies that may mitigate the negative urgency-IPA link. Yet, no research to date investigates the interactive effects of negative urgency and mindfulness on IPA perpetration. Two studies were conducted that measured and manipulated multiple facets of mindfulness alongside measures of negative urgency and tendencies of IPA perpetration (combined N = 508 undergraduate students in monogamous intimate relationships). Counter to our preregistered predictions, we found that negative urgency's association with greater IPA perpetration increased at higher levels of mindfulness. These findings suggest that mindfulness may not be a protective factor against IPA perpetration for individuals higher in negative urgency, but rather may serve as a risk factor.

Adverse childhood experiences and risky behaviors in male college students

Objective: The current study examined associations between ACEs and health-risk behaviors in male college students.Participants:795 men who attended a large southern public university.Method:One-way ANOVA was used to explore whether the ACEs of sexual abuse, exposure to interparental violence, household mental illness, and household substance abuse significantly affected male college students' high risk drinking, number of sexual partners, and/or impulsivity.Results:Sexual abuse was significantly associated with all three measured outcomes and had the strongest associations of all assessed ACEs. Exposure to interparental violence was significantly associated only with number of sexual partners. Household substance abuse was significantly associated with high risk drinking and number of sexual partners. A simple linear regression revealed that for each additional ACE, students in the sample increased their risky behaviors.Conclusions:Results confirm a dose-response between ACEs and negative outcomes. Mindfulness training, policy/funding advocacy, and trauma-informed support are discussed as implications.

Associations of thalamocortical networks with reduced mindfulness in alcohol use disorder

Background

Increased mindfulness is associated with reduced alcohol consumption in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) after residential treatment. However, the underlying neurobiological mechanism of mindfulness in AUD is unclear. Therefore, we investigate the structural and functional alterations of the thalamocortical system with a focus on the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD-TN), the default mode and the salience network (DMN/SN) which has previously been associated with mindfulness in healthy subjects. We hypothesized lower mindfulness and reduced structural and functional connectivity (FC) of the thalamocortical system, particularly in the DMN/SN in AUD. We assumed that identified neurobiological alterations in AUD are associated with impairments of mindfulness.

Methods

Forty-five abstinent patients with AUD during residential treatment and 20 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. Structural and resting-state functional MRI-scans were acquired. We analysed levels of mindfulness, thalamic volumes and network centrality degree of the MD-TN using multivariate statistics. Using seed-based whole brain analyses we investigated functional connectivity (FC) of the MD-TN. We performed exploratory correlational analyses of structural and functional DMN/SN measurements with levels of mindfulness.

Results

In AUD we found significantly lower levels of mindfulness, lower bilateral thalamic and left MD-TN volumes, reduced FC between MD-TN and anterior cingulum/insula and lower network centrality degree of the left MD-TN as compared to HC. In AUD, lower mindfulness was associated with various reductions of structural and functional aspects of the MD-TN.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that structural and functional alterations of a network including the MD-TN and the DMN/SN underlies disturbed mindfulness in AUD.

Is Mindfulness Associated With Safer Cannabis Use? A Latent Profile Analysis of Dispositional Mindfulness Among College Students Who Use Cannabis

Objectives

Previous research cites mindfulness as a protective factor against risky substance use, but the specific association between dispositional mindfulness (DM) and cannabis use has been inconsistent. Despite known heterogeneity of DM facets across college students, much of the prior research in this area has relied on variable-centered approaches. Only a handful of prior studies within the cannabis literature have utilized person-centered approaches, and only one has specifically examined unique profiles of dispositional mindfulness in relation to patterns of use among college students.

Method

The present study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify subtypes of DM and their relationships with cannabis use behaviors (i.e., hazardous use and consequences of use) in a sample of 683 U.S. college students who endorsed past-month cannabis use and participated in an online survey of substance use behaviors, hypothesizing that a three-profile model would be replicated. We also examined whether age and prior experience with mindfulness predicted DM profile membership (hypothesizing that these variables would differentially predict membership) and explored mean differences in alcohol use across profiles.

Results

LPA results revealed three discrete profiles of DM: non-judgmentally aware, judgmentally observing, and moderate traits. Participants in the non-judgmentally aware profile were less likely to have prior mindfulness experience than the other profiles, but age did not predict profile membership. Judgmentally observing had more hazardous cannabis use and consequences than the other profiles, and no mean differences emerged on alcohol use.

Conclusions

These results build upon the only known study that investigated how DM relates to cannabis use. Further research is needed to elucidate this relationship, which can inform the application of mindfulness interventions for hazardous cannabis use in college students.

Pre-registration

This study was not pre-registered.

Self-care among persons with heart failure: Examining the impact of mindfulness and impulsivity using conditional process analysis

BACKGROUND

According to the literature, self-care in persons with heart failure is inadequate. Such inadequate levels of self-care necessitate a thorough investigation of the potential predictors.

PURPOSE

To: (a) determine the level of self-care among persons with heart failure in Jordan; (b) determine the relationship between mindfulness, impulsivity, and self-care among persons with heart failure; (c) investigate the potential moderation effect of impulsivity on the relationship between mindfulness and self-care.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted. A convenience sample of 100 persons with heart failure in an outpatient clinic at King Abdullah University Hospital was recruited. The following tools were used to collect the data via phone survey: Self-Care of Heart Failure Index, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 78 male and 22 female persons with heart failure. The effect of mindfulness was statistically significant only on self-care symptom perception, and not significant on other aspects of self-care. Impulsivity moderated only the effect of mindfulness on self-care symptom perception. Correlation analysis showed a significant relationship between mindfulness and impulsivity (r = -.532, p < .01).

CONCLUSION

Mindfulness is likely to improve at least one aspect of self-care (self-care symptom perception) and reduce impulsivity among heart failure persons.

A Model Guided Approach to Evoke Homogeneous Behavior During Temporal Reward and Loss Discounting

Background

The tendency to devaluate future options as a function of time, known as delay discounting, is associated with various factors such as psychiatric illness and personality. Under identical experimental conditions, individuals may therefore strongly differ in the degree to which they discount future options. In delay discounting tasks, this inter-individual variability inevitably results in an unequal number of discounted trials per subject, generating difficulties in linking delay discounting to psychophysiological and neural correlates. Many studies have therefore focused on assessing delay discounting adaptively. Here, we extend these approaches by developing an adaptive paradigm which aims at inducing more comparable and homogeneous discounting frequencies across participants on a dimensional scale.

