The Role of Emotion Dysregulation In Problematic Alcohol Use and Coping with Problems Barbara SIMONIČ, Saša POLJAK LUKEK, Tanja VALENTA, Drago JEREBIC, Sara JEREBIC, Nataša RIJAVEC KLOBUČAR, Tanja REPIČ SLAVIČ, Christian GOSTEČNIK, Robert CVETEK, Ana ŠEREMET & Tanja PATE EJMH Vol, e0018 (2024) 1-15; https://doi.org/10.5708/EJMH.19.2024.0018 Received: 15 September 2023; Accepted: 10 March 2024; Online: 30 April 2024 Section: Research Papers Download full text
Abstract
Introduction: Emotional factors are often specified as playing an important role in the context of problematic alcohol use and alcohol addiction.
Aims: This study focused on examining the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation, perceived personal problems, and problematic alcohol use.
Methods: 374 participants from the general population in Slovenia and Croatia (34.8% men, 65.2% women) with an average age of 44.28 years (range: 26 to 74 years) completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Individual Problems and Strengths Scale (IPS) and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale – Short Form (DERS-SF).
Results: A higher level of problematic alcohol use positively correlated with difficulties in emotion regulation and the assessment of individual problems (p ≤ .010). Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that higher AUDIT scores were positively associated with two dimensions of difficulties in emotion regulation: impulse control difficulties (β = 0.22, p = .008) and lack of emotional awareness (β = 0.15, p = .010). Difficulties in emotion regulation completely mediated the effect of individual problems on problematic alcohol use (indirect effect: 0.18, CI [–.06, –.31]; p < .001): higher levels of individual problems contribute to higher levels of problematic alcohol use through the effect of difficulties in emotion regulation.
Conclusions: The findings indicate the vulnerability of individuals with difficulties in emotion regulation to problematic alcohol use. Difficulties in emotion regulation are an important factor to consider for understanding the development, maintenance, and treatment of alcoholism and problematic alcohol use.
Keywords
emotion regulation, alcoholism, stress, problem-solving, addiction
Corresponding author
Barbara SIMONIČ
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Co-authors
Saša POLJAK LUKEK
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9833-0339
Tanja VALENTA
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia & Franciscan Family Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3924-9607
Drago JEREBIC
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6452-3869
Sara JEREBIC
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4597-2746
Nataša RIJAVEC KLOBUČAR
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5626-8060
Tanja REPIČ SLAVIČ
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1524-453X
Christian GOSTEČNIK
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia & Franciscan Family Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5973-0145
Robert CVETEK
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3048-9965
Ana ŠEREMET
Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia
Tanja PATE
Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.