Approximately half of U.S. college students have consumed alcohol within the past month, with 27.4% engaging in hazardous drinking. Recent studies suggest that positive emotion dysregulation may serve as a significant risk factor for hazardous drinking, as individuals may be more likely to consume alcohol to either amplify positive affect or regulate excessive arousal, thereby reinforcing risky drinking behaviors. These findings indicate that positive emotion dysregulation may have greater explanatory power than negative emotion dysregulation and should be considered a critical target for effective intervention strategies. However, research examining how the regulation of alcohol use varies based on the valence of emotion remains limited, and the role of positive emotion dysregulation in hazardous drinking has yet to be fully elucidated. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the independent effects of positive and negative emotion dysregulation on the relationship between positive alcohol expectancies and alcohol use in a sample of college students.
This study used a sample of 165 undergraduate students who reported consuming alcohol and/or cannabis at least three times in the past week. Participants completed an online survey measuring key variables, including positive alcohol expectancies (assessed via the PROMIS Alcohol Use Positive Expectancies Scale), alcohol use (measured using the PROMIS Alcohol Use Short Form), comorbid cannabis use (evaluated with the Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test), difficulties with negative and positive emotion regulation (assessed using the DERS-18 and DERS-PA, respectively), and psychiatric comorbidities such as anxiety and depression (measured via the GAD-7 and PHQ-8, respectively). The collected data were analyzed using multiple linear regression and moderation analyses to examine the independent effects of positive and negative emotion dysregulation on the relationship between positive alcohol expectancies and alcohol use.
The study found that 93.8% of participants reported alcohol use in the past 30 days, with 17% meeting the threshold for borderline significant alcohol use problems and 4.8% classified as having clinically significant problems. Alcohol use was moderately associated with positive alcohol expectancies, difficulties in both negative and positive emotion regulation, and depressive and anxiety symptoms, while cannabis use was not significantly related to any study variables. Moderation analyses revealed that difficulties in positive emotion regulation significantly moderated the relationship between positive alcohol expectancies and alcohol use, such that individuals with both high positive alcohol expectancies and greater difficulties regulating positive emotions reported increased alcohol consumption. However, difficulties in negative emotion regulation did not moderate this relationship. Post-hoc analyses adjusting for psychiatric comorbidities and hazardous cannabis use confirmed that difficulties in positive emotion regulation remained a significant moderator, whereas negative emotion regulation and cannabis use did not significantly influence the results. These findings highlight the unique role of positive emotion dysregulation in hazardous alcohol use, suggesting it as a potential target for intervention strategies.
Takeaway: College students with both high positive alcohol expectancies and greater difficulties regulating positive emotions exhibited higher alcohol consumption.