Les alcoolisations ponctuelles importantes (API) sont une consommation excessive et rapide d’alcool visant l’ébriété et concernant une majorité de jeunes actuellement. Cette étude porte sur la détermination d’un profil émotionnel des jeunes adultes présentant ce type de conduite.

L’objectif principal de cette étude concerne l’investigation du rôle de l’émotionnalité des jeunes adultes dans leur mésusage d’alcool.

Des questionnaires évaluant l’émotionnalité (EPN-31) et l’usage d’alcool (AUDIT) ont été proposés à 126 participants, issus de la population générale et répartis en deux groupes : le groupe CE « consommation excessive » comprenant 75 sujets (dont 16 hommes) (âge moyen : 24,6±2) et le groupe SCE « sans consommation excessive » comprenant 51 sujets (dont 17 hommes) (âge moyen : 25,4±3,4).

Les régressions linéaires mettent en avant deux facteurs de vulnérabilité des API : la honte et les émotions négatives. Une propension à ressentir de la honte et de la tendresse serait caractéristique des individus consommateurs excessifs.

Cette étude confirme la fonction de régulateur émotionnel du mésusage de l’alcool et souligne le rôle de la honte dans cette conduite chez les jeunes adultes. Il est donc nécessaire de tenir compte de ce ressenti dans la prévention et la prise en charge de cette pratique.

Excessive alcohol consumption may be defined as quick and sporadic inebriation. Such practice currently involves an increasing number of young adults. Excessive alcohol consumption might be favored by some personality traits such as impulsivity, sensations seeking, disinhibition or low self-esteem (Laukkanen et al., 2001). This assumption is advanced by a number of studies, focusing on social, family or environmental factors leading to excessive alcohol consumption, which are mainly conducted in the US. Therefore, few studies – including in France – consider the emotionality of young adults and its role in triggering this behavior. The current study attempts to determine an affective profile of young adults in France who misuse alcohol in such a way that it can be attributed to their emotionality.

The main objective of this study is to assess the role of emotionality within excessive alcohol consumption through analyzing its practice by French young adults.

The psychometric evaluation was composed by a series of questionnaires measuring emotionality (EPN-31) and the use of alcohol (AUDIT). One hundred and twenty-six participants from the French general population, were divided into two groups: group CE “excessive consumption” which included 75 participants (16 men, 59 women) (average age: 24.6±2 years) and group SCE ‘non excessive consumption’ which included 51 participants (17 men, 34 women) (average age: 25.3±3.4 years).

Due to high co-linearity between the scores and the sub-scores of emotionality, three multiple linear regression models were conducted. Two out of the three models demonstrated significance. The first model identifies negative emotions as the most powerful predictor of the AUDIT variance. This result might be reinforced by the third model that underlines the participation of shame in triggering the use of alcohol. Moreover, it appears that young adults who misuse alcohol may be characterized by attitudes of shame (t=2.17; P=0.05) and tenderness (t=2.24; P=0.04). The tenderness characteristic may be explained by two hypotheses. Firstly, it could be linked to the preponderant number of women within the sample. Indeed, it is known that women more frequently experience this feeling in comparison to men (Pelissolo et al., 2007). Secondly, this outcome could be explained by the fact that alcohol is often shared in an attempt to reinforce social affiliation, thus increasing feelings of affection and ultimately tenderness (Coleman et al., 2005). This tendency should be further explored using a larger and more gender-balanced sample. In addition, the results concerning the shame characteristic and its supposed participation in triggering excessive alcohol consumption, provide some insight into the role of shame in understanding excessive alcohol consumption. Indeed, negative affectivity seems to be a vulnerability factor for participants who tend to excessive alcohol consumption, as it appears to be more frequently experienced by young adults who engage in this practice rather than those who do not. It seems therefore advisable to investigate self-esteem of the young adults who engage in excessive alcohol consumption in order to better understand this practice.

The results underline an emotional dimension that appears to have an effect upon excessive alcohol consumption: negative emotions and, more specifically, shame. These results reinforce the hypothetical emotional regulation function of excessive alcohol consumption (Sher et al., 2007). Shame appears to be a key element of this behavior, therefore it seems essential to take it into account during prevention campaigns as well as during therapy. Cognitive and behavioral therapy (CBT), specifically the third wave of CBT, appears to show promise for treating this behavior and encourages more efficient strategies of emotional regulation. For example, mindfulness program may be an efficient tool for treating this type of behavior, helping young adults to regulate their feeling in a more beneficial way (Witkiewitz et al., 2005).