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

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Substance use among college students leads to negative outcomes.
• Psychological inflexibility, including experiential avoidance and value disconnection, may drive substance misuse.
• Understanding these factors is crucial for developing effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the roles of experiential avoidance and values dimensions (importance, consistency, effort, intrinsic motivation) in college student substance use.
• To differentiate the predictive power of these psychological constructs on substance use and related problems.
• To account for the influence of gender and drinking motives.

Main Methods:

• Zero-inflated regression analysis was employed.
• Data were collected from 233 college students.
• Predictors of substance use and related problems were statistically analyzed.

Main Results:

• Higher values importance correlated with fewer alcohol use problems.
• Lower behavioral consistency with values predicted marijuana abstinence and reduced illicit drug use.
• Experiential avoidance did not uniquely predict substance use, but coping/enhancement motives predicted alcohol and illicit drug problems.

Conclusions:

• Interventions promoting values engagement may reduce substance use.
• Targeting substance use as a coping mechanism for affect regulation is important.
• Findings support psychological flexibility-informed approaches for college student substance misuse prevention.