Disordered social media use and risky drinking in young adults:Differential associations with addiction-linked traits

Background Excessive or compulsive use of social media has been likened to an addiction, similar to other behavioural addictions such as pathological gambling or Internet addiction. This investigation sought to determine the degree to which personality traits associated with such disordered social media use overlap with those known to predict problematic substance use, with use of the most commonly abused legal substance alcohol as an example of the latter. Method Well‐known indices of disordered social media use, risky or problematic alcohol use, and the personality traits alexithymia, reward sensitivity, narcissism, and impulsivity were administered online to 143 men and women aged 18–35-years who were regular users of social media. The traits examined had previously been linked to substance misuse for a variety of substances, including alcohol, as presumed predisposing factors. Results After controlling for age, gender, and social desirability in hierarchical regressions, disordered social media use was predicted by narcissism, reward sensitivity, and impulsivity, whereas risky alcohol use was predicted by narcissism, alexithymia, and impulsivity. The ability of narcissism to predict disordered social media use was mediated by reward sensitivity, which was not the case for risky drinking. Conclusions Present results point to similarities and differences in addiction‐linked traits when comparing disordered social media use to risky or problematic substance use

Resilience, alexithymia, and university stress in relation to anxiety and problematic alcohol use among female university students

Objectives University students in Australia report higher levels of stress than non‐students of the same age, with females reporting higher stress than males. The ability to successfully adapt to, and cope with, stressful situations and events, often referred to as resilience, requires social and interpersonal resources as well as the ability to effectively self‐regulate emotions. When such resources and abilities are deficient, responses to university stress are likely to be maladaptive. Deficient emotional self‐regulation is characteristic of individuals with the subclinical personality trait alexithymia, who also tend to suffer from social and interpersonal difficulties; thus students with alexithymia may be especially susceptible to university stress and associated adverse outcomes of low resilience. The present study examined resilience in relation to alexithymia, university stress, and two common outcomes of the latter in female university students: anxiety and problematic drinking. Method Validated self‐report measures of the relevant constructs were completed online by 136 female university students from two Australian universities. All participants indicated they had English‐language proficiency and no history of serious head injury or diagnosed psychological disorder. Results Serial mediation models indicated that resilience showed the predicted protective relationship to both problematic drinking and anxiety through lower levels of alexithymia and university stress. Conclusions Findings suggest that students who lack resilience are more likely to report stress at university, as well as associated adverse outcomes such as anxiety and problematic drinking, due to deficiencies in emotional self‐regulation and inadequate use of social and interpersonal resources for successful coping

Alexithymia and caffeine: The role of caffeine expectancies and craving

Alexithymia refers to difficulties in identifying and describing feelings and is often associated with problematic substance use for a variety of substances. A recent study investigating the relationship between alexithymia and caffeine use found that university students with alexithymia reported typically consuming nearly twice as much caffeine as those without alexithymia. The current study assessed the potential role of caffeine expectancies and craving in mediating this relationship. University students (n = 104) aged 18–30 years, who regularly consumed both caffeine and alcohol, completed the following measures: a demographic questionnaire, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), Beck Anxiety Inventory, Caffeine Expectancy Questionnaire (CaffEQ), Caffeine Consumption Questionnaire, Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Hierarchical regression and path analyses indicated that caffeine expectancies and caffeine craving mediated the relationship between alexithymia and caffeine consumption. Given that alexithymia is common in samples of clients undergoing treatment for substance dependence for a variety of substances, alexithymia appears to be associated with increased susceptibility to drug cravings—even for a drug as mild in its typical effects as caffeine

A confirmatory factor analysis of the Observer Alexithymia Scale in treatment seeking alcohol-dependent patients

Confirmatory factor analyses evaluated the factorial validity of the Observer Alexithymia Scale (OAS) in an alcohol-dependent sample. Observation was conducted by clinical psychologists. All models examined were rejected, given their poor fit. Given the psychometric limitations of the OAS shown in this study, the OAS may not be the most appropriate measure to use early in treatment among alcohol-dependent individuals

A confirmatory factor analysis of the Observer Alexithymia Scale in treatment seeking alcohol-dependent patients

Confirmatory factor analyses evaluated the factorial validity of the Observer Alexithymia Scale (OAS) in an alcohol-dependent sample. Observation was conducted by clinical psychologists. All models examined were rejected, given their poor fit. Given the psychometric limitations of the OAS shown in this study, the OAS may not be the most appropriate measure to use early in treatment among alcohol-dependent individuals

Alexithymia and caffeine: the role of caffeine expectancies and craving

Alexithymia refers to difficulties in identifying and describing feelings and is often associated with problematic substance use for a variety of substances. A recent study investigating the relationship between alexithymia and caffeine use found that university students with alexithymia reported typically consuming nearly twice as much caffeine as those without alexithymia. The current study assessed the potential role of caffeine expectancies and craving in mediating this relationship. University students (n = 104) aged 18-30 years, who regularly consumed both caffeine and alcohol, completed the following measures: a demographic questionnaire, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), Beck Anxiety Inventory, Caffeine Expectancy Questionnaire (CaffEQ), Caffeine Consumption Questionnaire, Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Hierarchical regression and path analyses indicated that caffeine expectancies and caffeine craving mediated the relationship between alexithymia and caffeine consumption. Given that alexithymia is common in samples of clients undergoing treatment for substance dependence for a variety of substances, alexithymia appears to be associated with increased susceptibility to drug cravings-even for a drug as mild in its typical effects as caffeine.This work was supported by a Bond University FSD research gran