(PS12-51) Exploring Parental Dynamics, Emotion Regulation, and Drug & Alcohol Use in College Students

Exploring Parental Dynamics, Emotion Regulation, and Drug & Alcohol Use in College Students

Alisa R. McCollums, B.S 

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

In a 2021 study, 49.3% of full-time college students endorsed consuming alcohol in the past month; 27% reported binge drinking; posing health risks (NSDUH). Recent surveys show an increase in the use of hallucinogens, cannabis, tobacco/nicotine, and recreational use of non-prescription and illicit drugs (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2022). The American College Health Association sampled over 54,000 students. The most used drugs of those who used were cannabis (41.9%), tobacco and nicotine products (33.1%), hallucinogens (8.9%), and prescription stimulants (6.9%) (Stewart-Romenza, 2022). Drug use is often linked to emotion dysregulation, the inability to respond to and manage one’s emotions effectively while engaged in goal-directed behavior (Gratz & Roemer, 2004). Emotion regulation is a critical aspect of mental health due to the construct’s relation to high cognitive stress (Bradley et al., 2021). Many things can contribute to an inability to regulate thoughts and feelings such as temperament, biological factors, or external factors like new life transitions or parental neglect (Tani et al., 2017).

291 students (68.7% female, 27.8% male, 2.4% other) answered assessments measuring alcohol (The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test; Babor et al., 2001), and drug use (The Drug Use Disorder Identification Test; Berman et al., 2005) distress tolerance (The Distress Tolerance Scale; Simon & Gaher, 2005) parental abuse and neglect (Measure of Parental Style; Parker et al., 1997), emotion dysregulation (The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; Gratz & Roemer, 2004), depression, anxiety, stress (DASS-21; Osman et al., 2021) and questions regarding use of cannabis and illicit drugs.

Pearson's correlations showed a significant positive relationship between experiences of parental abuse and neglect (MOPS scores) and drug use disorder (DUDIT) r(280) = 0.22, p < 0.001, and with alcohol use disorder (AUDIT scores), r(280) = 0.15, p = 0.01. Linear regression showed that DUDIT scores significantly regressed MOPS scores (β = 0.11, p < 0.01); AUDIT scores did not (β = 0.07, p = 0.25). Pearson’s correlation showed higher MOPS scores correlated with higher DERS scores , r(270) = 0.44, p < .001. Multiple linear regression showed that DUDIT scores significantly regressed DERS scores (β = 0.09, p = 0.03), but AUDIT scores did not (β = 0.06, p = 0.43). Students low in distress tolerance had an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, r(281) = 0.46, p < 0.001. Gender was the only demographic significantly reflecting differences in DERS scores. Males had lower levels of emotion dysregulation than females (β = -0.174, p < .05), and other genders had higher levels of difficulty in emotion regulation than females (β = 0.578, p < .01). Drug use discussed. Implications discussed are education on of importance of destigmatization, and targeted cognitive behavioral intervention on campuses; aiding in effective emotion management while in academia, therefore, reducing the reliance on substances as a maladaptive coping mechanism.