Method

The proposed approach probabilistically links a (common) discounting function to behavior to obtain a probabilistic model, and then exploits the model to obtain a formal condition which defines how to construe experimental trials so as to induce any desired discounting probability. We first infer subject-level models on behavior on a non-adaptive delay discounting task and then use these models to generate adaptive trials designed to evoke graded relative discounting frequencies of 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 in each participant. We further compare and evaluate common models in the field through out-of-sample prediction error estimates, to iteratively improve the trial-generating model and paradigm.

Results

The developed paradigm successfully increases discounting behavior during both reward and loss discounting. Moreover, it evokes graded relative choice frequencies in line with model-based expectations (i.e., 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7) suggesting that we can successfully homogenize behavior. Our model comparison analyses indicate that hyperboloid models are superior in predicting unseen discounting behavior to more conventional hyperbolic and exponential models. We report out-of-sample error estimates as well as commonalities and differences between reward and loss discounting, demonstrating for instance lower discounting rates, as well as differences in delay perception in loss discounting.

Conclusion

The present work proposes a model-based framework to evoke graded responses linked to cognitive function at a single subject level. Such a framework may be used in the future to measure cognitive functions on a dimensional rather than dichotomous scale.

Associations of delay discounting and drinking trajectories from ages 14 to 22

BACKGROUND

While drinking alcohol, one must choose between the immediate rewarding effects and the delayed reward of a healthier lifestyle. Individuals differ in their devaluation of a delayed reward based on the time required to receive it, i.e., delay discounting (DD). Previous studies have shown that adolescents discount more steeply than adults and that steeper DD is associated with heavier alcohol use in both groups.

METHODS

In a large-scale longitudinal study, we investigated whether higher rates of DD are an antecedent or a consequence of alcohol use during adolescent development. As part of the IMAGEN project, 2220 adolescents completed the Monetary Choice Questionnaire as a DD measure, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, and the Timeline Follow Back interview at ages 14, 16, 18, and 22. Bivariate latent growth curve models were applied to investigate the relationship between DD and drinking. To explore the consequences of drinking, we computed the cumulative alcohol consumption and correlated it with the development of discounting. A subsample of 221 participants completed an intertemporal choice task (iTeCh) during functional magnetic resonance imaging at ages 14, 16, and 18. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to differentiate between high-risk and low-risk drinkers on the development of neural processing during intertemporal choices.

RESULTS

Overall, high rates of DD at age 14 predicted a greater increase in drinking over 8 years. In contrast, on average, moderate alcohol use did not affect DD from ages 14 to 22. Of note, we found indicators for less brain activity in top-down control areas during intertemporal choices in the participants who drank more.

CONCLUSIONS

Steep DD was shown to be a predictor rather than a consequence of alcohol use in low-level drinking adolescents. Important considerations for future longitudinal studies are the sampling strategies to be used and the reliability of the assessments.

Daily impulsivity is associated with alcohol use and problems via coping motives, but not enhancement motives

BACKGROUND

The present study sought to determine daily associations between impulsivity, coping and enhancement motives, alcohol use, and alcohol problems in the natural environment.

METHODS

Participants were 89 (47 women) heavy drinking, college students from a university in the southeastern U.S. who completed a 14-day ecological momentary assessment study. Each day, participants completed three random reports of momentary impulsivity and indicators of drinking motives and two additional reports at the beginning and end of any drinking occasions.

RESULTS

A series of multilevel mediation models were tested to examine indirect effects from impulsivity to alcohol use and alcohol problems through coping and enhancement motives. At the within-person level, results revealed that greater than usual impulsivity experienced prior to drinking was associated with greater coping motives, and this in turn was associated with greater number of drinks consumed that day (all p values <0.001). A similar indirect effect was revealed when impulsivity predicted alcohol problems that day through coping motives (p values range: <0.001 to .01). Greater enhancement motives than usual were associated with greater number of drinks consumed and alcohol problems experienced that day (p values range: <0.001 to.001), but associations with impulsivity were nonsignificant.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings supported daily fluctuations in drinking to cope motives as a salient mechanism explaining the link between daily impulsivity and level of alcohol use and alcohol problems. Fluctuations in daily impulsivity were associated with changes in motivations to drink which may benefit efforts aimed at reducing alcohol harms among young adults.

Mindfulness and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Neuropsychological Perspective

ABSTRACT

Understanding the underlying mechanisms of mindfulness has been a hot topic in recent years, not only in clinical fields but also in neuroscience. Most neuroimaging findings demonstrate that critical brain regions involved in mindfulness are responsible for cognitive functions and mental states. However, the brain is a complex system operating via multiple circuits and networks, rather than isolated brain regions solely responsible for specific functions. Mindfulness-based treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have emerged as promising adjunctive or alternative intervention approaches. We focus on four key brain circuits associated with mindfulness practices and effects on symptoms of ADHD and its cognitive dysfunction, including executive attention circuit, sustained attention circuit, impulsivity circuit, and hyperactivity circuit. We also expand our discussion to identify three key brain networks associated with mindfulness practices, including central executive network, default mode network, and salience network. We conclude by suggesting that more research efforts need to be devoted into identifying putative neuropsychological mechanisms of mindfulness on how it alleviates ADHD symptoms.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy added to usual care improves eating behaviors in patients with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder by decreasing the cognitive load of words related to body shape, weight, and food

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as a complementary approach in patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) or binge eating disorder (BED), and to assess how the reduction of the cognitive load of words related to eating disorders (ED) could constitute an intermediate factor explaining its global efficacy.

METHODS

Eighty-eight women and men participated in clinical assessments upon inscription, prior to and following 8-week group MBCT. Mindfulness skills were assessed using the five facet mindfulness questionnaire; eating behaviors were assessed using the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ); comorbid pathologies were assessed using the beck depression index and the state-trait anxiety inventory. The cognitive load of words associated with ED was assessed through a modified version of the Stroop color naming task.

