Guilt-proneness is associated with the use of protective behavioral strategies during episodes of alcohol use

Abstract

Introduction: Shame and guilt are closely related emotions with diverging implications for the development, and potential treatment, of substance use disorders. Accumulating research indicates that a guilt-prone affect style buffers individuals against the development of problematic alcohol use, while shame-proneness appears to offer no protective function. However, little is known about the manner in which guilt-prone individuals avoid the experience of alcohol use-related harms. The present study aimed to extend the shame, guilt, and substance use literature by examining whether these two self-conscious affect styles are differentially related to the use of protective behavioral strategies which reduce the risk of harms during drinking episodes.

Methods: Participants (N=281; female n=207) completed pen-and-paper measures of shame and guilt-proneness, level of alcohol use, and the habitual use of protective behavioral strategies during drinking episodes. Part-correlation analysis isolated shame-free guilt and guilt-free shame residuals in exploring relationships between self-conscious affect style and the use of protective behavioral strategies during drinking episodes.

Results: Guilt-proneness was consistently associated with the routine use of protective behavioral strategies during episodes of alcohol intake. In contrast, shame-proneness was unrelated to the use of such protective and harm avoidance strategies when drinking.

Conclusion: Findings provide additional support for the argument that guilt and shame need to be considered separately in both research and substance use treatment settings.

Keywords: Affect; Alcohol; Alcohol use disorder; Guilt; Harm; Shame.