Addiction
Does trouble managing emotions link discrimination to substance use?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
LGB adults who reported more family rejection or victimisation had more difficulty regulating emotions, and that difficulty statistically accounted for part of their higher alcohol and drug problems.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — Online self-report survey analysed with moderated mediation (discrimination -> emotion regulation difficulties -> substance problems, moderated by sexual orientation).
- N
- N=305 · 305 cisgender lesbian, gay and bisexual US adults retained after exclusions from two online studies.
- Population
- Cisgender lesbian, gay and bisexual adults in the United States recruited online; mostly white and highly educated.
- Outcome
- Problematic alcohol use (SMAST) and problematic drug use (DAST-10), with emotion regulation difficulties (DERS) as mediator.
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Key findings
Both family rejection and victimisation had significant indirect effects on problem alcohol and drug use through emotion regulation difficulties, for bisexual and for lesbian/gay participants alike. The indirect pathway did not differ by sexual orientation. Direct links between discrimination and substance problems were stronger for bisexual participants: family rejection directly predicted alcohol and drug problems only in the bisexual group.
Methodology
The researchers surveyed 305 lesbian, gay and bisexual adults online about two kinds of minority stress (rejection by family and victimisation such as assault), their difficulties regulating emotions, and screening scores for problem drinking and drug use. They tested whether emotion regulation difficulties carried the link between discrimination and substance problems, and whether this pathway differed for bisexual versus lesbian/gay participants.
Limitations
Because all measures were collected at one time point, the study cannot show that discrimination causes emotion regulation problems or that these cause substance use; the order could run differently. The sample was not recruited for substance use, so problem scores were low and varied little, and it was mostly white and highly educated. All measures were self-reported online, and transgender and gender non-conforming participants were excluded, so results do not extend to them.
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