RESULTS

Mindfulness skills improved significantly (p < .05) after group MBCT. The improvement of TFEQ scores was accompanied by reduced levels of depressive mood and trait anxiety. The positive impact of MBCT on TFEQ score was directly related to an improvement of the performance in the Stroop task.

CONCLUSIONS

MBCT represents an interesting complementary therapy for patients with either BN or BED, at least when cognitive and behavioral domains are concerned. Such efficacy seems to be mediated by the reduction of the cognitive load associated with ED stimuli, which offers a possible explanation of how MBCT could reduce binge-eating behaviors. Other studies are needed, in independent centers, to focus more directly on core symptoms and long-term outcome.

Mindfulness and Behavior Change

Initiating and maintaining behavior change is key to the prevention and treatment of most preventable chronic medical and psychiatric illnesses. The cultivation of mindfulness, involving acceptance and nonjudgment of present-moment experience, often results in transformative health behavior change. Neural systems involved in motivation and learning have an important role to play. A theoretical model of mindfulness that integrates these mechanisms with the cognitive, emotional, and self-related processes commonly described, while applying an integrated model to health behavior change, is needed. This integrative review (1) defines mindfulness and describes the mindfulness-based intervention movement, (2) synthesizes the neuroscience of mindfulness and integrates motivation and learning mechanisms within a mindful self-regulation model for understanding the complex effects of mindfulness on behavior change, and (3) synthesizes current clinical research evaluating the effects of mindfulness-based interventions targeting health behaviors relevant to psychiatric care. The review provides insight into the limitations of current research and proposes potential mechanisms to be tested in future research and targeted in clinical practice to enhance the impact of mindfulness on behavior change.

Maternal mindfulness during pregnancy predicts newborn neurobehavior

Newborn neurobehavioral competencies portend a young child's abilities to modulate their arousal and attention in response to dynamic environmental cues. Although evidence suggests prenatal contributions to newborn neurobehavioral differences, no study to date has examined wellness-promoting traits, such as a pregnant woman's mindfulness, in this association. We examined whether a mother's mindfulness while pregnant related to neurobehavioral outcomes in her neonate, as well as whether maternal mindfulness moderated the link between prenatal maternal emotion dysregulation and newborn neurobehavior. Mothers (N = 162) reported on their mindfulness and emotion dysregulation while pregnant. Newborn arousal and attention were assessed at least 24 h after birth (M = 3.8 days, SD = 8.3) using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS). Highly mindful pregnant women reported lower levels of emotion dysregulation. Newborns of highly mindful mothers exhibited higher levels of arousal (e.g., excitability, motor activity) but did not differ in regards to attention at birth. Maternal emotion dysregulation while pregnant was associated with blunted newborn attention, but only among mothers who were less mindful. Our findings suggest that a mother's mindfulness while pregnant may influence her fetus' neurobehavioral development in ways that are evident at birth.

Longitudinal Associations between Internalizing Symptoms, Dispositional Mindfulness, Rumination and Impulsivity in Adolescents

Mindfulness has been associated with fewer negative mental health symptoms during adolescence, but fewer studies have examined longitudinal associations between mindfulness and symptoms in conjunction with two vulnerability factors for psychopathology with mindfulness: rumination and impulsivity. This study examined longitudinal associations between internalizing symptoms (depression, anxiety, stress), mindfulness, rumination, and impulsivity over a one-year period among 352 Spanish adolescents (57.4% girls; M = 14.47, SD = 1.34). Participants completed self-reported measures of symptoms, mindfulness, rumination, and impulsivity at two time points. Mindfulness negatively predicted stress and depressive symptoms, and a bidirectional negative association was found between mindfulness and impulsivity. Impulsivity positively predicted stress, and anxiety positively predicted depressive symptoms, stress, and rumination. This study highlights the importance of mindfulness as a protective factor and impulsivity and anxiety as risk factors for internalizing symptoms throughout adolescence. These findings build on previous studies that examined longitudinal associations between mindfulness and symptoms by including rumination and impulsivity’s roles.

Disentangling substance use and related problems: urgency predicts substance-related problems beyond the degree of use

BACKGROUND

Substance use disorders are reliably associated with high impulsivity and sensation seeking. Importantly, both precede problematic substance use, implicating them as risk factors. Individuals with substance use disorders show variable degrees of substance use (combined quantity and frequency) and substance-related problems and differ in both aspects from healthy controls. Dimensional research has indicated differential associations of impulsivity-related traits as well as sensation seeking with the degree of substance use and substance-related problems. The current study aimed to clarify whether impulsivity-related traits and sensation seeking predict substance-related problems above and beyond the degree of substance use and are thus specifically linked to problems, the dimension that characterizes substance use disorders.

METHOD

We assessed impulsivity-related traits and sensation seeking using self-report, as well as delay discounting, a behavioral indicator of impulsivity, in a sample of 258 substance-using adults.

RESULTS

Sensation seeking and impulsivity-related traits significantly predicted the degree of substance use, with sensation seeking explaining the largest portion of variance. In contrast, self-reported impulsivity, in particular when experiencing negative emotions (urgency), but not sensation seeking or delay discounting, predicted substance-related problems when controlling for the degree of substance use.

CONCLUSIONS

This suggests that urgency, but not sensation seeking, may be specifically linked to substance-related problems and thus especially relevant for substance use disorders. Taken together, this study underlines the necessity to assess and control for the degree of substance use in risk factor research concerning substance-related problems. Thus, it may inform future research improving targeted prevention and therapy.

Individual Differences in Intertemporal Choice

Intertemporal choice involves deciding between smaller, sooner and larger, later rewards. People tend to prefer smaller rewards that are available earlier to larger rewards available later, a phenomenon referred to as temporal or delay discounting. Despite its ubiquity in human and non-human animals, temporal discounting is subject to considerable individual differences. Here, we provide a critical narrative review of this literature and make suggestions for future work. We conclude that temporal discounting is associated with key socio-economic and health-related variables. Regarding personality, large-scale studies have found steeper temporal discounting to be associated with higher levels of self-reported impulsivity and extraversion; however, effect sizes are small. Temporal discounting correlates negatively with future-oriented cognitive styles and inhibitory control, again with small effect sizes. There are consistent associations between steeper temporal discounting and lower intelligence, with effect sizes exceeding those of personality or cognitive variables, although socio-demographic moderator variables may play a role. Neuroimaging evidence of brain structural and functional correlates is not yet consistent, neither with regard to areas nor directions of effects. Finally, following early candidate gene studies, recent Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) approaches have revealed the molecular genetic architecture of temporal discounting to be more complex than initially thought. Overall, the study of individual differences in temporal discounting is a maturing field that has produced some replicable findings. Effect sizes are small-to-medium, necessitating future hypothesis-driven work that prioritizes large samples with adequate power calculations. More research is also needed regarding the neural origins of individual differences in temporal discounting as well as the mediating neural mechanisms of associations of temporal discounting with personality and cognitive variables.

