Distress tolerance and physiological reactivity to stress predict women’s problematic alcohol use.

Abstract

Research has shown that measures of reactivity to distress-including distress tolerance and physiological reactivity to stress-are dysregulated in women who misuse alcohol. These variables may interact and create a risk profile for young adult women, reflecting patterns of stress reactivity that confer a risk for alcohol misuse. The current study tested this hypothesis by examining the independent and interactive associations of subjective distress tolerance, behavioral distress tolerance, and physiological stress reactivity with women's alcohol misuse. The study was conducted with a sample of 91 college women recruited on a large northeastern university campus. Results showed that subjective levels of distress tolerance and physiological reactivity to stress (skin conductance reactivity, SCR), but not behavioral distress tolerance, were independently associated with alcohol misuse. In addition, subjective distress tolerance moderated the relationship between SCR and negative alcohol-related consequences. Specifically, women with low physiological reactivity (SCR) to a stressful task and greater urge to quickly rid themselves of distress (low subjective distress tolerance) endorsed a significantly greater number of adverse consequences from their alcohol use. These results extend prior findings by showing that, even among a nonclinical sample of women, lower stress reactivity in combination with low subjective distress tolerance is associated with increased risk for various drinking-related negative consequences.

Earliest experience of a relatively rare sound but not a frequent sound causes long term changes in the adult auditory cortex

“…The observed high oddball selectivity in SPN or L4 at different developmental ages could be a reflection of subcortical deviant selectivity 40,41 . The MGBv is the main thalamic nucleus from which A1, L4 and SPN get inputs 11,19 (Fig. 5Ci-ii).…”

“…However, the properties of early SPN sound responses, which are likely to play a crucial role in ACX development, are unknown, especially in the mice. SPNs receive inputs from the thalamic axons projecting to L4 10 in the ACX 11,19 and drive L4 activity over a time window of development 10,20 . Thus, it is important to know what kinds of natural stimuli specifically activate SPNs as their activity coincident with thalamic inputs can sculpt the earliest feedforward thalamocortical circuitry 13,14 in the ACX.…”

Factores Psicológicos y Relacionales Asociados a Episodios de Embriaguez en Adolescentes Escolares de Guadalajara, México

“…El estrés psicosocial es producto de la relación entre el individuo y su entorno, la cual resulta amenazante para el bienestar emocional (González-Forteza, 1992). En un estudio realizado con una muestra de mujeres universitarias, se mostró que la exposición al estrés y el deseo de deshacerse rápidamente de este se asoció a un mayor riesgo de consumo de alcohol (Holzhauer, Wemm, & Wulfert, 2017). Otras investigaciones han permitido ver de forma consistente que la presencia de estrés se asocia al consumo de drogas (López-Torrecillas et al, 2003;O'Connor & Colder, 2015;Park & Yeni, 2016).…”

“…Este estudio identificó que la alta impulsividad, la alta autoestima y la presencia de estrés social cotidiano incrementan 5.1 veces la probabilidad de embriaguez en los adolescentes, y que han sido factores asociados de forma consistente al uso-abuso de alcohol en la literatura (Adan et al, 2017;Holzhauer et al, 2017;Hyucksun et al, 2013;López-Torrecillas et al, 2003;Musitu-Ochoa & Herrero-Olaizola, 2003;O'Connor & Colder, 2015;Park & Yeni, 2016;Soravia et al, 2015;Wu et al, 2014). Sugerimos que este subconjunto de tres factores da cuenta de la alta vulnerabilidad psicológica de los adolescentes, quienes parecen subestimar las consecuencias de la embriaguez, asumiendo comportamientos soberbios que podrían tener su causa en la alta autoestima (Galimberti, 2002).…”

Gender moderates the association between distress tolerance and alcohol use among individuals with opioid use disorder

“…Distress tolerance is the ability to withstand negative emotional states (Simons and Gaher, 2005) and is associated with alcohol use problems (Gorka et al, 2012; Holzhauer et al, 2017) and drinking to cope with negative emotions (Howell et al, 2010; Vujanovic et al, 2011). Low distress tolerance predicts opioid misuse among patients with chronic pain (McHugh et al, 2016), and opioid relapse is more likely among people with low distress tolerance (Strong et al, 2012).…”