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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jul 13.
Published in final edited form as: Clin Psychol Rev. 2021 Jan 13;84:101971. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2021.101971

Table 4.

Description and main results of studies evaluating emotional regulation in binge drinking.

Authors (year) Participants Intervention Comparator Experimental design Outcomes Quality
Sample (n) Age Gender ratio (% of males) Inclusion criteria Binge drinking criteria Control group/variable Processes measured Task/scale Stimuli Main results Limits
Cohen-Gilbert et al. (2017) 23 college students Range 18–20

Mean 18.80
Not reported No MRI contraindication, neurological disorder, and use of illicit drugs. Low use of marijuana and tobacco

No alcohol use before the experiment
The number of binge drinking episodes (≥ 70 alcohol gr for boys or ≥ 56 for girls in one occasion) in the three-past month Continuous view of binge drinking (0 – 19 BD episodes in the past three months)

Contrast between emotional images (positive and negative) and neutral ones
Impact of emotional scenes on the ability to inhibit an automatic response Structured Clinical Interview

Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms

Go/No-Go task (letters as target stimuli; emotional images as preliminary background)

fMRI recording
Positive, negative, and neutral images from the IAPS Negative emotional background: higher binge drinking episodes related to decreased activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex.

Positive emotional background: non-significant results
Small sample size 76.47
Ehret et al. (2013) 1,084 college students Mean age of 20.1 37% N/A At least one binge drinking episode (≥ 70 alcohol gr for boys or ≥ 56 for girls) in the last month Analyses were adjusted for gender, membership affiliation in a fraternity or sorority, and typical weekly drinking Emotional regulation Daily Drinking Questionnaire

The Rutgers Alcohol Problems

Protective Behavioral Strategies

Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy (social pressure, emotional relief, opportunistic)

Drinking Motives (enhancement, social, coping, conformity)
N/A Greater binge drinking in participants with lower protective behavioral strategies, poor drinking refusal self-efficacy for social pressure or emotional regulation

Participants with high drinking refusal self-efficacy in social and emotional contexts: protective behavioral strategies were not related to alcohol consequences
No information on the causality 64.71
Herman et al. (2018) 30 college students Range 18–37

Mean 23.40
30% No MRI contradiction, mental or neurological disorder, no significant impairment of vision Binge drinking score as a continuous variable Continuous view of binge drinking

Control by comparing fearful expressions to neutral ones
Inhibition of fear (facial expressions)

Impact of fearful emotional expressions on decision-making abilities (delay discounting)
Barratt Impulsiveness Scale

Alcohol Use Questionnaire

Affective Stop Signal Task (fearful and neutral facial expressions as target stimuli)

Affective Delay Discounting Task (fearful and neutral facial before target trials)

fMRI recording
Emotional facial expressions of fear and neutral facial expressions Successful inhibition of fear: higher binge drinking scores related to decreased activation in frontal and parietal brain areas

Delayed reward after the fearful presentation: higher binge drinking scores related to decreased frontopolar activation
No evaluation of socio-emotional functioning 70.59
Laghi et al. (2018) 1,004 high-school students Range 16–21

Mean 17.90
39.34% N/A At least one binge drinking episode (≥ 50 alcohol gr for boys or ≥ 40 for girls on one occasion) in the past two weeks Comparison of three groups: 227 BD, 89 binge eaters, 37 participants presenting both binge behaviors Emotion regulation The binge eating scale

Drinking quantity and frequency

The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (expression suppression and cognitive reappraisal)
N/A Cognitive reappraisal: no group difference

Expression suppression: BD < binge eaters and participants with both binge behaviors
No consideration of confounding variables (e.g., negative emotions) 70.59
Trojanowski et al. (2019) 776 college students Range 17–22

Mean 18.79
20.10% N/A At least one binge drinking episode (≥ 70 alcohol gr for boys or ≥ 56 for girls on one occasion) in the past month Mixture modeling was used to create four groups: BD, binge eaters, both bingers, and low bingers Emotion regulation Eating Disorder Examination

Drinking Timeline Follow-back

Drinking Motives and Eating Motives Questionnaire

Thinness and Restricting Expectancies Inventory

UPPS-P (negative and positive urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking)

Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale

Beck Depression Inventory

AUDIT

Quality of Life Inventory
N/A Depression, eating disorders, impulsivity, emotion regulation, quality of life: Low binge < binge eaters and both bingers

Social and enhancement motives: BD > low binge
No information on the causality 82.24

Note. All alcohol units have been converted in grams of pure ethanol, according to the number of grams per unit in each country. BD = binge drinkers; AUDIT = Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; fMRI = functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.