Examining the Prospective Associations Between Mindfulness Facets and Substance Use in Emerging Adulthood

AIMS

Emerging adulthood (i.e. ages 18-25) is a developmental phase associated with frequent alcohol and cannabis use, placing this population at risk for substance use problems. Depression and anxiety (i.e. emotional psychopathology) are also prevalent during this phase, and some emerging adults use substances to cope with these negative emotions. Mindfulness-a multifaceted construct-involves being present in a nonjudgmental and nonreactive way. Certain mindfulness facets are particularly relevant in buffering against substance use. A recent longitudinal study [Single A, Bilevicius E, Johnson EA. et al. (2019) Specific facets of trait mindfulness reduce risk for alcohol and drug use among first-year undergraduate students. Mindfulness  10:1269-1279] showed that specific mindfulness facets (i.e. acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience and nonreactivity to inner experience) predicted decreased alcohol and drug use in undergraduates. These pathways were explained by low levels of emotional psychopathology.

METHODS

This study expanded this recent work by using a three time-point longitudinal design and by including measures of both alcohol and cannabis use and related problems. Using MTurk, participants (N = 299) completed online measures of trait mindfulness, depression, anxiety, alcohol and cannabis use and related problems at three time-points, each 2 weeks apart. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

RESULTS

The acting with awareness and nonjudging of inner experience facets predicted fewer alcohol problems, but not alcohol use, and this effect was mediated by low levels of emotional psychopathology. These results were not supported for cannabis use and problems.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates that there may be differences in the pathways from trait mindfulness to alcohol and cannabis use during emerging adulthood.

Impulsivity and Mindfulness among Inpatients with Alcohol Use Disorder

Impulsivity is both a risk factor for and a consequence of alcohol use disorder (AUD), for which mindfulness-based approaches have been proven to be effective. However, the specific relationship between mindfulness and impulsivity has been little explored in the literature, especially in people with AUD. This study aims to investigate the relationship between different facets of dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity among people with AUD in an inpatient setting in Brazil. Methods: Participants (n = 165) completed the following self-report measures: the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-SF), and the Short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale (SUPPS-P). Multiple imputation techniques and linear models were employed to assess the relationships between dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity. Results: In complete case analysis, the UPPS-P facet "lack of premeditation" was inversely related to the FFMQ facet "non-reactivity" (B = -0.17; p = 0.01); and "positive urgency" was inversely related to "act with awareness" (B = -0.27, p = 0.02) and "non-reactivity" (B = -0.17, p = 0.01). Conclusion: Relationships of varying magnitudes between dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity domains among people with AUD were found, suggesting that higher mindfulness skills are related to less impulsive traits. Our results encourage further longitudinal studies evaluating the potential of specific mindfulness components to decrease impulsivity among AUD inpatients, including its underlying mechanisms.

Momentary patterns of impulsivity and alcohol use: A cause or consequence?

BACKGROUND

Impulsivity is a robust risk factor for alcohol use, but significant gaps remain in our understanding of the way that impulsivity relates to alcohol harms. Most prior research has been limited to between-level differences; thus, within-person variability in impulsivity at the momentary level and its bidirectional association with alcohol use has not been examined. The present research used a 14-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design to determine the bidirectionality of impulsivity and alcohol use and alcohol problems.

METHODS

Participants were 89 (47 women) heavy-drinking college students. The mean age was 19.80 (SD = 1.76) years. Participants completed a baseline questionnaire and 14 consecutive days of momentary reports sent in the morning, afternoon, and evening; participants also completed two user-initiated reports during a drinking occasion at the beginning and the end of their drinking.

RESULTS

Multilevel modeling results indicated that greater levels of impulsivity experienced during the day was not associated with alcohol use or problems experienced that night. However, level of alcohol use and the number of alcohol problems experienced predicted greater variability in impulsivity the next day.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, this study was the first to examine the bidirectional relationship between impulsivity and alcohol use using EMA. Findings supported impulsivity's conceptualization as a state construct and fluctuations in alcohol use behaviors coinciding with states of impulsivity the next day after drinking. Findings from the present study contributed to conceptual daily process models of drinking by identifying how alcohol behaviors unfold in the real world.

Steep Discounting of Future Rewards as an Impulsivity Phenotype: A Concise Review

This chapter provides an overview over the behavioral economic index of impulsivity known as delay discounting. Specifically, delay discounting refers to an individual's preference for smaller immediate rewards over a larger delayed rewards. The more precipitously an individual discounts future rewards, the more impulsive they are considered to be. First, the chapter reviews the nature of delay discounting as a psychological process and juxtaposes it with nominally similar processes, including other facets of impulsivity. Second, the chapter reviews the links between delay discounting and numerous health behaviors, including addiction, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and obesity. Third, the determinants of individual variation in delay discounting are discussed, including both genetic and environmental contributions. Finally, the chapter evaluates delay discounting as a potentially modifiable risk factor and the status of clinical interventions designed to reduce delay discounting to address deficits in self-control in a variety of maladaptive behaviors.

Mindful Eating, General Mindful Awareness, and Acceptance as Predictors of Weight Loss

Objectives

The goal of the present study was to determine whether baseline mindful eating, general mindful awareness, or acceptance was most strongly associated with short- and long-term weight loss in a lifestyle modification program.

