Difficulties regulating positive and negative emotions in relation to coping motives for alcohol use and alcohol problems among hazardous drinkers

The Influence of Social Media on Alcohol Consumption of Mothers of Children and Adolescents: A Scoping Review of the Literature

Alcohol misuse is a common problem in many countries, where alcohol is often portrayed as a fun and interactive coping strategy for mothers to manage the demands of motherhood. Social media platforms have established themselves as a popular forum for mothers to share information and create an environment in which mothers may be exposed to and influenced by alcohol-related content. Given the increased social acceptance and normalization of drinking among mothers, especially during the recent pandemic, a critical analysis of social media influences on alcohol behaviours and consumption is warranted. A scoping review mapped the evidence on social media influences and alcohol consumption among mothers of children and teenagers younger than eighteen years old. Several databases were consulted, and the evidence was collated into two themes and seven subthemes. Factors related to alcohol consumption in motherhood include (1) community and social support, (2) coping and mental health, (3) motherhood expectations and identity, (4) alcohol consumption, (5) marketing strategies, (6) everyday issues, and (7) social media influence. Numerous social, economic, and health problems are associated with alcohol misuse. The current literature suggests that social media is a powerful tool to disseminate messages about alcohol and normalize mothers' drinking behaviours.

Risky Drinking in Adolescents and Emerging Adults: Differences between Individuals Using Alcohol Only versus Polysubstances

BACKGROUND

Factors related to risky drinking (e.g., motives, protective behavioral strategies [PBS]) may vary between youth who engage in polysubstance use compared to those who consume alcohol only. We examined differences in factors among youth who consume alcohol only compared to alcohol with other substances (i.e., polysubstance use), and correlates associated with risky drinking between the groups.

METHODS

Participants (N = 955; ages 16-24; 54.5% female) who reported recent risky drinking completed measures of alcohol/substance use, alcohol-related consequences, drinking motives, alcohol PBS, mental health symptoms, and emotion dysregulation. Participants were in the polysubstance group if they reported using at least one other substance (e.g., cannabis, stimulants) in addition to alcohol in the past three months. Chi-square and t-tests examined differences between the two groups and multiple regression analyses examined correlates of risky drinking.

RESULTS

Most participants (70.4%, n = 672) reported polysubstance use; these individuals engaged in riskier patterns of drinking, experienced more alcohol-related consequences, used fewer PBS, had stronger drinking motives (enhancement, social, coping), endorsed more mental health symptoms, and reported more emotion dysregulation. Regression models showed that emotion dysregulation significantly associated with risky drinking in the alcohol-only group; conformity and coping motives, alcohol PBS, and anxiety symptoms significantly associated with risky drinking in the polysubstance group.

CONCLUSIONS

Among risky drinking youth, results indicated youth engaging in polysubstance use have greater comorbidities and individual-level factors associated with risky drinking than youth who consume alcohol only. These findings may inform the tailoring of interventions for individuals who engage in risky drinking and polysubstance use.

Interoceptive anxiety-related processes: Importance for understanding COVID-19 and future pandemic mental health and addictive behaviors and their comorbidity

The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with an increased prevalence of mental health problems and addictive behaviors. There is a growing theoretical and empirical evidence that individual differences in interoceptive anxiety-related processes are a one set of vulnerability factors that are important in understanding the impact of pandemic-related mental health problems and addictive behavior. However, there has not been a comprehensive effort to explore this rapidly growing body of research and its implications for public health. In this paper, we discuss why interoceptive anxiety-related processes are relevant to understanding mental health and addictive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then provide a narrative review of the available COVID-19 literature linking interoceptive fear and anxiety-related processes (e.g., anxiety sensitivity, health anxiety, and COVID-19 anxiety, fear, and worry) to mental health and addictive behaviors. We then propose a novel transdiagnostic theoretical model that highlights the role of interoceptive anxiety-related processes in mental health and addictive behavior in the context of the present and future pandemics. In the final section, we utilize this conceptualization to underscore clinical implications and provide guidance for future research initiatives in the management of COVID-19 mental health and addictive behaviors and inform the public health field for future pandemics.

Positive but not negative affect is associated with increased daily drinking likelihood in non-clinical populations: systematic review and meta-analyses

Background: Recent meta-analytical findings indicate that affect regulation plays an important role in alcohol craving, consumption volume, and substance use. However, in view of mixed findings, the affect and drinking likelihood literature remains in need of clarification and consolidation.Objectives: This systematic review with meta-analyses interrogated the results from peer-reviewed studies among non-clinical populations that examined the relationship between daily affective states and intraday likelihood of alcohol consumption.Method: A PRISMA guided search of PsychINFO, PsycARTICLES, Science Direct, Wiley Online Library, PubMed, SCOPUS, and JSTOR databases was conducted. Multilevel meta-analyses yielded 11 eligible negative affect studies (2751 participants, 23 effect sizes) and nine studies on positive affect (2244 participants, 14 effect sizes).Results: The pooled associations between intra-day affect and alcohol consumption likelihood revealed no significant association between negative affective state and drinking likelihood (OR = .90, 95% CI [.73, 1.12]) and that positive affect was associated with increased drinking likelihood (OR = 1.17, 95% CI [1.09, 1.27]). Egger's test, P-curve, fail-safe N, and selection models analyses suggested that the obtained results were unlikely to be the product of publication bias and p-hacking alone.Conclusions: Results converge to suggest that, independent of age, affect measure used, and study design, a significant albeit modest relationship between positive affect and alcohol consumption likelihood exists, which does not appear to be the case for negative affect. In conjunction with other recent meta-analyses, current findings help map out a more nuanced understanding of the affect-alcohol/substance use relationship, with potential implications for interventions.

