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Dispositional Mindfulness, Shame, and Compulsive Sexual Behaviors Among Men in Residential Treatment for Substance Use Disorders

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Abstract

Approximately, 31% of men in treatment for a substance use disorders (SUD) engage in compulsive sexual behavior (CSB). Shame, a well-documented consequence of CSB, increases the likelihood of relapse following treatment for SUDs. Despite the risk of relapse, prior research has not investigated factors that may attenuate the relation between CSB and shame. Dispositional mindfulness is one such factor known to mitigate shame. However, researchers have yet to examine dispositional mindfulness as a moderator of the relationship between CSB and shame among a sample of men in treatment for SUDs. In an effort to inform intervention efforts, the present study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that CSB would not relate to shame among men with high, as opposed to low, levels of dispositional mindfulness. The present study reviewed medical records of 184 men in residential treatment for SUDs who completed cross-sectional measures of shame, CSB, dispositional mindfulness, and substance use problems. Results demonstrated a significant interaction between CSB and dispositional mindfulness such that CSB positively related to shame at low, but not mean or high, levels of dispositional mindfulness. These results support and extend previous mindfulness and CSB treatment research. Findings suggested that intervention efforts for CSB may benefit from increasing dispositional mindfulness in an effort to reduce shame-related cognitions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, 204 Austin Peay Building, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Meagan J. Brem & Gregory L. Stuart

  2. Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA

    Ryan C. Shorey

  3. Cornerstone of Recovery, Louisville, TN, USA

    Scott Anderson

Authors
  1. Meagan J. Brem
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  2. Ryan C. Shorey
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  3. Scott Anderson
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  4. Gregory L. Stuart
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Contributions

MJB formulated the hypothesis, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. RCS collaborated with the analyses, writing, and editing of the manuscript. SA collaborated with the writing and editing of the manuscript. GLS collaborated with the writing and editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Meagan J. Brem.

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Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Funding

This work was supported, in part, by grant K24AA019707 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) awarded to the last author. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIAAA or the National Institutes of Health.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Brem, M.J., Shorey, R.C., Anderson, S. et al. Dispositional Mindfulness, Shame, and Compulsive Sexual Behaviors Among Men in Residential Treatment for Substance Use Disorders. Mindfulness 8, 1552–1558 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0723-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0723-0

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