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Drinking motives, or reasons people choose to drink, are well-established risk factors for alcohol use and related negative consequences. Recent research has shown utility in a self-determination theory (SDT) approach for describing motivation for engaging in behaviors that reduce the harms associated with alcohol use (i.e., drinking responsibly). In the present study, we examined the relationship between drinking motives and motivations for drinking responsibly as well as their unique and incremental associations with alcohol-related outcomes (protective behavioral strategies [PBS], consumption, and negative consequences) in two samples of college student drinkers: (a) a random sample (n = 507) recruited from a Hispanic-Serving Institution on the U.S. border with Mexico (Mage = 22.84, SD = 5.84; 67.3% female; 90.9% Hispanic) and (b) a convenience sample (n = 2,808) from Psychology Department research participation pools at 10 universities in 8 U.S. states (Mage = 20.59, SD = 4.18; 72.9% female; 58.2% non-Hispanic White). Autonomous motivations (experience of volition and choice) for drinking responsibly were negatively correlated with drinking motives, but these correlations were small-to-medium in magnitude suggesting nonredundancy between the constructs. Drinking motives were risk factors for alcohol-related outcomes, especially alcohol-related problems, and autonomous motivations for drinking responsibly were protective factors for alcohol-related outcomes, especially PBS. Both motivational constructs predicted alcohol-related outcomes beyond the other, but drinking motives generally accounted for more variance. These findings suggest that integrating motivation in relation to both drinking and drinking responsibly may lead to a better understanding of alcohol-related behaviors and the associated negative consequences among college students. Implications for college drinking interventions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: An increase in drinking to cope with anxiety provoked by the coronavirus was observed during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: In the present study, we examined the role of drinking motives in the anxiety–alcohol link one year into the pandemic. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, we collected data between April and May 2021: 678 participants located in Romania or the Netherlands completed an online survey on alcohol consumption in the past month (assessed using a simple quantity-frequency measure), change in drinking during the past year (assessed using a single item asking whether there had been an increase, decrease or no change), drinking motives (assessed using the Revised Drinking Motives Questionnaire), drinking-related problems (assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test), and COVID-19-related anxiety (assessed using the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale). Results: Compared to before the pandemic, while 42% of participants had decreased their alcohol consumption, 15% reported an increase. Participants with clinically relevant COVID-19-related anxiety (11%) were more likely to drink to cope with negative affect, enhance positive affect, and conform to others. The association between COVID-19-related anxiety and drinking-related problems was specifically moderated by drinking to cope, such that the anxiety–alcohol link was stronger in participants who endorsed this drinking motive more. Conclusion: Drinking is a maladaptive coping strategy for individuals with high levels of COVID-19-related anxiety. These individuals might benefit from interventions involving the learning of healthier skills to deal with the ongoing pandemic.

Background: Several typologies have proposed two etiological pathways involved in the development of alcohol misuse which are associated with the internalizing and externalizing domains of psychopathology, respectively. This study's aim was to investigate this typology in a young adult sample, and test whether drinking motives, specifically drinking for negative or positive reinforcement, may provide a plausible mechanism characterizing these pathways. Method: Mixture modeling was conducted on a set of internalizing (anxiety, depression, neuroticism), externalizing (antisocial behavior, conscientiousness, sensation seeking, drug use), and alcohol misuse items (binge drinking, alcohol use disorder symptoms [AUDsx]) measured by self-report in a sample of 9,807 college students. Linear regression and chi-square tests were used to determine how latent class membership was associated with drinking motives, demographics, and personality characteristics. Results: The model identified 3 latent classes: a Low Risk class (70%), an Internalizing class (19%) with elevated levels of internalizing traits/symptoms and AUDsx, and an Externalizing class (10%) with elevated levels of externalizing traits/symptoms and both binge drinking and AUDsx. All drinking motives were substantially elevated in the Internalizing and Externalizing (vs Low Risk) classes (p < 3.0E-10), while positive reinforcement motives were specifically elevated in the Externalizing (vs Internalizing) class (p < 2.0E-55). Personality comparisons further emphasized the relevance of class distinctions. Conclusions: These findings provide additional support for both a specific internalizing and a broadband externalizing association with subtypes of alcohol misuse. Drinking motives may be useful intermediate indicators of these different risk processes.

