Emotionally-driven behaviours among undergraduate women: A preliminary study

here is considerable evidence that a number of apparently impulsive or addictive behaviours (e.g., self - harm, alcohol or substance misuse) can be triggered by negatively valenced affective states, and that the behaviours serve the f unction of blocking awareness of intolerable emotions. However, the evidence base for this pattern of emotionally - driven blocking behaviours is relatively patchy, because there has been little systematic investigation of the emotions that trigger different blocking behaviours. In this preliminary study of emotionally - driven blocking behaviours, 53 non - clinical women completed a self - report measure of the link between specific affective states (anger, anxiety, boredom, depression, loneliness) and different b locking behaviours (smoking; aggression; drinking alcohol; overeating; compulsive spending; stealing; self - harm; ‘risky’ sexual behaviour). The results indicate a relatively specific pattern of association between different emotions and blocking behaviours . In addition, that linkage was stronger when the individual had a higher level of behavioural impulsivity, particularly where the emotion was loneliness or anger. These findings suggest that individuals who display such behaviours might benefit from skill s training for adaptive affect regulation, although further research is needed to determine the generalizability of these results to broader clinical and non - clinical populations.