Although the relationship between substance use disorders (SUDs) and emotion regulation is a topic of great scientific interest, little is still known about the nature of this association. The aim of this study is to examine emotion regulation among patients with SUDs and assess the different predictors that affect it.

In all, 100 male patients with SUDs were selected from Okasha Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University and were compared with 100 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and education. Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders I; Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders II; Temperament and Character Inventory; Barratt impulsiveness scale (BIS), version 11; Trait Meta Mood Scale; and addiction severity index were used.

Emotional repair was significantly lower in cases compared with control group specifically cases with personality disorders. Cases had significantly lower scores in harm avoidance and persistence and higher in novelty seeking. In addition, cases showed significantly higher total, motor, attention, and nonplan scores of BIS compared with the control group. Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between attention to feeling, clarity of feeling, and repair of mood, and BIS items. Meanwhile, there was a negative correlation between emotional repair and novelty seeking, harm avoidance, persistence, and self-transcendence. Lastly, there was a significant negative correlation between attention to feeling and duration of substance use.

The study confirms that emotion regulation is a mediator for SUDs especially with long duration of illness, presence of certain personality traits and disorders, and high impulsivity.