Coping motives for alcohol and cannabis use better reflect negative emotionality than emotion regulation deficits in young adults

Objective. Motivational models argue that people use alcohol and cannabis to regulate emotions (Cooper et al., 2016; Cox & Klinger, 1988). Descriptions of global self-reports of coping motives have emphasized their role as a reflexive or disengagement emotion regulation strategy focused on avoidance of stressors or negative emotions and focus on building emotion regulation skills in terms of the clinical implications (Bresin & Mekawi, 2019, 2021). However, there is also substantial evidence that self-reports of coping motives reflect a broader tendency towards negative emotionality. Methods. Method. We used data from two large ecological momentary assessment studies of regularly drinking and cannabis using young adults (age 18–22, n=297) to test the convergent, divergent, and criterion validity of global self-reports of coping motives in both global self-report and daily life data. Results. Pre-registered analyses demonstrated that global self-reports of coping motives for alcohol and cannabis use were at best weakly associated with global and EMA reports of reflexive or disengagement emotion regulation strategy use, and were also moderately associated with both global and EMA measures negative emotionality, emotion reactivity, and negative urgency. Conclusion. These findings undermine the assertion that coping motives reflect deficits in adaptive emotion regulation strategies rather than a broad tendency towards negative affectivity. Research should seek to understand what global self-reports of coping motives reflect.

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs