Roos CR, Witkiewitz K. (2017). A contextual model of self-regulation change mechanisms among individuals with addictive disorders. Clinical Psychology Reviews. 57: 117-128. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.08.008
Researchers present a contextual model of self-regulation change processes among individuals with substance use disorders (SUD), based on review of existing literature related to coping, mindfulness, distress tolerance and flexibility. To address identified gaps in the literature, researchers developed a model to address the interrelationships between broad (e.g. social support) and situational contexts (e.g. presence of drug use paraphernalia), self-regulation, and substance use. Broader context is relatively stable and can include individual characteristics, environmental conditions, and major life events. Situational context can vary with time and includes internal states and features of the external environment. The broad and situational contexts can feed into momentary self-regulatory behaviors and substance use. Researchers also emphasize how these interactions can vary between people and within individuals, and break down their general model to address within-person and between-person differences. To improve research on self-regulation mechanisms among individuals with SUD, researchers call for new and varied measures of self-regulation mechanisms (e.g., ecological momentary assessments, behavioral tasks). In particular, repeated administration of ecological momentary assessments can facilitate measurement of broad and situational contexts. A broader understanding of how context can contribute to behavior change mechanisms in SUD treatment can help researchers identify how a treatment works.