Look away now! Defensive processing and unrealistic optimism by level of alcohol consumption.

Objective: Health risk information is insufficient as a means of reducing alcohol use, particularly when it evokes negative emotional states amongst those for whom it is most personally relevant. Appraisal biases, or 'defensive processing', may be employed to mitigate the psychological discomfort po...

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Publicado en:Psychology & Health Vol. 40; no. 8; pp. 1339 - 1358
Autores principales: Morris, J., Tattan-Birch, H., Albery, I. P., Heather, N., Moss, A. C.
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Aug2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Aug2025
      vid: 40
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
      place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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        10.1080/08870446.2024.2316681
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        atl: Look away now! Defensive processing and unrealistic optimism by level of alcohol consumption.
      aug:
        au:
          Morris, J.
          Tattan-Birch, H.
          Albery, I. P.
          Heather, N.
          Moss, A. C.
        affil: Centre for Addictive Behaviours Research, School of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, London, United Kingdom
      sug:
        subj:
          Alcohol Drinking
          Optimism
          Defense Mechanisms Evaluation
          Alcoholism Physiopathology
          Human
          Risk Assessment
          Disease Susceptibility
          Severity of Illness
          Pearson's Correlation Coefficient
          Emotions
          Treatment Outcomes
          Communication
          Behavioral Changes
          Social Identity
          Questionnaires
      ab: Objective: Health risk information is insufficient as a means of reducing alcohol use, particularly when it evokes negative emotional states amongst those for whom it is most personally relevant. Appraisal biases, or 'defensive processing', may be employed to mitigate the psychological discomfort posed by such information. Few studies have evaluated the role of defensive processing in people with different levels of alcohol consumption. Design: Online participants (n = 597) completed measures of defensive processing of a health risk infographic, perceived susceptibility and severity of alcohol use, efficacy for resisting alcohol use, unrealistic optimism, the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test – Consumption (AUDIT-C) and demographics. Results: AUDIT-C scores were positively and linearly associated with all defensive processing measures (Pearson's correlation r from.16 to.36), threat and susceptibility (r =.16) and unrealistic optimism (r =.50). AUDIT-C scores were also negatively associated with efficacy for controlling alcohol use (r = −0.48). Conclusion: People with alcohol use disorder (AUD) engaged in much more defensive processing of alcohol-related messages, offering an explanation for why such messages are limited at eliciting behaviour change. High levels of unrealistic optimism in people with alcohol use disorder may reflect low problem recognition in order to maintain a problem-free drinking identity.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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