OBJECTIVE: Substance use is a public health concern and cross-sectional studies have found that impulsivity and drinking motives influence substance use in emerging adults. Despite these findings, longitudinal studies with nuanced measures of impulsivity and drinking motives are needed. PARTICIPANTS: The current study investigated the three-year relationship between impulsivity-related traits, drinking motives, sex, and drinking outcomes in a sample of 509 college students (47.47% male; 81% White). METHODS: The effects of impulsivity traits and drinking motives on problematic drinking outcomes were evaluated using linear mixed effects models. RESULTS: The results confirmed the hypothesized relationship between traits of impulsivity, drinking motives, and alcohol outcomes over time. Further, sex significantly interacted with drinking motives longitudinally in its relationship with alcohol use outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that intervention efforts may need to be tailored to specific individual attributes to target direct correlates of alcohol use behavior to increase effectiveness.

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred public health measures to reduce viral spread. Concurrently, increases in alcohol consumption and conflict in romantic partnerships were observed. Pre-pandemic research demonstrated a bidirectional association between couples’ conflict and drinking. Recent research shows one’s drinking motives (proximal predictors of drinking behavior) can influence another person’s drinking in close relationships. It is possible that individuals are drinking to cope with distress following romantic conflict. The current study examined 348 cohabitating couples during the first lockdown in the spring of 2020. Our analyses examined coping motives as a mediator between dyadic conflict and drinking behavior using actor–partner interdependence models. Results showed that conflict was associated with greater reports of own drinking in gendered (distinguishable) and nongendered (indistinguishable) analyses through coping motives. Further, in mixed-gender couples, men partners’ coping motives predicted less drinking in women, while women partners’ coping motives predicted marginally more drinking in men. Partner effects may have been observed due to the increased romantic partner influence during the COVID-19 lockdown. While these results suggest that men’s coping motives may be protective against women’s drinking, more concerning possibilities are discussed. The importance of considering dyadic influences on drinking is highlighted; clinical and policy implications are identified.

Background: Drinking motives are robust proximal predictors of alcohol use behaviors and may mediate distinct etiological pathways in the development of alcohol misuse. However, little is known about the genetic and environmental etiology of drinking motives themselves and their potential utility as endophenotypes. Methods: Here, we leverage a longitudinal study of college students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds (phenotypic N = 9889, genotypic N = 4855) to investigate the temporal stability and demographic and environmental predictors of four types of drinking motives (enhancement, social, coping, and conformity). Using genome-wide association study (GWAS) and in silico tools, we characterize their associated genes and genetic variants (single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs). Results: Drinking motives were stable across four years of college (ICC >0.74). Some robust environmental predictors of alcohol misuse (parental autonomy granting and peer deviance) were broadly associated with multiple types of drinking motives, while others (e.g., trauma exposure) were type specific. Genome-wide analyses indicated modest SNP-based heritability (14–22%, n.s.) and several suggestive genomic loci that corroborate findings from previous molecular genetic studies (e.g., PECR and SIRT4 genes), indicating possible differences in the genetic etiology of positive versus negative reinforcement drinking motives that align with an internalizing/externalizing typology of alcohol misuse. Coping motives were significantly genetically correlated with alcohol use disorder diagnoses (rg = 0.71, p = 0.001). However, results from the genetic analyses were largely underpowered to detect significant associations. Conclusions: Drinking motives show promise as endophenotypes but require further investigation in larger samples to further our understanding of the etiology of alcohol misuse.

In French Grandes Écoles, heavy alcohol consumption seems to be generalized and largely tolerated, leading to particular concerns about Alcohol Use Disorder and harmful alcohol practices among students. The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased psychological difficulties, and two coexisting scenarios seemed to emerge regarding alcohol consumption: A decrease in alcohol consumption linked to the absence of festive events, and an increase in solitary alcohol consumption to cope with lockdowns. The aim of this exploratory study is to investigate the evolution of alcohol consumption, consumption motives and the relationship of these factors to the anxiety and the depression of French Grandes Écoles students during the COVID-19 pandemic, depending on their residential status. After the last lockdown, 353 students completed a questionnaire measuring alcohol consumption, motivation to drink, anxiety and depression during and after the COVID-19 period. Although students confined to campus were more likely to increase their alcohol use, they also presented higher well-being scores than those who lived off campus. A significant proportion of students were aware of their increased alcohol use due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the motives attributed to their increased consumption highlight the need for vigilance and specialized support facilities.

