EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND LOSS OF CONTROL ON ANXIETY LEVEL OF ADOLESCENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Even though depression and anxiety are highly prevalent in adolescence, youngsters are not inclined to seek help in regular healthcare. Therapy through the Internet, however, has been found to appeal strongly to young people. Sometimes people use alcohol or other drugs to cope with their anxiety.

This is often called ‘self-medication’. While alcohol or other drug use may provide short-term relief from anxiety, in the long-term, it can actually make the anxiety worse as alcohol or other drug use can cause anxiety.

People also often feel anxious when they are craving alcohol, tobacco or other drugs, or when they are coming down or withdrawing from alcohol or other drugs. This can lead to a cycle where the anxiety and alcohol or other drug use feed off each other. Some people find that they develop alcohol or other drug problems because they feel that they need to drink greater amounts more frequently to cope with their anxiety.

The relationship between anxiety and alcohol use is a topic of great theoretical and practical interest for both scientists interested in the nature and causes of psychopathology and practitioners working with anxious and/or alcohol abusing clients.

Although it has been clearly established that anxiety disorders and alcohol use disorders are highly ‘‘comorbid’’ or co-occurring conditions (e.g., see Kushner, Abrams & Borchardt, 2013 for a review), the relationship between the symptoms or behaviors involved in each disorder (e.g., feelings of anxiety and levels of alcohol use) has not been as extensively reviewed.

Anxiety and alcohol use can both be characterized at two different levels: symptomatic and syndromal. An association at the former level would entail a clear relationship, for example, between feelings of anxiety and drinking behavior. That is, one would expect that higher levels of anxiety would be related to higher quantities and/or frequency of drinking behavior.

Persons (2010) describes the advantages of studying psychological phenomena at the symptomatic level rather than at the diagnostic category (or syndromal) level. The symptom approach allows for study of important phenomena that may be ignored by examining only the diagnostic category in question.

For example, level of alcohol consumption is not considered in the diagnosis of alcohol abuse or dependence according to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2012), although there have been some recommendations for incorporating heavy drinking behaviors in the c in future editions (Helzer, Bucholz, & Bierut, 2009).

Nonetheless, level of consumption may be an important risk factor for alcohol problems (Dawson & Archer, 2010) and thus may be of interest as a ‘‘symptom’’ when considering the anxiety – alcohol relation from the symptom perspective. Also, the symptom approach recognizes the continuity of clinical phenomena and behaviors with normal phenomena and behaviors.

This is a crucial point in the study of both drinking behavior and anxiety. The relationship between anxiety and alcohol can also be considered at the syndromal level. At this level, a relationship between alcohol and anxiety would be demonstrated if a diagnosis of one of the two disorders (i.e., anxiety disorder or alcohol use disorder) was associated with an increased likelihood of a diagnosis of the other disorder.

The ability to control and regulate impulses, desires, wishes, emotions, and other behaviors is a core feature of the self. In fact, many vital functions of the self involve regulation, such as making decisions, inhibiting and initiating behavior, taking responsibility, and making and carrying out plans (Baumeister, 2011).

As a result, exerting self-control can improve health (e.g., eating healthier, exercising), decision-making, academic achievement, and job/career performance. For instance, Baumeister, Heatherton, and Tice (2012) showed that poor self-control has been linked to a failure to set and/or accomplish goals, failure to delay gratification, self-handicapping and procrastination, overeating, gambling, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Research has also shown that self-regulation is a particularly important aspect of social relationships. For instance, Tangney, Baumeister, and Boone (2011) found that self-control was positively related to a secure attachment style. Higher self-control is also related to better interpersonal accommodation, greater romantic relationship satisfaction, and a greater likelihood of having a constructive response to conflict with a romantic partner (Finkel & Campbell, 2016).

Those with greater self-control also show less conflict and more cohesion with family members (Tangney et al., 2011). In addition, those who exert self-control tend to gain social acceptance from others, whereas those who do not tend to be socially rejected and ostracized by their peers (e.g., Feldman, Rosenthal, Brown, & Canning, 2009; Ferrer & Krantz, 2014).

These findings suggest that low self-control is a significant risk factor for a wide range of individual and interpersonal difficulties. Low self-control therefore increases susceptibility to a myriad of problems.

Self-control appears to diminish with use, however. When one exerts regulatory control on one task, that person will exhibit reduced self-control on a subsequent task due to depleted self-control resources (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000). According to the process model of self-control (Inzlicht & Schmeichel, 2012), this effect is driven by two processes, motivation and attention.

When people engage in tasks requiring self-control, they experience reduced motivation to exert self-control on subsequent tasks and experience increased motivation to act on impulses. In addition, engaging in self-control reduces attention to cues signaling the need for self-control and increases attention toward cues signaling possible rewards.

For people with social anxiety, simply interacting with others may be depleting. According to Kashdan, Weeks, and Savostyanova (2011), “…socially anxious people devote considerable self-regulatory resources (e.g., attention, physical stamina, and impulse control) to fearing, controlling, and avoiding anxious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors”.

Kashdan et al. (2011) proposed that people higher in social anxiety exert greater self-control in most social interactions than those lower in social anxiety, but self-control demands will be especially great during stressful or difficult social interactions. Finally, the implication of this alternative analysis is to examine the effect of alcohol, loss of control on anxiety level of adolescents.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Although publication trends show increasing research since the 2012s, anxiety during childhood and adolescence has historically been considered a normal and transient manifestation of typical developmental challenges and fears; it has therefore been considered of less clinical and research relevance than the study of anxiety in adults.

Alcohol and loss of control are now known to be the most common causes of psychiatric disorders among adolescents, with a lifetime prevalence of approximately 30% and a chronic course into adulthood if not treated, the effect of alcohol and loss of control on anxiety level of adolescent is still an under-researched topic.

Despite reports showing that anxiety disorders are among the leading causes of disability and associated with high societal costs, they frequently remain undetected and untreated in primary and mental health care. Hence the study examines the effects of alcohol and loss of control on anxiety level of adolescents.

 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The major aim of the study is to examine the effects of alcohol and loss of control on anxiety level of adolescents. Other specific objectives of the study include;

1. To examine the effects alcohol on anxiety level of adolescents
2. To examine the effects of loss of control on anxiety level of adolescents
3. To examine the health consequences of adolescent alcohol involvement
4. To examine the relationship between alcohol , loss of control and level of anxiety of adolescents

 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the effects of alcohol on anxiety level of adolescents?
2. What are the effects of loss of control on anxiety level of adolescents?
3. What are the health consequences of adolescent alcohol involvement?
4. What is the relationship between alcohol, loss of control and level of anxiety of adolescents?

RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1

H0: There is no significant effect of alcohol and loss of control on anxiety level of adolescents.

H1: There is a significant effect of alcohol and loss of control on anxiety level of adolescents.

Hypothesis 2

H0: There is no significant relationship between alcohol, loss of control and level of anxiety of adolescents.

H1: There is a significant relationship between alcohol, loss of control and level of anxiety of adolescents.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study would be of benefit to parents, teachers, policy makers and the country in general. The study would also be of immense benefit to students, researchers and scholars who are interested in developing further studies on the subject matter.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study is restricted to the effects of alcohol and loss of control on anxiety level of adolescents.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview)

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Anxiety: is defined as “a painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind usually over an impending or anticipated ill” (Merriam-Webster, 2012). Students experiencing academic anxiety feel apprehensive over academic tasks.

Students can feel anxiety related to every academic task. Some may only feel anxiety related to test taking or other specific tasks. Anxiety is not always negative. Some students can be motivated by anxiety.