INCREASED NEGATIVE MOOD REGULATION EXPECTANCIES PREDICT SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OUTCOMES IN RESIDENTIAL SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT

Rotter’s social learning theory (SLT) explains how individuals make decisions about how to cope with stressful situations. Negative Mood Regulation Expectancies (NMRE) are defined within SLT as beliefs about one’s ability to control one’s unpleasant emotions. Persons with higher NMRE are confident that using adaptive coping strategies will succeed, while people with lower NMRE lack confidence and therefore use more avoidant coping, like substance abuse to deal with stress. Participants in this study were 70 patients in level 3.5 residential drug and alcohol treatment for substance use disorders. NMRE, and positive and negative mood were assessed on admission, ten days after admission, and at discharge. Depression and anxiety were measured weekly. Correlational analyses showed that higher NMRE were associated with greater positive mood and less negative mood, anxiety, and depression. Multiple regression analyses revealed that NMRE on admission significantly predicted positive mood at discharge; and increased NMRE from admission to discharge significantly predicted less depression, less negative mood and more positive mood at discharge. Those with greater increase in NMRE were also more likely to complete treatment successfully. Many clinical interventions directly target improving mood regulation. The current findings support previous research that has found that interventions that increase NMRE enhance treatment outcomes and patients' psychological well-being, by preparing patients to cope more actively after discharge; greater positive mood will enable them to resist urges to use substances