Methods

Data were from 178 participants (baseline BMI=40.9±5.9 kg/m², age=44.2±11.2 years; 87.6% female; 71.3% black) who enrolled in a two-phase trial. All participants attended an initial 14-week lifestyle modification program that included a meal replacement diet. Participants who had lost ≥5% of initial weight (N=137) were then randomized to 52 weeks of lifestyle modification with lorcaserin or placebo. Linear mixed models examined whether mindful eating (Mindful Eating Questionnaire) and general mindful awareness and acceptance (Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale) predicted short-term weight loss at week 14 in the full sample and long-term weight loss at the end of the trial in the subsample of randomized participants.

Results

In the full sample, higher baseline acceptance predicted greater short-term weight losses (p=.004). At week 14, individuals low in acceptance (-1SD) lost an average of 8.7 kg (SE=0.6) compared to 11.2 kg (SE=0.6) among those high in acceptance (+1SD). In the subsample of participants who successfully lost weight in phase 1, the independent effect of acceptance on total losses at the end of the trial did not reach statistical significance (p=.058). Neither mindful eating nor general mindful awareness independently predicted weight loss at either time point.

Conclusions

Acceptance was a stronger predictor than either general or eating-specific awareness of weight loss with lifestyle modification.

The effect of mindfulness-based education given to individuals with substance-use disorder according to self-efficacy theory on self-efficacy perception

The aim of this research is to find the effect of mindfulness-based education given to ındividuals with substance-use disorder according to self-efficacy theory on self-efficacy perception. The research was planned as a test model with pretest-posttest control groups. Individuals who have been diagnosed with substance abuse in the substance abuse clinic of Turgut Ozal Medical Center, and at the Substance Abuse Treatment and Education Centre of Gaziantep 25 Aralık State Hospital formed the core of this study. The research was conducted between January 2018-May 2019. 112 patients, 56 in the treatment and 56 in the control group, participated in the study. Scientific research started after ethical approval. Mindfulness therapy was applied to experimental group patients. For the data collection, the Socio-Demographic Characteristics Questionnaire and Self-Efficacy-Sufficiency scale were used. t-Test for dependent variables to compare the mean scores of experimental and control groups and t-test for independent variables were used. It was seen that the average total Self-Efficacy-Sufficiency score of the patients in the treatment group was 76.50 ± 12.62 before the intervention and increased to 85.50 ± 14.95 after the intervention. There is a significant difference between the average scores. Even when the treatment and control groups are compared, a significant difference was still detected between the groups. There was no significant difference between the groups in two of the Self-Efficacy-Sufficiency steps after the intervention in the experimental group, but there were significant differences between the other two factors and total score averages.

The Latent Genetic Structure of Impulsivity and Its Relation to Internalizing Psychopathology

Factor analyses suggest that impulsivity traits that capture tendencies to act prematurely or take risks tap partially distinct constructs. We applied genomic structure equation modeling to evaluate the genetic factor structure of two well-established impulsivity questionnaires, using published statistics from genome-wide association studies of up to 22,861 participants. We also tested the hypotheses that delay discounting would be genetically separable from other impulsivity factors and that emotionally triggered facets of impulsivity (urgency) would be those most strongly genetically correlated with an internalizing latent factor. A five-factor model best fitted the impulsivity data. Delay discounting was genetically distinct from these five factors. As expected, the two urgency subscales were most strongly related to an internalizing-psychopathology latent factor. These findings provide empirical genetic evidence that impulsivity can be broken down into distinct categories of differential relevance for internalizing psychopathology. They also demonstrate how measured genetic markers can be used to inform theories of psychology and personality.

Mindfulness training for clinically elevated social anxiety: The impact on peak drinking

Social anxiety is related to more drinking in high-risk drinking situations and to more drinking-related problems. Given the rise in mindfulness-based interventions for social anxiety, it is important to test whether drinking impacts outcomes among individuals with clinically elevated social anxiety. Undergraduates with clinically elevated social anxiety were randomly assigned to mindfulness training (n = 29) or thinking-as-usual control (n = 29). They were encouraged to practice mindfulness or thinking-as-usual in response to social events daily for two-weeks following baseline. Follow-up measures were completed one month post-baseline. The interaction of baseline peak estimated blood alcohol content (eBAC) X condition predicted one-month follow-up peak eBAC such that among those with greater (but not lower) baseline eBAC, mindfulness was related to lower follow-up eBAC compared to control. Similarly, mindfulness training resulted in less post-training anxiety among those with greater (but not lower) baseline eBAC. However, this effect was not evident during a two-week practice period nor at one-month follow-up. Rather, at one-month follow-up, the interaction of baseline eBAC X condition predicted follow-up mindfulness (non-reactivity); among those with higher (but not lower) baseline eBAC, mindfulness training was associated with less follow-up mindfulness than the control condition. Results indicate that among those with greater baseline peak eBAC, mindfulness practice resulted in lower follow-up eBAC compared to control among those with clinically elevated social anxiety. However, although mindfulness training may result in less anxiety in the short-term among heavy drinkers with social anxiety, this effect did not last longer-term. Rather, heavier drinkers evinced poorer longer-term mindfulness-related outcomes.

Mindfulness is not associated with dissonant attitudes but enhances the ability to cope with them

Background

Explicit and implicit attitudes have been studied extensively, but there is less attention to reducing dissonance between them. This is relevant because this dissonance (IED) results in distress and has inconsistent effects on behavior, e.g. less physical activity but more smoking. Mindfulness decreases dissonance between self-related explicit and implicit constructs. This study investigates if, and which, specific mindfulness subskills are associated with decreased dissonance between explicit and implicit attitudes, and whether mindfulness subskills moderate the relationship between IED and intention/behavior.

Method

At baseline and one and three months thereafter, participants’ (N = 1476) explicit attitudes, implicit attitudes, red meat consumption (RMC), intention to reduce RMC as well as levels of trait mindfulness were assessed.

Results

Mindfulness subskills were not associated with decreased IED. IED was associated with lower RMC and a higher intention to reduce RMC. The mindfulness subskill acceptance buffered the effect of IED on intention, seemingly offering a skill to deal with dissonant attitudes, which was unidentified until now.

Conclusion

The mindfulness subskill accepting without judgment functions as a way to deal with dissonance. Future research should use this novel finding and investigate whether mindfulness can be used as a buffer in contexts where dissonance results in maladaptive behaviors.

