Anxiety Symptoms and Alcohol-Related Problems among College Students: A Moderated-Mediation Model of Rumination and Emotion Dysregulation

A longitudinal test of problematic alcohol use and binge eating among college women: The moderating role of shame

Problematic alcohol use and binge eating frequently co-occur. High levels of negative affect, negative urgency, and/or shame may increase the likelihood that problematic alcohol use and binge eating co-occur over time.

OBJECTIVE

Examine 1) the temporal relationship between problematic alcohol use and binge eating among college women, who are at high risk for both, and 2) the additive and moderating effects of shared, emotion-based risk factors in models involving both problematic alcohol use and binge eating.

METHOD

In n = 302 college women assessed at two time points across 8 months, we used hierarchical linear regression to invstigate our objectives.

RESULTS

Baseline problematic alcohol use and baseline shame independently predicted increases in follow-up binge eating, controlling for baseline binge eating. In addition, the interaction between problematic alcohol use and shame accounted for further variance in subsequent binge eating (the influence of baseline problematic alcohol use on follow-up binge eating was stronger at higher levels of baseline shame). The reciprocal relationship was not significant: baseline binge eating did not predict follow-up problematic alcohol use independently or in conjunction with risk factors. Neither negative affect nor negative urgency showed predictive effects beyond prior behavior and shame. Results support 1) problematic alcohol use as a prospective risk factor for binge eating, 2) shame as an additive predictor of binge eating, and 3) shame as a positive moderator of binge eating prediction from problem drinking.

CONCLUSION

Addressing shame and problematic alcohol use may be warranted in binge eating interventions for college women.

Ethnic/Racial Identity, Adolescent Sleep, and Somatic Health: Discrimination and Stress Responses as Mediating Mechanisms

PURPOSE

This study sought to examine whether the daily associations between ethnic/racial discrimination and stress responses served as mediators linking ethnic/racial identity (ERI), adolescent sleep health, and somatic symptoms.

METHODS

Data were drawn from 279 adolescents of color (69% female; 24% African Americans; 31% Asian Americans; 41% Latinx; and 4% unknown ethnicity/race; Mage = 14.31 years, SD = 0.65). Adolescents first completed an online survey about ERI exploration and commitment; and then 14-day diaries on ethnic/racial discrimination and stress responses (i.e., rumination and problem-solving coping), and finally, a post-diary survey about sleep and somatic health over the past two weeks. This study adopts slope-as-mediator mediation modeling, a novel approach highlighting the role of daily-level experiences in developmental processes by examining the day-to-day association between two variables as an explanatory mechanism.

RESULTS

The daily associations between ethnic/racial discrimination and two stress responses significantly mediated the link between ERI exploration and adolescents' subsequent sleep and somatic health. For ERI commitment, only the mediating pathway of the association between ethnic/racial discrimination and problem-solving coping was significant.

DISCUSSION

Daily responses to ethnic/racial discrimination, both adaptively and maladaptively, could in part explain the association between ERI exploration and adolescent health. Active participation in cultural activities may increase adaptive responses to ethnic/racial discrimination; meanwhile, uncertainty about ERI may lead to maladaptive reactions such as rumination. For ERI commitment, only problem-solving coping with ethnic/racial discrimination mediated the links to health outcomes, an observation possibly explained by the benefits of holding a strong sense of commitment to ERI.

Investigating the effects of emotion dysregulation and repetitive negative thinking on alcohol hangover anxiety and depression

INTRODUCTION

Underlying factors associated with alcohol hangover psychological symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, have not been identified. Emotion dysregulation and repetitive negative thinking (RNT) are transdiagnostic factors associated with psychopathology, including non-hangover anxiety and depression. The current study prospectively examined the role of emotion dysregulation on subsequent alcohol hangover anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as the moderating role of RNT on this relation among university students.

METHODS

One hundred thirty-six participants completed baseline assessments of emotion dysregulation (DERS-16) and non-hangover anxiety and depression (DASS-21). Thirty-nine participants reported experiencing alcohol hangover at 2-week follow up and completed assessments of RNT (PTQ) and hangover anxiety and depression (modified DASS-21). Two independent regression-based moderation analyses were conducted to examine the relation of baseline emotion dysregulation, 2-week follow-up RNT, and hangover anxiety and depression symptoms after accounting for baseline non-hangover anxiety and depression symptoms.

RESULTS

Among those experiencing alcohol hangover (n = 39), emotion dysregulation and RNT were not associated with hangover related anxiety beyond non-hangover anxiety. Emotion dysregulation significantly predicted hangover depression but was rendered non-significant by the addition of RNT, which was significantly associated with hangover depression. RNT moderated the emotion dysregulation-hangover depression relation such that emotion dysregulation was not associated with future hangover depression at low levels of RNT but was positively associated with hangover depression at moderate to high levels of RNT.

CONCLUSION

Results provide preliminary support for the role of emotion dysregulation and RNT in hangover depression severity.

Linking Depression with Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences: A Structural Equation Model Among a Clinically Depressed Population

Background and Objectives: Previous research suggests that rumination acts as a mediating mechanism in the association between depression and drinking motives, particularly drinking to cope, as well as negative alcohol-related consequences. In this study, we tested the connections between depressive symptoms, rumination, drinking motives, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related problems in a clinically depressed population (N = 209). Methods: Structural equation modeling was used to test the models. Specifications were based on the results of a previously evaluated model in a sample of college students. Results: The complex model showed a significant positive association between depressive symptoms and rumination. Drinking motives (enhancement and coping) were linked to more negative alcohol-related consequences. In a simplified model, pronounced depressive symptoms were associated with both increased ruminative thinking and more negative alcohol-related problems. Rumination was connected with stronger drinking motives (combined in one general factor), which were again associated with alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Limitations: The use of self-report measures to determine diagnostic validity. Conclusions: In a clinically depressed sample, depressive symptoms were linked to increased negative alcohol-related consequences. This association was partially explained by rumination and drinking motives. However, rumination was less relevant than previous studies suggested.