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Monday, February 18, 2013

Can Preoccupation With Alcohol Override the Protective Properties of Mindful Awareness on Problematic Drinking?





To assess the mediating role of drinking restraint—specifically preoccupation with drinking—on the associations between mindful awareness and alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems.
 
A total of 390 heavy-drinking, undergraduate, college students (52% male) were assessed on measures of mindfulness, drinking restraint, alcohol consumption (prior 90 d), and alcohol-related problems through self-report surveys.

Mindfulness was negatively associated with alcohol consumption, problems, and both factors of drinking restraint (emotional preoccupation and behavioral constraint). Emotional preoccupation, but not behavioral constraint, statistically mediated these relationships and demonstrated positive associations with both alcohol consumption and related problems.
 
Results replicate previous findings documenting a negative association between mindfulness and alcohol consumption and problems. Statistical mediation models suggest that preoccupation with drinking may be a risk factor that over-rides the health-promoting effects of mindfulness.



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