To Get High or to Get Out? Examining the Link between Addictive Behaviors and Escapism.

Background: Escapism is a tendency to seek escape and distraction from reality or real-life problems. Past research regards escapism as a negative inducement that leads to adverse consequences when combined with substance use and other addictive activities. Existing knowledge on escapism's connection to addiction is mostly based on studies with restricted populations and lacks a comprehensive view.Objectives: Using an extensive data set, our aim was to investigate whether escapism has a consistent association with different types of addictive behaviors. In this study, we examined (1) the extent to which escapism is related to alcohol consumption, smoking, drug use, and gambling and (2) whether escapism moderates the relation between problem drinking and life satisfaction.Methods: We used cross-sectional survey data from a nationally representative stratified random sample of 2,285 respondents aged 16 to 80 years (mean [M] 45.18; standard deviation [SD] 18.75; 51.25% males) living in Finland. Linear and logistic regression models estimated the association of escapism and alcohol consumption, smoking, drug use, and gambling. The second part of the analysis focused on life satisfaction.Results: Escapism was associated with alcohol consumption, smoking and drug use, but not with gambling. Escapism moderated the association between life satisfaction and problematic alcohol use, indicating that problem drinking with escapist motives predicts lower life satisfaction than problematic alcohol use alone.Conclusions/Importance: Escapism bears a consistent relation to substance use and is a particularly strong predictor of alcohol consumption. Escapism can serve as an initial motive, a reinforcer, and an amplifier of addictive behaviors.

Short summaryThis study investigated the association of escapism with alcohol consumption, smoking, drug use and gambling. Escapism had a consistent relation to drinking, smoking and drug use. Problem drinking with escapist motives predicted lower life satisfaction than problematic alcohol use alone. The results suggest escapism can serve as a motive or an amplifier of addictive behaviors.

Escapism and Excessive Online Behaviors: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study in Finland during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Excessive online behaviors refer to harmful or disproportionate use of digital network applications. Such behaviors are likely to be associated with escapist motives. Our aim was to analyze whether escapism predicts excessive gambling, excessive gaming, and excessive internet use over time. A longitudinal sample of Finnish residents aged 18-75 years (n = 1022, 51.27% male) was surveyed at three time points during the COVID-19 pandemic in 6-month intervals: April 2021 (Time 1), October-November 2021 (Time 2), and April-May 2022 (Time 3). Of the original Time 1 respondents, 66.80% took part in the surveys at both Time 2 and Time 3. All surveys included measures for excessive gambling (Problem Gambling Severity Index), excessive gaming (Internet Gaming Disorder Test), and excessive internet use (Compulsive Internet Use Scale). Three escapism-specific questions were used to construct a dedicated escapism variable. Socio-demographic variables, alcohol consumption, and psychological distress were used as controls. The study was conducted with multilevel regression analyses using hybrid models. Our research showed that escapism had strong within-person effects on excessive gambling, B = 0.18, p = 0.003; excessive gaming, B = 0.50, p < 0.001; and excessive internet use, B = 0.77, p < 0.001 over time. The between-person effect of escapism was demonstrated on excessive gaming B = 0.91, p < 0.001, and excessive internet use B = 0.61, p = 0.036. Adverse societal events and uncertain times can manifest in excessive online behaviors motivated by escapism, highlighting a need to focus prevention efforts on healthy coping methods.