Abstract
Background Lifetime abuse (i.e., childhood abuse, intimate partner violence) has been linked to risky behavioral outcomes (i.e., alcohol use, risky sex). Women who experience lifetime abuse have poor emotion regulation and may have problems with executive functioning, which could help explain the relationship between lifetime abuse and risky behaviors. However, research on executive functioning and emotion regulation as mediators of this relationship has been limited. In the present study, we examined this association. We hypothesized that lifetime abuse would be related to greater difficulty in emotion regulation and executive function, which would also be associated with greater alcohol use and risky sex.
Methods This cross-sectional study included 150 women with a history of lifetime abuse who were assessed for alcohol use using the AUDIT Score; emotion regulation was measured using the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS); risky sex was measured using question: “in the last 90 days, how many people did you have anal or vaginal sex without using a condom? Executive function was assessed using the NIH Toolbox.
Results The mediation model followed the self-regulation theory, which proposes executive function as the higher-order cognitive process. Results showed that executive function deficit and poor emotion regulation significantly mediated the relationship between lifetime abuse and alcohol use severity (indirect effect = .097, SE .031, 95% CI = .035 to .158).
Conclusion Our findings suggest executive function and emotion regulation as a potential mechanism for alcohol use severity in women who experienced lifetime abuse (i.e., childhood abuse and intimate partner violence).
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Clinical Protocols
Funding Statement
KV NIMHD Grant Number: 2U54MD012393-06
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
Ethics Committee from Florida International University IRB. Ethical approval for this work
I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.
Yes
Footnotes
Lisa H. Domenico, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611, Tel (352) 273-5869, Email: ldomenico{at}ufl.edu
Robert L. Cook, University of Florida. Gainesville FL 32611, Tel (352) 273-5869, Email: cookrl{at}ufl.edu
Julia O’Connor, University of Central Florida, Orlando FL 32816, Tel (407) 823-3137, Email: julia.oconnor{at}ucf.edu
Kyndester Michael-Samaroo, University of Central Florida, Orlando FL 32816, Email: kmichaelsamaroo{at}knights.ucf.edu
Maria Jose Pilar de Pino, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain, Email: mjpinesp{at}upo.es
Pilar Martin, Adelphi University, 1 South Ave, Garden City, NY 11530, Tel: (516) 877-4528, Email: mpmartin{at}adelphi.edu
Jessy G. Dévieux, Florida International University, 3000 NE 15 ST North Miami, Florida 33125. Tel: (305) 348-7789, Email: devieuxj{at}fiu.edu
Data Availability
All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.