Dickter Cheryl L, Chang Ingrid, Burk Joshua A, Bravo Adrian J
Department of Psychological Sciences, William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA.
Subst Use Misuse. 2025;60(5):766-774. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2024.2447435. Epub 2025 Jan 8.
Prior research suggests that individuals reporting autistic traits are at heightened risk for alcohol dependence once they begin drinking; thus, examining factors that may lead to problematic drinking in this population is imperative. Neurotypical college students higher in autistic traits tend to have more social anxiety, more challenges with social skills and communication, and weaker social adjustment than those lower in autistic traits, which are risk factors for problematic alcohol use.
The present study sought to assess whether university students with more autistic traits would report greater alcohol-related negative consequences, and whether this association would be indirectly influenced by social anxiety, emotion regulation, and drinking to cope. Students (=3,756; 71.4% female) from 12 universities spanning seven countries completed questionnaires assessing autistic traits, social anxiety, emotion regulation, drinking to cope, and negative alcohol-related consequences.
Results from our comprehensive path model indicated that exhibiting more autistic traits was associated with higher social anxiety and distinct emotion regulation strategies (i.e., higher endorsement of expressive suppression and lower endorsement of cognitive reappraisal), which in turn were associated with more drinking to cope motives, which in turn was associated with more alcohol-related problems. These findings were consistent across gender and country groupings (i.e., test of model invariance).
These results inform our understanding of how university students with higher autistic traits may develop problems with alcohol and our results may inform interventions or preventative efforts. Future research should examine longitudinal designs to further refine this model and establish temporal evidence of its trajectory.
先前的研究表明，报告有自闭症特征的个体一旦开始饮酒，酒精依赖风险就会增加；因此，研究可能导致该人群饮酒问题的因素至关重要。具有较高自闭症特征的神经典型大学生往往比自闭症特征较低的学生有更多社交焦虑、社交技能和沟通方面的更多挑战以及较弱的社会适应能力，这些都是酒精使用问题的风险因素。
本研究旨在评估具有更多自闭症特征的大学生是否会报告更多与酒精相关的负面后果，以及这种关联是否会受到社交焦虑、情绪调节和为应对而饮酒的间接影响。来自七个国家的12所大学的3756名学生（71.4%为女性）完成了问卷调查，评估自闭症特征、社交焦虑、情绪调节、为应对而饮酒以及与酒精相关的负面后果。
我们综合路径模型的结果表明，表现出更多自闭症特征与更高的社交焦虑和独特的情绪调节策略（即更高程度地认可表达抑制和更低程度地认可认知重评）相关，这反过来又与更多的为应对而饮酒动机相关，进而与更多的酒精相关问题相关。这些发现在性别和国家分组中是一致的（即模型不变性检验）。
这些结果有助于我们理解具有较高自闭症特征的大学生如何出现酒精问题，我们的结果可能为干预或预防措施提供参考。未来的研究应该采用纵向设计来进一步完善这个模型，并建立其轨迹的时间证据。
