Alcohol use is prevalent on college campuses and can lead to problems, particularly when used to attempt to change students’ emotional state. A new study investigates this idea and examines associations between mindfulness, self-compassion, internally motivated drinking to cope with mental health and emotions, and alcohol-related problems in undergraduate students.
In this study, 170 undergraduate students who used alcohol completed surveys measuring their motives to drink, experience of alcohol-related problems, mindfulness, and self-compassion. The results of this study showed that students who were non-judging of their inner experience and had higher levels of self-compassion were less likely to drink alcohol to cope with depression and/or anxiety. Self-compassion was strongly negatively linked to coping with depression in particular. Acting with awareness was the trait that most significantly predicated students not experiencing alcohol related problems.
This study shows that certain mindfulness traits such as self-compassion, non-judging attitudes, and acting with awareness can decrease the amounts that students drink to cope with anxiety and depression and deal with negative consequences due to using alcohol.
Take Away: Self-compassion and non-judging attitudes towards one’s inner experience are negatively linked to drinking alcohol to cope with anxiety and depression. Acting with awareness decreases likelihood of experiencing negative consequences due to alcohol use.