TY - JOUR
T1 - Opioid Abuse as Maladaptive Coping to Life Stressors in U.S. Adults
AU - Hendy, Helen M.
AU - Black, Pamela
AU - Can, S. Hakan
AU - Fleischut, Alicia
AU - Aksen, Damla
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Funding for the research was provided by Penn State Schuylkill, which had no role in study design, data collection, statistical analysis, interpretation of results, preparation of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Funding Information:
Helen M. Hendy, PhD, is professor emeritus in Psychology at Penn State University, Schuylkill Campus. Her MA and PhD in Psychology were received from the University of California, Riverside. She has over 60 publications and her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Mental Health, and Children’s Miracle Network, with two research excellence awards received from the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Her website for research consultation is hendystatistics.com.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2018/10/1
Y1 - 2018/10/1
N2 - The Threat Appraisal and Coping Theory suggests that when individuals face life stressors, especially if they have poor self-esteem, they may rely on maladaptive coping behaviors that ease distress but worsen their condition over time. The present study compared five life stressors (health, money, work, family, romance) for their association with opioid use, then examined poor self-esteem as a mediator of these associations. Study participants included 1,047 U.S. adults gathered in a quota sample by SurveyMonkey (54.3% women; 53.3% 45+ years of age; 76.7% White; 60.2% with US$50,000 or higher income; 11.1% using opioids). Participants completed online surveys to report demographics, five life stressors, self-esteem, and indications of opioid use as measured with the PROMIS Questionnaire. Pearson correlation found poor self-esteem associated with high opioid use; multiple regression found health, family, and romance stressors associated with high opioid use (R2 =.089); and multiple regression found health, money, family, and romance stressors associated with poor self-esteem (R2 =.283). Then, bootstrapping mediational analyses examined the sequence of HIGH LIFE STRESSORS → POOR SELF-ESTEEM → HIGH OPIOID USE, finding that poor self-esteem was a significant mediator between each life stressor (health, money, family, romance) and increased risk for opioid use. The present sample included mostly individuals with a White ethnic identity and high incomes, so future research should examine these patterns with more diverse samples. In addition, the amount of opioids consumed, present motivations for use, the sequence of events leading to present use, exposure to substance-abuse treatment, and where individuals presently are on the use-recovery process could moderate associations found between life stressors and opioid use.
AB - The Threat Appraisal and Coping Theory suggests that when individuals face life stressors, especially if they have poor self-esteem, they may rely on maladaptive coping behaviors that ease distress but worsen their condition over time. The present study compared five life stressors (health, money, work, family, romance) for their association with opioid use, then examined poor self-esteem as a mediator of these associations. Study participants included 1,047 U.S. adults gathered in a quota sample by SurveyMonkey (54.3% women; 53.3% 45+ years of age; 76.7% White; 60.2% with US$50,000 or higher income; 11.1% using opioids). Participants completed online surveys to report demographics, five life stressors, self-esteem, and indications of opioid use as measured with the PROMIS Questionnaire. Pearson correlation found poor self-esteem associated with high opioid use; multiple regression found health, family, and romance stressors associated with high opioid use (R2 =.089); and multiple regression found health, money, family, and romance stressors associated with poor self-esteem (R2 =.283). Then, bootstrapping mediational analyses examined the sequence of HIGH LIFE STRESSORS → POOR SELF-ESTEEM → HIGH OPIOID USE, finding that poor self-esteem was a significant mediator between each life stressor (health, money, family, romance) and increased risk for opioid use. The present sample included mostly individuals with a White ethnic identity and high incomes, so future research should examine these patterns with more diverse samples. In addition, the amount of opioids consumed, present motivations for use, the sequence of events leading to present use, exposure to substance-abuse treatment, and where individuals presently are on the use-recovery process could moderate associations found between life stressors and opioid use.
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U2 - 10.1177/0022042618783454
DO - 10.1177/0022042618783454
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85049688191
SN - 0022-0426
VL - 48
SP - 560
EP - 571
JO - Journal of Drug Issues
JF - Journal of Drug Issues
IS - 4
ER -
