Is self-compassion negatively associated with alcohol and marijuana-related problems via coping motives?

Alcohol and marijuana misuse is prevalent on many university campuses, with high rates of undergraduate students reporting experiencing alcohol and/or marijuana-related problems, which have been consistently associated with coping-motivated use. While previous studies have found dispositional mindfulness to be negatively associated with coping motives and alcohol-related problems, the present two-part study examines self-compassion, a complementary construct to mindfulness. Study One examines whether dispositional self-compassion is negatively associated with alcohol-related problems via drinking to cope with anxiety and depression, whereas Study Two extends this model by examining whether dispositional self-compassion is negatively associated with marijuana-related problems via coping-motivated marijuana use. Undergraduate students (N = 174 in Study One; N = 165 in Study Two) completed self-report measures assessing their levels of dispositional self-compassion, drinking or marijuana motives, and alcohol or marijuana-related problems. In Study One, mediation analyses showed dispositional self-compassion was negatively associated with alcohol-related problems via drinking to cope with anxiety, but not depression. In Study Two, mediation analyses showed dispositional self-compassion was negatively associated with marijuana-related problems via coping-motivated marijuana use. Future research should investigate whether self-compassion training helps reduce drinking to cope with anxiety, drinking to cope with depression, and/or coping-motivated marijuana use and the associated problems, and how this relationship differs for students who drink to cope with anxiety versus depression.