Moderation effect of emotion regulation on the relationship between social anxiety, drinking motives and alcohol related problems among university students*

Abstract

Background: Accumulated evidence suggests that individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) are at particular risk of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD). Yet, little is known about the mechanisms under this high comorbidity. This study aimed to elucidate the process of the development of alcohol related problems among individuals with elevated social anxiety. We investigated the moderation effect of difficulties in emotion regulation on the relationship between symptoms of social anxiety, coping and conformity motives and alcohol related problems. Methods: In a sample of university students (N = 647) in South Korea, we examined whether cognitive (fear of negative evaluation), behavioral (social avoidance), and physiological symptoms (concerns over physiological symptoms) of social anxiety affect alcohol related problems with the mediation of coping and conformity motives. Furthermore, difficulties in emotion regulation were hypothesized to moderate each mediational path. Results: Results showed that the fear of negative evaluation and concerns over physiological symptoms were associated with alcohol related problems with the mediation of conformity and coping motives, respectively. As hypothesized, each path was moderated by difficulties in emotion regulation. Conclusions: Findings suggest that coping and conformity motives to cope with cognitive and physiological symptoms of social anxiety were related to alcohol related problems. In addition, individuals with high levels of difficulties in emotion regulation were prone to exhibit more alcohol related problems.

Difficulties with emotion regulation and drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic among undergraduates: the serial mediation of COVID-related distress and drinking to cope with the pandemic

“…Consistent with prior work on the relation to coping motivated drinking generally (Veilleux et al, 2014), difficulty engaging in goal-directed behavior was positively related to more drinking to cope specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, difficulty engaging in goal-direct behavior was related to COVID-related worry and past month-drinking quantity which is in line with prior work finding more emotion regulation difficulty generally is related to greater worry (Amstadter, 2008;Hofmann et al, 2012), coping motived drinking (e.g., Aurora & Klanecky, 2016;Kim & Kwon, 2020), and alcohol consumption (e.g., Cavicchioli et al, 2019;Miller & Racine, 2020). The current study extended this literature by determining that the specific transdiagnostic risk factor, difficulty with goal-directed behaviors, was significantly related to past-month eBAC, at least partially due to the serial relations of COVID-related worry severity and drinking to cope with the pandemic.…”

“…In line with negative reinforcement models (e.g., Baker et al, 2004), individuals with greater difficulty with emotion regulation may rely on alcohol to cope with elevated negative affect; that is, these individuals may experience more COVID-related distress and thus drink to cope with the pandemic, leading to greater overall drinking during the pandemic. In partial support of this conceptualization, difficulties with emotion regulation are related to coping motivated drinking (Aurora & Klanecky, 2016;Kim & Kwon, 2020;Messman-Moore & Ward, 2014;Paulus et al, 2017). Further, individuals with greater difficulty with emotion regulation appear to experience more COVID-related anxiety.…”

“…Specifically, difficulty with emotion regulation is a transdiagnostic psychological vulnerability factor that may be associated with poorer alcohol-related outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Difficulty with emotion regulation is related to a variety of mental and behavioral health problems including anxiety (e.g., Amstadter, 2008;Cisler et al, 2010;Gonzalez et al, 2008;Hofmann et al, 2012;Mennin et al, 2005) and alcohol use (Cavicchioli et al, 2019;Dvorak et al, 2014;Kim & Kwon, 2020;Miller & Racine, 2020). Indeed, emotion regulation difficulties are associated with greater quantity and frequency of alcohol use (Fox et al, 2008), alcohol-related problems (Kim & Kwon, 2020), and the severity of AUD (Cavicchioli et al, 2019).…”

Do you ‘like’ problems? The linkage between college students' interactions with alcohol‐related content on social media and their alcohol‐related problems

“…While existing research links coping and conformity motives to peak drinks and alcohol‐related problems [49, 50], our study is among the first to examine the relationship between students' engagement with celebrity ARC and viewing of alcohol company ARC, motives, and alcohol‐related problems. However, several limitations should be acknowledged alongside the current study's strengths.…”