Date of Award

1-1-2016

Language

English

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School/Department

Department of Psychology

Program

Clinical Psychology

Content Description

1 online resource (ii, 50 pages)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Julia M Hormes

Committee Members

Mitch Earleywine

Keywords

Addiction, Alcohol Addiction, Craving, Emotion Regulation, Internet Addiction, Emotions, Compulsive behavior, Substance abuse, Self-control, Control (Psychology)

Subject Categories

Psychology

Abstract

Individuals with emotion regulation difficulties lack the strategies to monitor and evaluate the emotional experience, often leading to an increase in efforts to constrict or conceal the emotional expression. Deficits in emotion regulation are associated with an increase in craving for risky behaviors, such as alcohol and internet use. Non-acceptance and impulse control are two domains of emotion regulation that have been linked to behavioral and substance cravings. What remains to be elucidated is whether these relationships are mediated by strategies employed to control the emotional experience. The current study aims to identify whether thought suppression mediates the relationship between two aspects of emotion regulation and alcohol craving and whether this model applies to craving for online social networking. An undergraduate sample of 629 participants was included. The study used the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, the White Bear Suppression Inventory, the Penn Alcohol Craving Scale, and a modified version of the Penn Alcohol Craving Scale for Facebook. Emotion regulation difficulties and craving for alcohol and Facebook was mediated by thought suppression. The results of this study support previous findings showing that thought suppression has some effect on craving. These results provide evidence for the use of different interventions, such as mindfulness and acceptance, in the treatment of both substance and behavioral addictions.

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