Relations among motives, negative urgency, and mindfulness skills in college drinkers

Heavy alcohol use continues to be a common problem among the college student population, and numerous negative consequences can be attributed to student drinking. Several factors, including drinking motives and impulsivity, have been studied to better understand college drinking behaviors. Research has identified that coping motives (i.e., drinking to reduce negative affect) and negative urgency (i.e., the tendency for rash reaction in response to negative affect) are both closely linked to alcohol-related problems and to one another. The primary purpose of this study was to test if mindfulness skills moderate the relation between negative urgency and drinking to cope. To test for moderation, 683 college student drinkers responded to self-report measures of drinking behaviors, drinking motives, impulsivity, and daily utilization of mindfulness skills. Four separate regression models tested for the mindfulness skills of observing, describing, acting with awareness, and accepting without judgment as potential moderators to the relation between negative urgency and coping motives. The mindfulness skill of accepting without judgment significantly moderated (i.e., dampened) the positive relation between negative urgency and drinking to cope. Results may be useful in developing targeted intervention and prevention efforts to test among students, as skills training may benefit individuals with long-standing impulsive personality traits who engage in the traditionally problematic behavior of drinking to cope.

The relationship of mindfulness and mindfulness-related practices with alcohol use among Hispanics/Latinx

Hispanics/Latinx (H/Ls) are the largest ethnic minority group in the U.S., and three of the four leading causes of death are associated with problematic alcohol use. This study examined the relationship between mindfulness and alcohol use among H/Ls and whether differences emerged by sub-ethnicity. Participants (N = 341; 49.7% female; average age=28.57) were H/Ls currently living in the U.S. Survey questions were answered online in English or Spanish. Participants primarily endorsed engaging in informal mindfulness practices (47.5%), spiritual practices (25.2%), and mindfulness meditation (24.6%). No significant differences emerged among H/L sub-ethnicities. Spiritual practices and higher mindfulness were associated with less problematic alcohol use among the entire sample. Similar results were found among drinkers-only. Findings shed light on commonly used mindfulness practices and indicate that very few differences emerge among H/L sub-ethnicities on mindfulness practices and general mindfulness. The delivery/tailoring of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may not need to differ amongst H/L sub-ethnicities in the U.S. Aspects of mindfulness appear protective regarding problematic alcohol use, suggesting that future MBIs that increase mindfulness should be explored for this population.

Mindfulness, impulsivity, and moral disengagement as parameters of bullying and victimization at school

The aim of the present study was to examine the existing association between mindfulness, impulsivity, moral disengagement, and bullying experiences at school. Longitudinal data were collected in three points in time (T1, T2, T3) with 6 months interval between them. Participants were 558 adolescents attending secondary schools in Cyprus, with their ages ranging from 14 to 17 years (M = 15.3; standard deviation = 0.69). Through structural equation modeling, it was found that mindfulness at T1 had a significant negative effect on both impulsivity and moral disengagement at T2 and these, in turn, had a positive effect on bullying and victimization at T3. Thus, mindfulness had an indirect effect on both bullying and victimization, fully mediated by impulsivity and moral disengagement.

The Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Impulsivity and its Neurobiological Correlates in Healthy Adults

Interest has grown in using mindfulness meditation to treat conditions featuring excessive impulsivity. However, while prior studies find that mindfulness practice can improve attention, it remains unclear whether it improves other cognitive faculties whose deficiency can contribute to impulsivity. Here, an eight-week mindfulness intervention did not reduce impulsivity on the go/no-go task or Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), nor produce changes in neural correlates of impulsivity (i.e. frontostriatal gray matter, functional connectivity, and dopamine levels) compared to active or wait-list control groups. Separately, long-term meditators (LTMs) did not perform differently than meditation-naïve participants (MNPs) on the go/no-go task. However, LTMs self-reported lower attentional impulsivity, but higher motor and non-planning impulsivity on the BIS-11 than MNPs. LTMs had less striatal gray matter, greater cortico-striatal-thalamic functional connectivity, and lower spontaneous eye-blink rate (a physiological dopamine indicator) than MNPs. LTM total lifetime practice hours (TLPH) did not significantly relate to impulsivity or neurobiological metrics. Findings suggest that neither short- nor long-term mindfulness practice may be effective for redressing impulsive behavior derived from inhibitory motor control or planning capacity deficits in healthy adults. Given the absence of TLPH relationships to impulsivity or neurobiological metrics, differences between LTMs and MNPs may be attributable to pre-existing differences.

Craving Mediates the Relation Between Impulsivity and Alcohol Consumption Among University Students

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The relationship between impulsivity and craving in severe alcohol use disorders is well established, but the presence and characteristics of this link in University students are still to be established. The present study aims to better understand the relationship between impulsivity and craving in university students and to determine the influence of these variables on alcohol consumption characteristics.

METHODS

A large sample of university students (N = 1055, mean age: 20.9 years; 713 women) completed an online questionnaire to evaluate alcohol use, impulsivity, and craving.

RESULTS

Linear regression analysis demonstrated that the compulsive dimensions of craving (P < .001), sensation seeking (P < .001), and lack of premeditation (P < .001) constitute strong predictors of current consumption. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis determined the threshold level above which craving intensity can identify specific high-risk populations. A mediation analysis showed that craving has a partial mediator effect on the impact of impulsivity on alcohol consumption for this population (37,8%, P < .001).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The sensation seeking and lack of premeditation dimensions of impulsivity, coupled with compulsive craving, are efficient predictors of excessive alcohol consumption for university students. The partial mediator effect of craving is important in terms of characterizing the relationship between impulsivity and alcohol consumption.

SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE

Our study centrally shows that the interaction between elevated levels of impulsivity and craving constitute a crucial risk factor for alcohol consumption in university students, and should thus constitute a target for primary prevention programs (Am J Addict 2019;00:00-00).