Desire thinking as an underlying mechanism in alcohol use disorder and nicotine dependence

Desire thinking is an emerging construct in the addictive behaviours literature. No research, to date, has investigated its contribution to problematic alcohol use and nicotine dependence in patient samples when accounting for established predictors of addictive behaviours. The present study sought to clarify, in patient samples, the relative contribution of desire thinking in the associations between negative affect, impulsivity and thought suppression on the one hand and craving, problematic alcohol use and nicotine dependence on the other. To achieve this goal, two groups of individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) (n = 370; age range = 15-67 years) and nicotine dependence (n = 365; age range = 17-75 years) were selected, and measures of negative affect, impulsivity, thought suppression, craving, desire thinking, problematic alcohol use and nicotine dependence were completed by both groups. Results showed that in both groups, negative affect and thought suppression indirectly affected alcohol and nicotine craving, problematic alcohol use and nicotine dependence through the mediating role of desire thinking. The present study shows the independent role of desire thinking in predicting problematic alcohol use and nicotine dependence in patient samples, indicating its potential relevance for treatment.

Reduced structural connectivity of the amygdala is associated with childhood trauma in adult patients with alcohol use disorder

Childhood trauma (CT) is frequent in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and may impact on adult drinking behaviour and treatment outcome. This study aimed to investigate the structural correlates of CT in AUD, focusing on the amygdala, which plays a crucial role in the neurobiology of trauma. We hypothesized reduced amygdala volume and reduced structural connectivity as quantified by fractional anisotropy (FA) and by number of streamlines in those AUD patients with a history of moderate to severe CT (AUD‐CT). T1‐weighted MP2RAGE and diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) 3‐Tesla MRI‐scans were acquired in 41 recently abstinent patients with AUD. We compared bilateral amygdala volume and structural connectivity (FA and number of streamlines) of pathways emanating from the amygdala between AUD‐CT (n = 20) and AUD without CT (AUD‐NT, n = 21) using a mixed model multivariate analysis of variance (MANCOVA) controlling for age and gender. AUD‐CT displayed reduced FA and reduced number of streamlines of amygdalar tracts. There were no differences regarding amygdala volume. The severity of physical abuse, a subscale of the childhood trauma questionnaire, was negatively correlated with FA and with number of streamlines. AUD‐CT and AUD‐NT differ regarding structural connectivity of pathways projecting to and from the amygdala, but not regarding amygdala volume. Those alterations of structural connectivity in AUD‐CT may represent a distinguishable neurobiological subtype of AUD, which might be associated with the complex clinical picture and poorer outcome that patients with CT and AUD often present.

A longitudinal study among young adults into the predictive effect of perceived efficacy of behavioural strategies and the moderating role of drinking motives on use of protective behavioural strategies

INTRODUCTION

Although protective behavioural strategies (PBS) have shown to be effective in minimising alcohol-related negative consequences, research on the explanatory factors of their use is very scarce. Perceived efficacy has been demonstrated to be one of the most relevant explanatory factors in the use of health-related protective behaviours. The present study prospectively examines the relationship between the perceived efficacy of PBS in reducing alcohol-related negative consequences and the use of PBS in a community-based sample of young adults. In addition, the moderating role of drinking motives in this relationship is also examined.

METHODS

Prospective design with a baseline assessment and a 2-month follow up. Using a targeted sampling procedure, 339 young adults were recruited from the community [mean age: 21.1 (SD = 2.21); female = 50.7%] and completed questionnaires to measure perceived efficacy of PBS and drinking motives at baseline and PBS use at follow up.

RESULTS

Perceived efficacy of PBS at baseline was positively associated with PBS use at follow up, and these relationships were weaker as social, enhancement and coping motives scores increased.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Our findings support the need to include the perceived efficacy of PBS to reduce alcohol-related negative consequences in future interventions aimed at promoting PBS use. Moreover, these interventions should be personalised according to the initial levels of participants' drinking motives, incorporating elements that allow for neutralising their negative effects on PBS use (e.g. training in coping skills for those with strong coping motives).

Emotion dysregulation and hazardous drinking in relation to suicidal ideation among Spanish-speaking Latinx daily-smokers

OBJECTIVE

Suicidal ideation has increased among Latinx individuals in the last decade. Smoking increases the likelihood of suicidal ideation but work on Latinx smokers is minimal. Hazardous drinking and emotion dysregulation could be factors related to suicidal ideation among Latinx smokers, as has been evident in non-Latinx White samples. The current study sought to examine the main and interactive effects of emotion dysregulation and hazardous drinking in relation to suicidal ideation among Latinx daily-smokers.

METHODS

Participants were 371 Spanish-speaking daily-smokers (58.8% female; M_age = 33.3; SD_age = 9.8) recruited from the United States through Qualtrics. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test an interactive model of emotion dysregulation and hazardous alcohol consumption in relation to suicidal ideation; we also tested the effect of emotion dysregulation on suicidal ideation as a function of hazardous drinking status.

RESULTS

Results indicated that latent emotional dysregulation was associated with greater suicidal ideation (p < 0.001); however, hazardous drinking was not related to suicidal ideation (p = 0.186). The interactive term of emotional dysregulation and hazardous drinking was significantly related to suicidal ideation (p = 0.017). Specifically, greater emotion dysregulation was significantly related to suicidal ideation among Latinx smokers who engaged in hazardous drinking (p < 0.001) but not those who did not engage in hazardous drinking (p = 0.123).

CONCLUSIONS

The current findings suggest that smoking combined with hazardous drinking may be related to increased suicidal ideation among Latinx smokers. Findings are discussed in relation to the potential role of intervention strategies that focus on emotion dysregulation and hazardous drinking among Latinx current daily smokers to mitigate suicidal risk among this established health disparities population.