How Changes in Emotional Dysregulation Influence Motivation Toward Alcohol During Treatment: Using an Approach-Avoidance Task

• Aryan Ajesh, Neuroscience, University of Delaware

• Phillip Gable, Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware

Emotional dysregulation is a hallmark of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and contributes to heightened craving, compulsive alcohol use, and increased risk of relapse. Although Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) has consistently been shown to improve emotion regulation among individuals with substance use disorders, less is known about whether these improvements are accompanied by changes in automatic approach motivation toward alcohol cues. Previous research has demonstrated that Approach-Avoidance Tasks (AATs) provide an objective measure of implicit alcohol-related motivational tendencies, yet few studies have examined how changes in emotional dysregulation throughout treatment relate to these behavioral responses.

This study investigates whether changes in emotional dysregulation during the early stages of DBT are associated with changes in approach-avoidance motivation toward alcohol-related cues. Adults enrolled in a DBT-based substance use treatment program at Blueprints will complete assessments shortly after beginning treatment and again approximately 20 days later. A comparison group of University of Delaware students recruited through the SONA participant pool will complete the same assessments over a similar 20-day interval to account for repeated testing effects. Participants will complete the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-18 (DERS-18), an alcohol cue rating task assessing state craving, and a tablet-based Approach-Avoidance Task measuring reaction times to alcohol-related stimuli.

Data collection is currently underway. Analyses will evaluate whether reductions in emotional dysregulation are associated with changes in approach motivation toward alcohol cues and whether behavioral measures provide information beyond self-reported craving. It is expected that improvements in emotion regulation will be associated with reduced automatic approach tendencies toward alcohol-related stimuli. By integrating self-report and behavioral measures, this study aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of motivational changes during treatment and may contribute to the development of more sensitive tools for evaluating treatment progress and identifying mechanisms associated with recovery.