Emotion regulation strategies mediate the relationship between excessive alcohol use and suicidal behaviour

Alcohol is one of the most widely consumed substances worldwide. It is hypothesized that people who use alcohol have poor emotional regulation strategies, something shared by people who commit suicide. Therefore, the aim of this work is to study the mediational effect of coping strategies and distress tolerance in the relationship between excessive alcohol use and suicidal risk. A sample of 1014 participants (33.82% male, 66.17% female; M = 33.0, SD = 15.15) were assessed using a custom sociodemographic questionnaire, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the Coping with Stress Questionnaire (CSQ), Distress Tolerance Stress (DTS), and Suicide Risk (RS). Two mediation models were performed in which AUDIT scores were used as the independent variable, RS score as the dependent and sex as a covariate. In the first model the mediating variable was the CSQ scores and in the second the DTS scores. The relationship was mediated positively by Negative Auto-Focused, Appraisal and Absorption, and negatively by Social Support Seeking and Tolerance. Emotional regulation is a transdiagnostic strategy that can reduce not only alcohol consumption, but also suicidal risk. Given these results, there is a pressing need to develop preventive programs centered on adaptive emotion regulation strategies. Emotional regulation plays a key role in the relationship between excessive alcohol use and suicidal risk.