TY - JOUR
T1 - Mentalization impairment is associated with problematic alcohol use in a sample of young adults: A cross-sectional study
AU - Imperatori, Claudio
AU - Corazza, Ornella
AU - Panno, Angelo
AU - Rinaldi, Raffaella
AU - Pasquini, Massimo
AU - Farina, Benedetto
AU - Biondi, Massimo
AU - Bersani, Francesco Saverio
N1 - © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
PY - 2020/11/22
Y1 - 2020/11/22
N2 - Background: Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs among adolescents and young people, and problematic alcohol use (PAU) is related to significant long-term biological, clinical, and psychosocial sequelae. Although preliminary reports have linked deficits in mentalization to increased vulnerability to addiction, no studies have specifically explored this phenomenon in relation to PAU. Methods: The association between mentalization impairment and PAU severity was investigated in a sample of 271 young adults (183 females, 65.9%; mean age: 23.20 ± 3.55 years; range: 18–34). Self-report measures investigating PAU and mentalization were administered to all participants. Results: Individuals with PAU reported a more frequent use of tobacco and illicit drugs in the last 12 months. PAU severity was negatively associated with mentalization capacity (rho = −0.21; p < 0.001), and also, when possible, confounding variables (i.e., gender, age, occupation, education, tobacco and illegal drugs use) were controlled for (rho = −0.17; p = 0.004). Conclusion: The present data showed that mentalization impairment is significantly associated with PAU among young adults, suggesting that it may have a role in the development and/or maintenance of alcohol use.
AB - Background: Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs among adolescents and young people, and problematic alcohol use (PAU) is related to significant long-term biological, clinical, and psychosocial sequelae. Although preliminary reports have linked deficits in mentalization to increased vulnerability to addiction, no studies have specifically explored this phenomenon in relation to PAU. Methods: The association between mentalization impairment and PAU severity was investigated in a sample of 271 young adults (183 females, 65.9%; mean age: 23.20 ± 3.55 years; range: 18–34). Self-report measures investigating PAU and mentalization were administered to all participants. Results: Individuals with PAU reported a more frequent use of tobacco and illicit drugs in the last 12 months. PAU severity was negatively associated with mentalization capacity (rho = −0.21; p < 0.001), and also, when possible, confounding variables (i.e., gender, age, occupation, education, tobacco and illegal drugs use) were controlled for (rho = −0.17; p = 0.004). Conclusion: The present data showed that mentalization impairment is significantly associated with PAU among young adults, suggesting that it may have a role in the development and/or maintenance of alcohol use.
KW - Addiction
KW - Mentalization
KW - Problematic alcohol use
KW - Psychopathology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096385307&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph17228664
DO - 10.3390/ijerph17228664
M3 - Article
C2 - 33266367
AN - SCOPUS:85096385307
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 17
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH)
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH)
IS - 22
M1 - 8664
ER -