Difficulties with emotion regulation and drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic among undergraduates: the serial mediation of COVID-related distress and drinking to cope with the pandemic

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has contributed to thousands of hospitalizations and deaths worldwide. Although alcohol use has increased in response to the pandemic, no known studies have identified transdiagnostic risk factors for greater drinking in response to COVID-related distress. Individuals with more difficulty with emotion regulation may drink more during the pandemic to manage pandemic-related distress. The current study tested whether difficulty with emotion regulation was related to greater estimated blood alcohol content (eBAC) during a typical week in the past month and if this was due to COVID-related distress and drinking to cope with the pandemic. The sample consisted of 347 past-month drinking undergraduates in Louisiana, a state with some of the U.S. highest rates of COVID-19 infections and related deaths. Difficulty with engaging in goal-directed behaviors was related to greater past-month eBAC and this relation was mediated by the sequential effects of COVID-related worry and drinking to cope with the pandemic. Results indicate that individuals with difficulty engaging in goal-directed behaviors are especially vulnerable to greater eBAC during the COVID-19 pandemic which may be due in part to their vulnerability to more COVID-related worry which may lead to more drinking to cope with the pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol
• difficulties with emotion regulation
• coping
• COVID-19
• pandemic

Acknowledgments

Dr Buckner receives funding from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Program (Grant D40HP33350), Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, and the Capital Area Human Services District. Dr Zvolensky receives fees from Elsevier, Guilford Press, and is supported by grants from NIH, American Cancer Society, and Cancer Research Institute of Texas.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.