Konzumacija alkohola kao vid motiviranog ponašanja određena je brojnim čimbenicima prepoznatim unutar Motivacijskog modela konzumiranja alkohola. Neki od čimbenika su psihosocijalne prirode. Teorija privrženosti uzimajući u obzir različito psihosocijalno funkcioniranje pojedinca navodi važnost figura privrženosti u promoviranju zdravstveno protektivnih ponašanja, a suzbijanju štetnih kao što je zloupotreba alkohola. Prema tome, cilj je ovog istraživanja bio ispitati odnose između privrženosti u obitelji, motiva za konzumaciju alkoholnih pića i konzumacije alkohola. U online istraživanju sudjelovalo je 309 studenata (52,4 % studentica i 47,6 % studenata) različitih studijskih usmjerenja u RH koji su ispunjavali Upitnik općih podataka, Upitnik motiva za konzumaciju alkoholnih pića (Cooper, 1994), Skraćenu verziju Brennanovog Inventara iskustva u bliskim vezama za članove obitelji (Kamenov i Jelić, 2003) i AUDIT upitnik za konzumaciju alkohola (Babor i sur., 2001). Potvrđeno je zadovoljavajuće pristajanje četverofaktorskog modela motiva za konzumaciju alkoholnih pića podacima kao i adekvatne psihometrijske karakteristike upitnika. Kad je riječ o povezanostima motiva za konzumaciju alkoholnih pića sa sociodemografskim podacima, nisu utvrđene njihove povezanosti sa spolom, dok je u kontekstu ljubavnog statusa, utvrđena jedino niska negativna povezanost ljubavnog statusa s motivom konformiranja. Navedeno znači da je kod studenata kojisu vezi, u braku ili zaručeni manje izražen motiv konformiranja, dok oni koji nisu u vezi ili su rastavljeni izvještavaju o višim razinama motiva konformiranja. Ispitivanjem relativnog doprinosa svih motiva objašnjenju varijance konzumacije alkohola utvrđeno je da joj značajno doprinose obje skupine prediktora: osobne značajke i motivi. Sveukupno je ovim varijablama objašnjeno 33 % varijance konzumacije alkohola. Kao značajni pojedinačni prediktori veće razine konzumacije alkohola pokazali su se muški spol, veće razine motiva suočavanja i veće razine motiva povećanja raspoloženja. Nadalje, utvrđene su značajne medijacijske uloge motiva povećanja raspoloženja i motiva suočavanja u odnosu nesigurnih privrženosti i konzumacije alkohola, dok to nije slučaj za socijalni motiv i motiv konformiranja. Navedeno znači kako veće razine anksioznosti u odnosima s članovima obitelji znače i veće razine motiva povećanja raspoloženja, odnosno motiva suočavanja što pak znači i veću i štetniju konzumaciju alkohola. Također, veće razine izbjegavanja u odnosima s članovima obitelji znače i veće razine motiva povećanja raspoloženja, odnosno motiva suočavanja što pak znači veću i štetniju konzumaciju alkohola. Nisu utvrđene direktne povezanosti dimenzija privrženosti prema članovima obitelji s konzumacijom alkohola. Rezultati istraživanja, unatoč ograničenjima, upućuju na primjenu specifičnih, a time i uspješnijih intervencija ovisno o motivima za konzumaciju alkohola. Osim toga, osvještavanjem važnosti bliskih odnosa može se doprinijeti prevenciji štetne konzumacije alkohola. Alcohol use as a form of motivated behavior is determined by several factors recognized within the Motivational model of alcohol use. Some factors are psychosocial. The Attachment theory, taking into account the different psychosocial functioning of the individual, states the importance of attachment figures in promoting health-protective behavior and suppressing harmful ones such as alcohol abuse. Therefore, this research aimed to shed light on the relationships between attachment in family, drinking motives, and alcohol use. The research was conducted online on a sample of 309 Croatian students (52.4 % females and 47.6 % males) in different fields of study. They completed The General Information Questionnaire, The Drinking Motives Questionnaire (Cooper, 1994), The Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory-Short Version (Kamenov & Jelić, 2003) and The AUDIT Questionnaire (Babor et al., 2001). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the four-factor model of drinking motives provided an adequate fit to the data and had good psychometric characteristics. Regarding the relationships between drinking motives and some sociodemographic data, no relationships between drinking motives and gender were found. In the context of love status, only a low negative correlation of love status with the conformity motive was found. The above means that conformity motive is less pronounced in people in a relationship, married or engaged, while single or divorced people report higher levels of conformity motive. Further, the results of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that both groups of predictors (personal factors and motives) significantly contribute to explaining the variance of alcohol use. Altogether, these variables explained 33 % of the variance in alcohol use. Male sex, higher levels of coping motive and higher levels of enhancement motive proved to be significant individual predictors of higher levels of alcohol use. Results of mediation analyses showed a significant mediation role of enhancement motive and coping motive in the relationship between insecure attachments and alcohol use, while this was not the case for the social motive and conformity motive. The above means that higher levels of anxiety in relationships with family members also mean higher levels of the enhancement motive, or coping motive, which in turn means higher or more harmful alcohol use. Also, higher levels of avoidance in relationships with family members mean higher levels of enhancement or coping motive, which in turn means higher and more harmful alcohol use. No significant direct paths of the attachment dimensions toward family members with alcohol use were found. Despite the limitations, the results suggest using specific and, thus, more successful interventions depending on the drinking motives. In addition, focusing on close relationships can contribute to the prevention of harmful alcohol use.

