Emotion dysregulation in the context of pain and alcohol use among latinos in primary care

Objective: Latinos experience more severe pain relative to other racial/ethnic groups. Although pain is associated with alcohol use, little is known about pain/alcohol associations among Latinos. The current study examined whether emotion dysregulation explained associations between pain intensity/disability and alcohol use among Latinos in primary care. Method: Participants were 252 low-income Latino adults (mean age = 38.7 years, SD = 10.8; 86.1% female; 95.2% reported Spanish as their first language) who completed self-report measures of pain, emotion dysregulation, and alcohol use. Results: There was a significant indirect effect of pain intensity via emotion dysregulation in relation to alcohol use severity. In addition, there was a significant indirect effect of pain-related disability via emotion dysregulation in relation to alcohol use severity. Pain intensity and pain-related disability were each associated with emotion dysregulation, which in turn was associated with the severity of alcohol use. Effects were evident after controlling for sex, marital status, education, and years in the United States. Alternative models examined “reverse” indirect effects and were statistically rejected. Conclusions: Among Latinos in primary care, emotion dysregulation is a possible explanatory factor underlying pain and alcohol use associations.