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Desire Thinking Mediates the Relationship between Emotional Intolerance and Problem Drinking

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Abstract

The use of alcohol as a strategy to regulate emotional distress has been widely considered as a core risk factor for problem drinking. Recent research has suggested that using alcohol to self-regulate may be sustained by emotional intolerance (the perceived inability to tolerate emotional distress) and desire thinking (a voluntary cognitive process involving verbal and imaginal elaboration of a desired target). The goal of this study was to explore the role of emotional intolerance and desire thinking in predicting problem drinking. A sample of problem drinkers (n = 50), and social drinkers (n = 56) completed self-report instruments of emotional intolerance, desire thinking and problem drinking. Analyses revealed that the verbal perseveration factor of desire thinking was the only significant predictor of classification as a problem drinker. In addition both factors of desire thinking were found to predict problem drinking independently of emotional intolerance. These findings suggest that desire thinking may be a risk factor across the transition from social to problem drinking and that treatment may benefit from targeting specifically this cognitive process together with meta-emotional appraisal.

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Conflicts of interest

None.

Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Studi Cognitivi, Cognitive Psychotherapy School, Viale Giardini 472/L, Modena, 41100, Italy

    Gabriele Caselli, Flaviano Canfora, Giovanni M. Ruggiero & Sandra Sassaroli

  2. Department of Psychology, London South Bank University, London, UK

    Gabriele Caselli, Ian P. Albery & Marcantonio M. Spada

  3. Strutture Residenziali Gruppo CEIS, Modena, Italy

    Flaviano Canfora

Authors
  1. Gabriele Caselli
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  2. Flaviano Canfora
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  3. Giovanni M. Ruggiero
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  4. Sandra Sassaroli
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  5. Ian P. Albery
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  6. Marcantonio M. Spada
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Correspondence to Gabriele Caselli.

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Caselli, G., Canfora, F., Ruggiero, G.M. et al. Desire Thinking Mediates the Relationship between Emotional Intolerance and Problem Drinking. Int J Ment Health Addiction 13, 185–193 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-014-9520-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-014-9520-3

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