Worry moderates the relation between negative affectivity and affect-related substance use in adolescent males: a prospective study of maladaptive emotional self-regulation

Abstract

High negative affectivity has been frequently associated with adolescent substance use; presumably as the individual relies upon alcohol or other drug use to disrupt negative emotional states. Worry has been posited to serve a similar function, acting as a repetitive verbal–linguistic coping activity that disrupts unpleasant emotional processing. This study tested the hypothesis that worry might displace affect-related substance use as a maladaptive means of dealing with high negative affectivity. Two hundred fifty-seven adolescent male participants, along with their parents and teachers, completed measures of participants’ negative affectivity, worry, fearfulness, and substance use at two time points separated by approximately 4 years. Results supported the stated hypothesis; while low worriers were characterized by a significant positive relation between negative affectivity and affect-related substance use, no such relation was observed in high worriers. Although worry and fearfulness were moderately related, neither was directly related to substance use, suggesting that worry does not simply represent a fearful inhibition to use drugs. These findings suggest that worrying may take the place of substance use as a means of coping with unpleasant feelings in some adolescents.