The role of emotion regulation in alcohol use among adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of emotion regulation in the pathway to problematic alcohol use among adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), specifically investigating the total effect of emotion regulation on problematic alcohol use and the indirect effect of emotion regulation through social skills on problematic alcohol use within a 2-wave longitudinal design. The potential protective effect of parent knowledge of these effects was assessed. Participants were 149 adolescents with ADHD (mean [M] ϭ 15.11 years old; 78% male), and approximately 19% endorsed problematic alcohol use at Time 2. Contrary to our hypothesis, emotion regulation was not associated with subsequent problematic alcohol use without social skills in the model, and parent knowledge did not moderate this pathway. The results supported an indirect effect of emotion regulation on problematic alcohol use via social skills, although the direction of this effect was unexpected. Greater emotion regulation skills were associated with greater social skills, which in turn were associated with a higher likelihood of problematic alcohol use. Parent knowledge was protective against this indirect effect, such that the indirect effect was only present in the context of low parent knowledge. The findings delineate the roles of risk and protective factors associated with the progression from experimentation to alcohol use disorder among adolescents with ADHD.

Evidence of emotion dysregulation as a core symptom of adult ADHD: A systematic review

“…Emotional dysregulation appears very early in ADHD childhood compared to children with typical neurodevelopment [38]. Furthermore, there is abundant research on childhood ADHD that finds associations between emotion dysregulation and symptom severity (for reviews see [39,40]), failures in emotion recognition [41][42][43], working memory deficits [6,12,44], poor parental ER skills [45][46][47][48], even with abnormal functioning of the autonomic nervous system [49,50].…”

The regulation of emotions and problematic alcohol use: a review of literature

“…Jak podkreślają badacze, dodatkowo wiedza rodziców (tj. wiedza na temat przyjaciół, miejsca pobytu i zajęć dziecka) mierzona za pomocą dziewięciostopniowego kwestionariusza rodzicielskiego (Alabama Parenting Questionnaire 9 -APQ-9) chroniła badanych przed progresją używania alkoholu od eksperymentalnego do problemowego [35]. Korelację pomiędzy dysregulacją emocjonalną a zachowaniami związanymi z piciem alkoholu obserwowano także w innych populacjach, m.in.…”

Impairments in Emotion Recognition and Positive Emotion Regulation Predict Social Difficulties in Adolescent With ADHD

“…Whilst there are established relationships between deficits in response inhibition (the ability to supress inappropriate actions) and emotion recognition, and social difficulties in ADHD (Bunford et al, 2015; Kofler et al, 2018; Staff et al, 2021; Tseng & Gau, 2013; Zendarski et al, 2021), the mechanism by which these cognitive and social cognitive deficits contribute to social difficulties is unclear. It has also been well established that social difficulties in adolescents with ADHD are due at least in part to emotion dysregulation (Fogleman et al, 2018; Lee et al, 2018; Margherio et al, 2020; Shaw et al, 2014; Thorell et al, 2017); defined as an inability to manage and match one’s emotional response to their desired state, which includes containing positive and negative emotions, and up-regulating and down-regulating emotions (Faraone et al, 2019; Preece et al, 2018), though no study to date has examined emotion dysregulation with regards to both cognitive and social difficulties. We propose that emotion dysregulation is the pathway by which deficits in response inhibition and emotion recognition contribute to social difficulties in adolescents with ADHD.…”

“…One of the key negative outcomes associated with emotion dysregulation is poor social functioning. Emotion dysregulation has been consistently linked to poorer social skills, negative appraisals by peers, and peer victimisation in both children and adolescents with ADHD (Fogleman et al, 2018; Lee et al, 2018; Margherio et al, 2020; Shaw et al, 2014; Thorell et al, 2017). The negative effects of emotion dysregulation may be even more pronounced in those with difficulties regulating positive emotions (Thorell et al, 2017).…”