The Moderating Effect of Psychological Rigidity on the Relationship Between Stress and Alcohol Use Among Low-Income Self-Sufficiency Workers: A Comparative Analysis of Young and Middle-Aged Adults

Although the relationship between low income, stress, and alcohol use has been well established, research on interventions to address alcohol-related problems among low-income populations remains limited.Moreover, since alcohol use and its problematic effects are influenced by various individual characteristics, there is a need to investigate interventions that consider individual traits.In this context, the present study aimed to examine the moderating effect of psychological rigidity on the relationship between stress and alcohol use among low-income self-sufficiency workers.Additionally, this study sought to investigate age-related differences in the effects of stress and psychological rigidity through a comparative analysis based on participants' age groups.For this study, a sample of 1003 self-sufficiency workers from local self-sufficiency centers in the Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, and Daegu regions completed questionnaires: the Perceived Stress Scale, the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), and the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Korea (AUDIT-K).Hierarchical regression analysis was performed on data from 739 participants who responded conscientiously.Participants were categorized into two groups: young adults and middle-aged adults, based on their age.The analysis results can be summarized as follows: 1) Stress did not have a significant effect on alcohol use among the youth group.However, stress had a significant effect on alcohol use among the middle-aged adult group.In the relationship between stress and alcohol use in the middleaged adult group, the moderating effect of psychological inflexibility was confirmed.When stress levels were low, the influence of psychological rigidity on alcohol use was minimal.However, when stress levels were high, alcohol use increased as psychological rigidity increased.Based on the results, we discussed the vulnerability of middle-aged self-sufficiency workers to alcohol use in response to stress.We propose Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which aims to reduce psychological rigidity, as an intervention strategy for alcohol use problems in this group.For young self-sufficiency workers, it is necessary to classify them as a separate group and further investigate the risk factors and conditions