PTSD symptom severity and impulsivity among firefighters: Associations with alcohol use

Firefighters represent a unique population at high risk for trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and alcohol use. This study explored the main and interactive effects of PTSD symptom severity and impulsivity with regard to alcohol use severity. We hypothesized that higher levels of PTSD symptom severity and impulsivity would be related to greater alcohol use severity. Covariates included trauma load, depressive symptom severity, and romantic relationship status. The sample was comprised of 654 firefighters (Mage = 38.65, SD = 8.60) who endorsed exposure to potentially traumatic events and lifetime alcohol use. Firefighters completed an online questionnaire battery. A series of hierarchical regressions was conducted. PTSD symptom severity and impulsivity were significantly, incrementally associated with alcohol use severity, and a significant interactive effect was documented; firefighters with heightened PTSD symptom severity and impulsivity had the highest levels of alcohol use severity. This line of inquiry has great potential to inform prevention and intervention efforts for this vulnerable population. Clinical and research implications are discussed.

Moderation of relation between psychological risk factors and alcohol use by sex

Alcohol consumption is a significant public health concern among young adults, with most recent research suggesting that the sex gap in alcohol consumption among young adults is closing. Thus, the present study tested sex as a moderator for known risk factors for alcohol use (impulsivity, sensation seeking, mindfulness). We examined sex differences by surveying young adults (n = 1,437) from across Washington state between 2011 and 2013 on alcohol risk factors (impulsivity, sensation seeking, mindfulness), alcohol consumption (quantity and frequency), and alcohol related negative consequences. Zero inflated Poisson and Zero inflated Negative Binomial models revealed that sex moderated the relationship between Peak Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and impulsivity such that higher impulsivity was more strongly related to higher Peak BAC for women than for men. Overall, these results suggest that very few sex differences exist in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related negative consequences. Future research should look beyond the risk factors studied here to identify other important mechanisms that vary by sex that may be important targets for clinical or prevention efforts related to alcohol consumption.

The Sequential Indirect Effect of Negative Urgency on Drinking Consequences Through Distress Intolerance and Drinking Motives: Initial Examination in College Students Reporting Past Month Alcohol Use

Identification of cognitive and affective vulnerabilities among college drinkers may aid in developing focused interventions that promote a reduction in the prevalence of alcohol use. Negative urgency (NU) and distress intolerance (DI) evidence concurrent, unique, and synergistic relations with drinking motives and negative consequences of alcohol use. Utilizing a sequential multiple mediation framework to investigate a comprehensive model of these variables, we examined NU as a behavioral risk factor that potentiates the development of DI, thereby contributing to drinking motives that increase the risk of problematic use in young adults. A diverse sample of undergraduate students (N = 616; M _age= 19.1, SD=1.4, range=18-25; 50.6% female; 60.6% Caucasian; recruited between September 2015 and Spring 2017) reporting past month alcohol use completed an online questionnaire battery. The results suggested that NU may contribute to negative alcohol use outcomes via its relation to DI and the motivation to drink in order to cope with negative emotional states and conform to social pressure. These findings suggest that NU may be a primary intervention target in young adults.

Effect of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention on Impulsivity Trajectories Among Young Adults in Residential Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Objectives

Impulsivity has been identified as an important construct in predicting the initiation and maintenance of substance use among at-risk populations. Interventions emphasizing mindfulness strategies appear particularly promising in reducing substance use and marking change in various aspects of impulsivity.

Methods

The current study used a rolling group mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) intervention for young adults in residential substance use disorder treatment. We examined change in impulsivity facets measured by the S-UPPS for youth randomly assigned to MBRP (n = 45) versus those assigned to treatment as usual plus 12 step/self-help (n = 34). We also examined how change in impulsivity mediated changes in substance use post-treatment.

Results

In general, results indicated that MBRP is effective at reducing facets of trait impulsivity in treatment-seeking individuals with SUDs. Only positive and negative urgency mediated the relation between treatment assignment and substance use.

Conclusions

MBRP is a viable and useful intervention for young adults in residential treatment for substance use disorders and can aid in marked change in facets of impulsivity. Both positive and negative urgency were significant mechanisms of change in reducing substance use following treatment. Results are discussed focused on the utility of MRBP as a clinical intervention for at-risk, marginalized, and young adults.

Associations of personality traits with marijuana use in a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States

INTRODUCTION

Identifying adolescents at risk for marijuana use who can be targeted for intervention efforts is critical. Certain personality traits are strongly associated with substance use, including marijuana use. We investigated the associations of impulsivity (and its subscales sensation seeking and lack of planning), aggression, and neuroticism with marijuana use (lifetime and frequency of past 12-month use) in a national sample of adolescents.

METHODS

We used data from the National Comorbidity Survey: Adolescent Supplement, a nationally representative, cross-sectional study of 8495 U.S. adolescents aged 14 to 18 years. We calculated adjusted prevalence ratios and odds ratios to assess associations of the five personality scales with lifetime use and frequency of past 12-month use and examined gender as a potential moderator of these associations.

RESULTS

Each of the personality traits was positively associated with lifetime use (all p < 0.001). Impulsivity (the total scale and both subscales) and aggression (all p < 0.05) were positively associated with frequency of past 12-month use. The neuroticism-lifetime use association was stronger among girls (p < 0.001) than boys (p < 0.05), and the associations of impulsivity and lack of planning with frequency of use were significant only among girls, with moderate female users reporting higher levels of the personality scales than infrequent users (both p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study highlights the potential importance of identifying personality traits, specifically disinhibition-related traits such as impulsivity and aggression, to reduce and prevent adolescent marijuana use.

Linking Cognitive Measures of Response Inhibition and Reward Sensitivity to Trait Impulsivity

Impulsivity is regarded as a multifaceted construct that comprises two dimensions: rapid-response impulsivity and reward-delay impulsivity. It is unclear, however, which aspects of trait impulsivity, as assessed by self-report measures are related to rapid-response impulsivity and/or to reward-delay impulsivity, as different results have been reported in studies using both self-report and cognitive measures. This study aimed to directly relate self-report measures of impulsivity to cognitive measures of impulsivity in individuals at low- or high-levels on two impulsivity dimensions, specifically rapid-response impulsivity and reward-delay impulsivity. Participants were classified into high- or low-impulsivity groups based on (1) level of rapid-response impulsivity (determined by BIS-11 Motor subscale scores); (2) level of reward-delay impulsivity (determined by BIS/BAS subscale scores); and (3) a combination of rapid-response impulsivity and reward-delay impulsivity levels. Impulsivity was assessed using Go/No-Go, Stop-Signal and Delay-Discounting tasks and self-report measures. The high rapid-response impulsivity group showed significantly higher reward-delay impulsivity on both, the Delay-Discounting tasks and on self-report measures assessing reward-delay impulsivity, than the low-risk group. Based on the level of reward-delay impulsivity, the high reward-delay impulsivity group scored significantly higher on task-based (cognitive) and self-report measures assessing rapid-response inhibition than the low reward-delay impulsivity group. Combining both dimensions of impulsivity showed that the high-impulsivity group performed significantly worse in rapid-response paradigms and temporally discounted significantly more impulsively than the low-impulsivity group. Thus, combined impulsivity factors provide better assessment of impulsivity than each dimension alone. In conclusion, robust differences in impulsivity can be identified in non-clinical young adults.

