Distress tolerance and special alcohol metacognitions behave differently in the association of negative affect with alcohol‐related patterns in men with problematic alcohol use in the abstinence phase

Abstract

Negative affect may be related to alcohol‐related patterns (e.g., craving and problematic alcohol use). Distress intolerance and positive and negative alcohol‐related metacognitions may be underlying mechanisms in this link. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of negative affect including depressive, anxious, and stress symptoms on alcohol craving and problematic alcohol use via the paths of distress tolerance and both positive and negative alcohol‐related metacognitions. Three hundred men with problematic alcohol use during the abstinence phase completed psychological and clinical measures. Results showed that craving and negative alcohol metacognitions mediated the relationship between negative affect and problematic alcohol use. Negative affect had a direct and positive effect on craving and indirect effect via distress intolerance and positive alcohol metacognitions. In turn, distress intolerance and positive alcohol metacognitions indirectly and positively affected problematic alcohol use via craving. The study indicates that distress tolerance and distinct alcohol metacognitions may be differently related to various patterns of alcohol‐related problems, such that alcohol drinkers with high levels of negative affect, distress intolerance, and positive alcohol metacognitions show higher levels of craving, while high negative affect in relation to high negative alcohol metacognitions and alcohol craving is related to the perpetuation of alcohol use or problematic alcohol use.

Levels and relationships of Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, and Severity of Dependence among tribals with alcohol use disorder among tribals in East India: A preliminary study

“…Consistent with our hypothesis, the study nding reveals a signi cantly inverse link of the dependence severity with stress tolerance levels and facing negative emotions; however, this nding explains the small variance (only 6%). A similar observation has been reported and appears to be mediated by internal drinking motives, coping motives, cognitive schema, distinct alcohol metacognitions, and depressive symptoms [39], [14], [40],[16], [41], [17] . Hayes argued that it is feasible for a predictor (X) to impact an outcome (Y) variable indirectly via a mediator (M) even if the overall effect of X on Y cannot be proven to be more than zero [42] .…”

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

“…Higher scores indicate more severe levels of harmful alcohol use. The AUDIT has good internal reliability in individuals with problematic alcohol use (Khosravani et al, 2021). In the current study, the Cronbach alpha was 0.90, indicating excellent reliability.…”

Distress tolerance and emotional regulation in individuals with alcohol use disorder

“…The association between low distress tolerance and poor emotion regulation was demonstrated in the context of alcohol drinking in non-clinical samples. For example, a study conducted among men with problematic alcohol use found that distress intolerance impacted the association between negative affect and craving (13). In a study by Howell and colleagues (6) distress tolerance was related to coping motives for alcohol use in a community sample of young adults.…”