The Relationship between Emotion Regulation Strategies, Alcohol Related Problems, and Coping with Alcohol as Moderated by Gender and Pandemic Positionality

Presenter

Riane Elizabeth Anderson

Campus

Worcester State University

Sponsor

Alexandra Burgess, Department of Psychology, Worcester State University

Schedule

Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A95, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 5 (A81-A100) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine how emotional regulation strategies of the ERQ (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) relate to alcohol-related problems and the tendency to utilize alcohol to cope, as moderated by gender and pandemic positionality. While there has been research investigating the relationship between emotion regulation and alcohol use, our study is the first to examine how emotion regulation strategies relate to a tendency to cope with alcohol. Furthermore, no studies have examined how gender or stages of the pandemic moderate this relationship. Participants were recruited from three local universities in Massachusetts via their institution’s online survey system in exchange for class credit. Participants (n = 1412) were 70.1% (n = 990) female and ranged in age between 18 and 24 (M = 19.53, SD = 1.26). Participants completed the Young Adult Alcohol Problems Screening Test (YAAPST), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), a coping with alcohol item, and a demographic questionnaire. Regarding bivariate correlations, tendency to cope with alcohol significantly correlated with expressive suppression (r (1,410) = .07, p <.01) and cognitive reappraisal (r (1,410) = -.08, p <.01). All scorings of the YAAPST (lifetime, past-year, and severity) had no significant correlation with either emotion regulation strategy. This indicates that emotion regulation strategies are not directly related to the problems associated with college student’s drinking. Additionally, regression-based moderation analyses were conducted using Hayes PROCESS Macro in SPSS. The overall models for predicting a tendency to cope with alcohol by emotion regulation strategy (suppression and reappraisal), moderated respectivley by gender and pandemic positionality, were not significant.

Keywords

Emotion Regulation, Alcohol Related Problems, Coping Motives , Pandemic Positionality

Research Area

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

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