Dysregulated Emotion and Trying Substances in Childhood: Insights from a Large Nationally Representative Cohort Study

Transdiagnostic perspectives on the shared origins of mental illness posit that dysregulated emotion may represent a key driving force behind multiple forms of psychopathology, including substance use disorders. The present study examined whether a link between dysregulated emotion and trying illicit substances could be observed in childhood.

In a large (N = 7,418) nationally representative sample of children (M_age = 9.9), individual differences in emotion dysregulation were indexed using child and parent reports of frequency of children's emotional outbursts, as well as children's performance on the emotional N-Back task. Two latent variables, derived from either parental/child-report or performance-based indicators, were evaluated as predictors of having ever tried alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana.

Results showed that reports of dysregulated emotion were linked to a greater likelihood of trying both alcohol and tobacco products. These findings were also present when controlling for individual differences in executive control and socioeconomic status.

These results suggest that well-established links between dysregulated negative emotion and substance use may emerge as early as in childhood and also suggest that children who experience excessive episodes of uncontrollable negative emotion may be at greater risk for trying substances early in life.