Browsing by Author "Kabel, Katherine E."
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Item Alcohol Use among Trauma-Exposed College Students: Associations with Sleep and Distress Tolerance(2020-09-29) Kabel, Katherine E.; Zegel, MayaAlcohol misuse is a public health concern among undergraduate students, particularly those who report trauma exposure. Sleep disturbance, a prevalent issue for undergraduate populations, is related to heightened alcohol use severity and coping-motivated alcohol use. Distress tolerance (DT) is a transdiagnostic factor, defined as the perceived ability to withstand negative emotional states, that may exacerbate associations between sleep disturbance and alcohol use by amplifying coping-oriented alcohol use intended to manage negative emotional states. The present study examined the indirect effect of sleep disturbance on alcohol use through alcohol-related coping motives at differing levels of DT, after controlling for gender, trauma load, past month substance use, and conformity, enhancement, and social drinking motives. Data were collected as part of a larger, survey-based study examining stress and health-related behaviors among college students. Participants included 2066 trauma-exposed, undergraduate students who endorsed lifetime alcohol consumption (77.8% female; 49.8% white; Mage= 22.3 ± 5.0 years). Sleep disturbance was significantly associated with alcohol use severity indirectly via coping-motivated alcohol use (b = .0740, SE = .0110, CI [.0539, .0971]), replicating past work. As hypothesized, the model was not significant for other drinking motives (i.e., enhancement, social, and conformity). However, when DT was added as a moderator to the model, the results were not significant (b = .0002, SE = .0006, CI [-.0011, .0014]. Further research examining the interrelatedness of trauma, sleep disturbance, coping-motivated alcohol use, and DT can inform evidence-based prevention and intervention for college students.Item The Role of Anxiety Sensitivity In Mental Health Outcomes Among Trauma-Exposed College Students and Young Adults During Covid-19(2021-05) Kabel, Katherine E.Emerging literature has documented the substantial negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of college students and young adults. Although extant work has shown that those with prior trauma exposure have poorer mental health outcomes during infectious disease outbreaks, broadly, substantially less work has focused on putative mechanisms underlying these relations during COVID-19. Therefore, the current study conducted a longitudinal analysis examining the mediating effect of one such vulnerability factor, anxiety sensitivity (AS; the fear of behaviors or sensations related to experiencing anxiety) on the association between baseline PTSD symptom severity and fear of COVID-19, worry about COVID-19, panic, social anxiety, general depression, and suicidality during COVID-19. Participants were 41 trauma-exposed college students and young adults (68.3% female, Mage = 25.39, SD = 6.66). Results indicated that the relationship between baseline PTSD symptom severity and fear of COVID-19 and panic was mediated by AS; however, the same was not true for worry about COVID-19, social anxiety, depression, or suicidality. The current study provides novel empirical evidence that AS is an important transdiagnostic vulnerability factor for trauma-exposed individuals that longitudinally predicts COVID-19 specific and general mental health facets, which may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such findings provide additional evidence for the importance of targeting AS in the content of treatment for trauma, stress, and related disorders in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.