Relationship between levels of mindfulness and substance use pattern

Abstract

Objective Evaluate the association between levels of mindfulness and sociodemographic characteristics and pattern of drug use of individuals seeking treatment in a University Service Specialized in Substance Use Disorders. Methods This is a cross-sectional study with 164 individuals over 18 years of age seeking treatment for the use of psychoactive substances in the June 2018-December 2019 period, using a questionnaire for sociodemographic data, the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) self-reporting instrument, and the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test. Results An association was found between low levels of mindfulness mainly with the individual risk of being a medium/high-risk user of sedative-hypnotic drugs (p = 0.020). A borderline association was also found between MAAS and the risk of the individual being a medium/high risk of alcohol (p = 0.053) and with a more severe pattern of substance use (p = 0.065). Conclusion Individuals seeking treatment for substance use presented impairments in the attentional aspect of mindfulness and levels of mindfulness seem to protect against behaviors related to substance use, especially against the use of high/moderate risk of sedative-hypnotics.

Dispositional mindfulness, emotional regulation and perceived stress among nursing students

“…As for self-reported use of alcohol and/or psychoactive substances, these variables were associated with decreased dispositional mindfulness levels, corroborating evidence from other studies, which have shown that lower dispositional mindfulness levels are associated with a higher probability of becoming users of psychoactive substances ( 26 ) and greater severity of dependence on these substances ( 27 ) . Although this study does not differentiate the frequency of use of these substances, distinguishing sporadic from chronic users, it is recognized that the use of psychoactive substances tends to impair conscientiousness and clarity of emotions, provoke automatic or unreflective behaviors and increase the experience of negative emotions and use of dysfunctional emotional regulation strategies ( 27 ) .…”

Atenção plena disposicional, regulação emocional e estresse percebido em estudantes de enfermagem

“…Quanto ao autorrelato do uso de álcool e/ou substâncias psicoativas, houve associação destas variáveis com a diminuição dos níveis de atenção plena disposicional, corroborando evidências de outros estudos, que têm demonstrado que menores níveis de atenção plena disposicional estão associados com a maior probabilidade de risco de se tornar usuários de substâncias psicoativas (26) e maior gravidade da dependência dessas substâncias (27) . Apesar de este estudo não diferenciar a frequência de uso dessas substâncias, distinguindo usuários esporádicos dos crônicos, reconhece-se que o uso de substâncias psicoativas tende a prejudicar a conscienciosidade e clareza de emoções, provocar comportamentos automáticos ou irreflexivos e aumentar a experienciação de emoções negativas e uso de estratégias de regulação emocional disfuncionais (27) .…”