The relationship between substance use, experiential avoidance, and personally meaningful experiences

Abstract

Background: High rates of substance use among college students have been associated with a wide range of detrimental consequences. Psychological inflexibility, characterized by both experiential avoidance and a disconnection with personally meaningful values, is proposed to contribute to the development and maintenance of substance misuse. Objectives: This study explored the unique contribution of experiential avoidance and four different values dimensions (i.e., importance, consistency, effort, and intrinsic motivation) on substance use and related problems accounting for the known predictors of gender and drinking motives. Method: Zero-inflated regression was used to analyze predictors of substance use and related problems among 233 college students. Results: Controlling for gender and drinking motives, stronger values importance was predictive of lower rates of alcohol use problems. Less behavioral consistency with values predicted marijuana abstinence, less frequent use of marijuana, and less frequent use of illicit drugs. Although there was little evidence for a unique association between experiential avoidance and substance use or substance-related problems in this sample, coping and enhancement motives predicted alcohol use problems and illicit drug use. Conclusion/Importance: These findings offer preliminary support for prevention and intervention efforts aimed at enhancing engagement in values activities and reducing substance use as a form of affect regulation in this population.

Keywords:

• Alcohol
• marijuana
• substance use
• personal strivings
• values
• college students

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Michael Suvak, PhD for his statistical guidance. We would also like to thank Mariam Hindiyeh and Annie Sposato for their assistance with the study procedures.

Disclosure statement

Both authors report no conflict of interest.

Notes

1 As an independent reviewer pointed out, there is both a theoretical and statistical association between coping and enhancement motives and experiential avoidance. Thus, we reran these models with only experiential avoidance and the values-related variables as predictors. Score on the MEAQ was not significantly associated with either measure of alcohol use and including the coping variables in the model yielded a better model fit.

2 When we reran this model without motives, experiential avoidance significantly predicted the frequency, but not the absence of alcohol problems. Model fit was stronger with the coping motives included.

3 Given the correlations between alcohol motives and drug use/problems we also reran these models to explore whether motives predicted marijuana use. Less frequent report of enhancement and social motives and more frequent report of conformity motives predicted non-use. Motives did not predict frequency of use.

4 Given the correlations between alcohol motives and drug use/problems we explored whether these variables predicted illicit drug use. Lower enhancement motives predicted greater non-use and higher coping motives predicted higher frequency of drug use.