Abstract
Background: Current models of alcohol problems in emerging adulthood (EA) have not fully considered the developmental context and integrated developmental, social, and emotional mechanisms. Attachment styles contribute to the development of emotion regulation and interpersonal functioning, which are both critical for managing periods of transition. The current study tested a model of alcohol problems in EA that considers emotion dysregulation and interpersonal difficulties as mediators of the relationship between attachment anxiety and avoidance and alcohol problems.Method: Emerging adults (n = 203, ages 18–24, 64.7% female) who drank 2 + times in the past 30 days completed measures at baseline and for 30 days after the baseline assessment.Results: Path analysis was used to test the indirect relationships between attachment anxiety and avoidance and alcohol problems via emotion dysregulation and interpersonal difficulties. There was a positive indirect relationship between anxious attachment and alcohol problems via both emotion dysregulation and interpersonal difficulties, and between avoidant attachment and alcohol problems via interpersonal difficulties, but not via emotion dysregulation. Follow-up analyzes examining pathways from attachment anxiety and avoidance to alcohol problems via the individual emotion dysregulation subscales revealed different emotion regulation pathways associated with higher anxious and avoidant attachment, but were generally in line with analyzes using a summed total score for emotion dysregulation.Conclusions: Interventions for alcohol problems in emerging adults should consider anxious and avoidant attachment as precursors to alcohol problems and should include skills training in adaptive strategies for emotion regulation and interpersonal functioning.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.