A review of implicit and explicit substance self-concept as a predictor of alcohol and tobacco use and misuse

Abstract

Background This paper provides an overview of the self-concept as it relates to substance use. Self-concept has a long history in psychological theory and research; however, substance self-concept (e.g., viewing one’s self as a drinker or smoker) is an understudied area of research with the potential to expand existing conceptualizations of substance use, addiction, and prevention and treatment efforts, and should receive greater research attention. Objectives First, we review and provide a theoretical framework of substance self-concept that draws from dual process models and distinguishes between implicit and explicit self-concept. Next, we summarize key findings related to substance use in the extant literature, focusing on alcohol and tobacco (smoking). Results Across both substances, there is converging evidence that substance self-concept is associated with substance use outcomes, including quantity and frequency of use and problems associated with use, and that change in substance self-concept is associated with recovery from substance misuse. Recommendations for the substance self-concept research agenda include routine assessment of substance self-concept, expanded use of implicit measures, investigation of moderators of substance self-concept, and targeting substance self-concept directly in prevention and intervention efforts. Conclusion Ultimately, we suggest that substance self-concept is a promising, but understudied, construct. Greater research attention to substance self-concept could clarify its potential as an important risk factor for hazardous use and addiction as well as its utility as a prevention and treatment target.

Resolving an identity crisis: Implicit drinking identity and implicit alcohol identity are related but not the same

“…The DI-IAT was also positively associated with both typical consumption and hazardous drinking after controlling for explicit drinking identity replicating previous studies (Lindgren et al, 2016a), which may add some confidence that the study’s novel findings will replicate.…”

“…IATs are computer-administered reaction time tasks thought to assess the relative strength of associations between constructs held in memory and have demonstrated utility for predicting hazardous drinking, often predicting above and beyond self-report questionnaires (for reviews, see Lindgren, Neighbors, Gasser, Ramirez, & Cvencek, 2016a; Reich, Below, & Goldman, 2010). The Drinking Identity IAT (DI-IAT; Lindgren et al, 2013b) assesses the relative associations between the constructs me (stimuli: me, my, mine, and self) and not me (stimuli: they, them, theirs, other) with the constructs drinker (stimuli: drinker, drink, drunk, and partier) and non-drinker (stimuli: non-drinker, abstainer, sober, and abstain).…”

“…The Alcohol-Identity IAT (AI-IAT; Gray, LaPlante, Bannon, Ambady, & Shaffer, 2011), also includes the constructs (and identical stimuli) for me and not me , but assesses their associations with alcohol and water (stimuli: images of alcohol or water, respectively). Both IATs have good psychometric properties and are positively associated with a range of drinking outcomes (Caudwell & Hagger, 2014; Gray et al, 2011; Lindgren et al, 2016a). The DI-IAT has been more widely implemented.…”

Evaluating the relationship between explicit and implicit drinking identity centrality and hazardous drinking

“…This finding is contrary to previous work using implicit and explicit measures of drinking identity (e.g., Lindgren et al, 2013b; 2016c) as well as findings from meta-analyses of implicit and explicit measures (e.g., Greenwald, Poehlman, Uhlmann, & Banaji, 2009), which tend to report correlations around .25. Given previous findings – both in the alcohol and substance use domain as well as in other areas of psychology – that implicit and explicit measures of identity are reliable and robust predictors (see Back et al, 2009; Greenwald & Farnham, 2000; Lindgren et al, 2016d), we suspect that the weaker relationships observed here – including the implicit and explicit measures' relations with one another and with hazardous drinking – reflect the need to improve the centrality measures and stimuli versus their ultimate inability to capture meaningful aspects of identity (whether via self-report or reaction time measures). However, additional research will clearly be needed to test this supposition.…”

An Exploratory Model of Psychosocial Factors and Healthy Habits in University Students of Physical Education Depending on Gender

“…Nevertheless, these findings could be justified by the positive effect of the practice of PA in women, decreasing the negative effect of tobacco on VO 2MAX . With respect to self-concept, it has been proven that alcohol intake is negatively related to it, since Chacón et al [66] and Lindgren et al [68] establish the negative relationship of this substance with its familiar, academic and physical dimensions. In these studies, only positive relationships were found with the social dimension of self-concept.…”