Relationship Between Alcohol Use Disorder, Cognitive Reappraisal and Expression Suppression Among Youth Seeking Help in Rehabilitation Centers in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

Several explanations have been put across to elucidate the reasons behind alcohol use and abuse. Emotion Regulation strategies have been shown to mediate between negative emotions and the urge to take alcohol. The current study aspired to find out whether the strategies that individuals utilize to control their affective states when faced by emotionally charged and challenging situations could be related to the development and maintenance of Alcohol Used Disorder (AUD). Two strategies, cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression, have been identified as more applicable in emotion regulation due to their adaptability advantage over others in decreasing or increasing affective states. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; reliability coefficient = 0.79, 0.73) and the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT; reliability coefficient = 0.83) were utilized to collect data from 33 youths aged 15-35 seeking help in three rehabilitation centers for alcohol abuse. These participants were contrasted against 33 youths of similar characteristics who had completely abstained from alcohol, and 12 others who had stayed alcohol free for at least a year after rehabilitation or quitting alcohol. The study adopted correlation research design, with the hypothesis that there was a relationship between the use of cognitive reappraisal and/or expression suppression and AUD. Pearson’s bivariate correlation indicated a negative and significant relationship between cognitive reappraisal and AUD, a positive and significant relationship between expression suppression and AUD, and found no significant interaction between reappraisal and suppression. Khantzian’s self-medication theory posits that alcohol is taken with the hope that it reduces inner emotional distress. Alcohol abuse is therefore an attempt to heal inner emotional distress. This calls for the need to understand and adapt emotion regulation strategies that are efficient enough to handle emotionally charged and challenging situations. According to appraisal theory, an individual’s ability to cognitively evaluate what is happening, what it means, and how significant the happening is to them (appraisal), has been found to directly determine emotional state and hence wellbeing. Intervention measures for alcohol abuse should therefore address how individuals regulate their emotions when confronted by stressful life events.