Gender Differences in Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Drinking to Cope in Undergraduates with Problematic Consumption

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Melanie Wisener

Abstract

Undergraduate students show the highest rates of problematic alcohol consumption compared to any other non-clinical category of individuals, and coping-motivated drinking has been consistently shown to be the most problematic.

 

The present study examines associations between mindfulness facets, self-compassion, and coping-motivated drinking, and how these associations differ by gender. Undergraduate problematic drinkers (N = 146) completed self-report measures assessing their motives for drinking (coping-depression, coping-anxiety, enhancement, social, conformity) and levels of dispositional mindfulness (observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging, non-reactivity) and self-compassion.

 

Regression analyses revealed that for both genders, mindfulness facets and self-compassion were statistically significantly negatively associated with coping-depression, but not coping-anxiety. Non-judging was uniquely associated with coping-depression in women, but in men, non-reactivity was the sole unique association. Unexpectedly, describing was negatively associated with conformity-motivated drinking in women.

 

Mindfulness and self-compassion based programs for undergraduate problematic drinkers may be most effective if they target students who drink to cope with depression and emphasize different skills depending on the student’s gender.

Article Details

How to Cite
Wisener, M. (2020). Gender Differences in Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Drinking to Cope in Undergraduates with Problematic Consumption. The International Journal of Whole Person Care, 7(1), 46–47. https://doi.org/10.26443/ijwpc.v7i1.234
Section
Congress 2019