Socio-Emotional Variables Linked to the Consumption of Drugs amongst University Students of Social Sciences: A Pilot Study.

This descriptive and transversal study, carried out on an intentional sample of 211 subjects who were split in terms of their consumption of psychoactive substances over the last month and who were aged between 18 and 28 (M = 21.36, and SD = 1.90), aimed to explore the emotional intelligence, perceived socio-family support and academic performance of university students vis-à-vis their consumption of drugs and to examine the link between them. The goal was to define university student consumer profile through a regression model using the multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (EMAS) and the Trait Meta Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24) as instruments, together with academic performance and gender. The results report alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis consumption rates that are above the levels indicated by the Spanish household survey on alcohol and drugs in Spain (EDADES 2019) for the 15-34-year-old age range in Castilla y León. A certain link was observed between the consumption of substances and academic performance, although no differences were seen in academic performance in terms of consumer type. There was also no clear link observed between emotional intelligence and academic performance or between social support and academic performance. The predictive contribution of the variables included in the regression model was low (9%), which would advocate completing the model with other predictive variables until more appropriate predictability conditions can be found.

Effects of exposure to food images on physiological reactivity and emotional responses in women with bulimia nervosa.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two exposure procedures on habituation of emotional responses to food stimuli: (a) exposure to external cues (food images) without eating forbidden food (CE) and (b) exposure to external cues eating forbidden food (with purge prevention). The influence of craving-trait and mood state on the habituation process is also studied. METHOD: Emotional modulation of the defense startle reflex was assessed in 26 women at risk of bulimia nervosa. After four exposure trials, changes in the following variables were measured: (a) food craving-state; (b) physiological measures: hearth rate (HR) and skin conductance response (SCR); (c) motivational patterns towards food (defense startle response); and (d) valence, arousal and dominance of the emotional response to food images. RESULTS: After treatment, subjects tended to show non-significant lower SCR and heart orientation responses (vs. defense responses); defense startle response was also significantly lower. CONCLUSIONS: The exposure procedure, the induced emotional state and the number of exposure trials are analyzed.