Mindfulness as a mediator of the association between adverse childhood experiences and alcohol use and consequences

One-third of college students report past-year heavy episodic drinking, making college student alcohol use an important area for continued research. Research has consistently linked early experiences of adversity to problematic substance use in adolescence and adulthood. Given the negative health consequences associated with heavy episodic drinking, it is imperative to identify mechanisms that contribute to this relation. Low levels of mindfulness have been linked to early adversity as well as impulsivity and alcohol use, therefore, the current study aims to examine the mediating role of mindfulness in the relation between early adversity and current alcohol use and consequences. Undergraduate students (N = 385) at a Midwestern university completed an online questionnaire assessing experiences of childhood adversity, trait mindfulness, and current alcohol use and related consequences. Results indicated that increased adverse experiences and lower levels of mindfulness predicted both increased alcohol consumption and consequences (ps < 0.025), with mindfulness mediating the relationships. Mindfulness is a predictor of alcohol outcomes and appears to mediate the relation between early adversity and alcohol use and consequences. Findings suggest that students with a history of adversity are more likely to exhibit lower levels of mindfulness, which may lead to an increase in alcohol consumption and consequences in early adulthood. Targeted alcohol intervention efforts that incorporate mindfulness skills may be particularly beneficial for those who have experienced early adversity.

Depressive statements prime goal-directed alcohol-seeking in individuals who report drinking to cope with negative affect

BACKGROUND

Most variants of negative reinforcement theory predict that acute depressed mood can promote alcohol-seeking behaviour, but the precise mechanisms underpinning this effect remain contested. One possibility is that mood-induced alcohol-seeking is due to the formation of a stimulus-response (S-R) association, enabling depressed mood to elicit alcohol-seeking automatically. A second possibility is that depressed mood undergoes incentive learning, enabling it to enhance the expected value of alcohol and thus promote goal-directed alcohol-seeking.

OBJECTIVES

These two explanations were distinguished using a human outcome-revaluation procedure.

METHODS

One hundred and twenty-eight alcohol drinkers completed questionnaires of alcohol use disorder, drinking to cope with negative affect and depression symptoms. Participants then learned that two responses earned alcohol and food points respectively (baseline) in two alternative forced choice trials. At test, participants rated the valence of randomly sampled negative and positive mood statements and, after each statement, chose between the alcohol- and food-seeking responses in extinction.

RESULTS

The percentage of alcohol- versus food-seeking responses was increased significantly in trials containing negative statements compared to baseline and positive statement trials, in individuals who reported drinking to cope with negative affect (p = .004), but there was no such interaction with indices of alcohol use disorder (p = .87) or depression symptoms (p = .58).

CONCLUSIONS

Individuals who drink to cope with negative affect are more sensitive to the motivational impact of acute depressed mood statements priming goal-directed alcohol-seeking. Negative copers' vulnerability to alcohol dependence may be better explained by excessive affective incentive learning than by S-R habit formation.

Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol-Related Problems Among College Students: A Moderated-Mediated Model of Mindfulness and Drinking to Cope

OBJECTIVE

In college student samples, the association between depressive symptoms and alcohol-related problems has been found to be mediated by drinking-to-cope motives. Mindfulness-based interventions suggest that mindfulness may attenuate the conditioned response of using substances in response to negative emotional states, and trait mindfulness has been shown to be a protective factor associated with experiencing fewer alcohol-related problems. In the present study, we examined trait mindfulness as a moderator of the indirect associations of depressive symptoms on alcohol-related problems via drinking-to-cope motives.

METHOD

Participants were undergraduate students at a large, southeastern university in the United States who drank at least once in the previous month (n = 448). Participants completed an online survey regarding their personal mental health, coping strategies, trait mindfulness, and alcohol use behaviors. The majority of participants were female (n = 302; 67.4%), identified as being either White non-Hispanic (n = 213; 47.5%) or African American (n = 119; 26.6%), and reported a mean age of 22.74 (SD = 6.81) years. Further, 110 (25%) participants reported having a previous and/or current experience with mindfulness mediation.

RESULTS

As hypothesized, the indirect effects from depressive symptoms to alcohol-related problems via drinking-to-cope motives were weaker among individuals reporting higher levels of mindfulness than among individuals reporting lower and average levels of mindfulness.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study suggests a possible mechanism through which mindfulness-based interventions may be efficacious among college students: decoupling the associations between depressive symptoms and drinking-to-cope motives.

Effect of Victimization on Impulse Control and Binge Drinking among Serious Juvenile Offenders from Adolescence to Young Adulthood

A vast literature has found longitudinal effects of early life stress on substance use and self-regulatory processes. These associations may vary by period-specific development among youth involved in the juvenile justice system. The current study used an accelerated longitudinal design and auto-regressive latent trajectory with structure residuals (ALT-SR) model to examine the within-person cross-lagged associations between binge drinking, impulse control, and victimization from 15 to 25 years of age. A large sample (N = 1100) of justice-involved youth were followed longitudinally for 7 years (M age baseline  = 15.8, M age conclusion  = 22.8). In general, the sample was ethnically diverse (41% Black, 34% Hispanic, 21% White, 4.3% Other) and primarily male (87.2%). Participants reported on their frequency of binge drinking, impulse control, and frequency of victimization at each time point. The results indicated that, during adolescence, victimization and binge drinking attenuated impulse control, which resulted in more binge drinking and victimization during young adulthood. The current study highlights the importance of assessing developmental processes and period-specific transitions among at risk youth, especially for youth experiencing early life stress.