Mai-Ly N. Steers

Interactions among drinking identity, gender and decisional balance in predicting alcohol use and problems among college students

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to test promising constructs (decisional balance and drinking identity) and their interaction with gender as predictors of risky college drinking. We expected that, consistent with previous work, drinking identity would be positively associated with alcohol consumption and problems. We further expected that drinking identity would be more strongly related to outcomes among individuals scoring low in decisional balance. Additionally, we expect the relationship between drinking identity and alcohol behavior to vary as a function of decisional balance. METHODS Participants included 329 undergraduates (M=23.11; SD=5.63; 74.47% female) who met heavy drinking criteria (defined as women who consumed 4 or more drinks per occasion and men who consumed 5 or more drinks per occasion) and completed an online survey comprised of self-report measures. RESULTS Decisional balance was negatively correlated with both drinking and problems, which partially supported expectations. As expected, drinking identity was positively correlated with drinking and problems. A two-way interaction emerged between drinking identity and decisional balance regarding problems, indicating that drinking identity was associated with more problems, especially among those lower in decisional balance. A three-way interaction between drinking identity, decisional balance, and gender emerged regarding problems such that drinking identity was associated with more problems for those lower in decisional balance and this effect was stronger among men. DISCUSSION Findings lend support to the perspective that decisional balance, drinking identity, and gender are all influential factors that are associated with the experience of alcohol problems.

The Influence of Social Media on Addictive Behaviors in College Students

BackgroundSocial media has become a primary way for college students to communicate aspects of their daily lives to those within their social network. Such communications often include substance use displays (e.g., selfies of college students drinking). Furthermore, students’ substance use displays have been found to robustly predict not only the poster(s)’ substance use-related outcomes (e.g., consumption, problems) but also that of their social networking peers.Purpose of ReviewThe current review summarizes findings of recent literature exploring the intersection between social media and substance use.Recent FindingsSpecifically, we examine how and why such substance use displays might shape college students’ internalized norms surrounding substance use and how they impact their substance use-related behaviors.SummaryAdditional social media-related interventions are needed in order to target reduction of consumption among this at-risk group. We discuss the technological and methodological challenges inherent to conducting this type of research and devising interventions in this domain.

Relationship partners have shared scripts for conversations about the relationship: A replication and extension

The first experimental study of relationship talk (N = 42 couples) showed that when couples read stories about spouses who talked to each other about their relationships, such talk had different outcomes for the spouses, depending on the context and which partner was speaking. We replicated and improved upon this study in a number of ways (e.g. sample size and composition, new dependent variable, more standardized materials, more sophisticated and appropriate statistical techniques). Findings were almost identical to those of the earlier study including three-way interactions. Results (N = 238 couples) showed that when spouses talked about their relationship with each other, they were seen to have more positive outcomes, including closeness, than when they did not talk about their relationship. Further, relationship talk appeared to be especially positive in conflictive situations, but the effects of such talk were much weaker in pleasant situations. These findings were conceptualized as evidence of shared scripts for relationship conversations. Clinical implications are discussed.

I know I have to earn your love: how the family environment shapes feelings of worthiness of love

Parental conditional regard is a parenting practice which may lead to negative outcomes for the child. Yet, no research has examined whether feelings of love worthiness may be dependent upon conditional parental regard. Furthermore, certain conditions within the family environment may exacerbate this effect. Across two studies, undergraduate students were asked to report on perceptions of parental conditional regard, aspects of the family life growing up and how often they felt worthy of love (WOL). In Study 1, 91 individuals were asked to respond to open-ended questions about their feelings of parental conditional regard, as well as complete Likert-type questions about their family environment and feelings of love worthiness. In Study 2, 211 individuals completed Likert-type scales assessing their perceptions of parental conditional regard, family environment and feelings of love worthiness. Overall, perceptions of parental conditional regard were associated with feeling WOL less often, and this association was due to the lack of a positive family environment and the presence of negative conditions. These results highlight the importance of parenting practices, specifically a positive family environment, for the development of schemas of the self as WOL from others.

General Needs Satisfaction as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Ambivalence Over Emotional Expression and Perceived Social Support.

ABSTRACT The detrimental effect of ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE) on social support has been well documented. However, the underlying mechanism of this effect remains unclear. Research has demonstrated that when general needs are not met, negative psychological outcomes occur. Thus, the current study investigated general needs satisfaction (GNS) as a potential mediator of the association between AEE and social support among 352 undergraduates. Results revealed that AEE was negatively associated with autonomy, relatedness, competence, and social support, whereas social support was positively associated with autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Further, GNS and each of its three subscales were all found to significantly mediate the association between AEE and social support. Thus, findings from the present study contribute to our understanding of AEE by illustrating a potential mechanism through which AEE may lead to a lack of perceived social support, namely GNS.

Contrasting the Effects of Harmonious and Obsessive Passion for Religion on Stress and Drinking: Give me that Old Time Religion … and a Beer

Research has established two types of passion (i.e., harmonious and obsessive) for several activities, behaviors, and relationships (Vallerand & Houlfourt, 2003). Harmonious passion is characterized by an autonomous orientation toward an activity, while obsessive passion is characterized by a more controlled orientation toward an activity. Similar but not congruent conceptualizations of approaches to religion have been explored. Moreover, the preponderance of research suggests that religiousness is associated with decreased problematic alcohol use. However, little research has been done into contrasting approaches to religious devotion. We explored harmonious and obsessive passion for religious beliefs and practices and their association with alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Perceived stress and satisfaction with life were examined as mediators. Participants included 707 undergraduate students (54.8% female) from a large southwestern university who were recruited as a part of a larger alcohol-related intervention trial. Data were collected at three time points: baseline, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up, and were analyzed prospectively, with passion and mental health at time 1 and time 2 predicting alcohol outcomes at time 2 and time 3. The indirect effects of both obsessive passion and harmonious passion on alcohol problems through perceived stress were significant, and in opposite directions. Additionally, moderation analyses showed that both obsessive and harmonious passion for religion moderated the associations between perceived stress and drinking and between perceived stress and alcohol problems.

I want you to like me: Extraversion, need for approval, and time on Facebook as predictors of anxiety.

Although social networking sites such as Facebook have been touted as creating a global village, there may be a downside to such computer-mediated interactions on users well-being. One such consequence is that stimuli via computer-mediated interactions may be anxiety-provoking for some users. As such, recent studies have tried to ascertain personality factors and individual differences that are associated with higher anxiety in connection with extensive Facebook use. The current study evaluated the relationships among extraversion, time on Facebook, need for approval, and anxiety among college students (N=280). Results revealed that need for approval significantly moderated the association between extraversion and anxiety. Specifically, individuals higher in extraversion tended to be less anxious, although this was less true for those extraverts who were higher in need for approval. Further, this moderating effect was stronger among extraverts who were high in need for approval and spent more time on Facebook relative to those who spent less time on Facebook. The present research contributes to the emerging literature by providing evidence regarding how personality factors interact with Facebook usage.