Expectativas hacia el alcohol, dificultades de regulación emocional y consumo de alcohol en adolescentes: modelo explicativo

Aims: To identify the relationship between expectations towards alcohol (EA), emotional regulation difficulties (DRE) and alcohol consumption in adolescents, and to establish their predictability. Method: Cross-sectional predictive study. Sample made up of 538 adolescents (61.2% women and 38.8% men) between 13 and 18 years of age (M= 16.33; SD= 0.95) from Ecuador. Results: The presence of both positive and negative AEs is moderate, 70.3% of the participants present DRE at levels considered risky, while alcohol consumption is low. The relationship between the EAs (positive and negative) and the DERS (impulsivity and without strategies) with alcohol consumption is confirmed, hence the EAs and the DERS are predictors (R2= .326) of alcohol consumption. Conclusion: The EAs and the DERS jointly and complementarily explain the practice of alcohol consumption in adolescents; In particular, beliefs and assessments of the effects of alcohol, whether positive or negative, plus difficulties in some emotional regulation processes, such as the lack of specific emotional control strategies and impulsivity, influence, and direct alcohol consumption behaviors. in this population.