Two towns in Renosterberg Local Municipality (RLM) in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, Petrusville and Philipstown, have high Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) prevalence rates. FASD is linked to poverty and imposes high national economic costs. Thus, it is critical to understand the local economic development (LED) strategies used to mitigate the high prevalence of FASD. Moreover, there is sparse literature examining adult communities where FASD children reside. Understanding these adult communities is important because FASD cannot exist without adult gestational exposure to alcohol consumption. Using a mixed-method approach, this study uses a six-phase analytic approach to investigate the drinking culture and drinking motives in RLM, applied to two cross-sectional in-depth community needs assessments, five in-depth interviews, and three focus groups. This study also evaluates how the RLM targets FASD, as well as binge and risky drinking, in its municipal economic strategy by analysing its Integrated Development Plan (IDP) with respect to an eight-stage policy development process. The results indicate that 57% of respondents expressed concern regarding the unhealthy drinking culture in RLM, 40% felt that the residents of RLM drank in response to unemployment-related hopelessness, and 52% attributed the drinking culture to a lack of hobbies and recreational opportunities. The results of an analysis of the RLM IDP through the lens of Ryder’s eight-stage policy development process suggest that the decisive policy development process is not open to the public and that, furthermore, FASD is neglected. A dedicated alcohol consumption census-style study is recommended to broadly capture alcohol consumption in RLM, allowing researchers to identify the exact alcohol consumption patterns and priority areas for the IDP and public health policy. RLM should directly publicise its policy development process so that its IDP is inclusively formulated to address FASD, risky drinking, binge drinking, and gestational alcohol consumption.

Shortly after young adolescents initiate alcohol use, we investigated whether (1) drinking motives are associated with current alcohol use and binge drinking, (2) motives predict these alcohol outcomes 6 months later, and (3) alcohol outcomes predict motives 6 months later. Data on adolescents' drinking motives and alcohol use were drawn from a Dutch longitudinal 7-wave family study at the timepoint of alcohol use initiation (t0, N = 210, 51.4% male, Mage = 14.01 SD = 1.02) and 6 months later (t1, n = 88). Logistic and linear regressions were conducted. Results indicated that young adolescents mainly drink for social and enhancement motives rather than coping and conformity motives. Shortly after alcohol initiation, social motives were associated with alcohol use at t0 (OR = 1.52), enhancement motives with binge drinking at t0 (OR = 2.35), and coping motives with binge drinking at t0 (OR = 2.62) and at t1 (OR = 3.00). Conformity motives were inversely associated with binge drinking at t0 (OR = 0.42). Binge drinking predicted coping motives at t1 (B = 0.71, SE = -0.35), but no other associations among alcohol use, binge drinking, and drinking motives at t1 were found. Conclusively, this study shows that young adolescents drink to enjoy parties and to get drunk (social and enhancement motives) rather than to fit in (conformity motives). The study also indicates that shortly after alcohol initiation, alcohol to cope represents a reciprocal risk factor for binge drinking that may persist in the future, thus pointing to the importance of drinking motives for drinking behaviors among young adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Although protective behavioural strategies (PBS) have shown to be effective in minimising alcohol-related negative consequences, research on the explanatory factors of their use is very scarce. Perceived efficacy has been demonstrated to be one of the most relevant explanatory factors in the use of health-related protective behaviours. The present study prospectively examines the relationship between the perceived efficacy of PBS in reducing alcohol-related negative consequences and the use of PBS in a community-based sample of young adults. In addition, the moderating role of drinking motives in this relationship is also examined. Methods. Prospective design with a baseline assessment and a 2-month follow up. Using a targeted sampling procedure, 339 young adults were recruited from the community [mean age: 21.1 (SD = 2.21); female = 50.7%] and completed questionnaires to measure perceived efficacy of PBS and drinking motives at baseline and PBS use at follow up. Results. Perceived efficacy of PBS at baseline was positively associated with PBS use at follow up, and these relationships were weaker as social, enhancement and coping motives scores increased. Discussion and Conclusions. Our findings support the need to include the perceived efficacy of PBS to reduce alcohol-related negative consequences in future interventions aimed at promoting PBS use. Moreover, these interventions should be personalised according to the initial levels of participants’ drinking motives, incorporating elements that allow for neutralising their negative effects on PBS use (e.g. training in coping skills for those with strong coping motives)., Funding for this study was provided by the Consejería de Salud (Junta de Andalucía, Andalucía, Spain) under Grant Number PI-0503-2018 (Principal Investigator: Fermín Fern andez Calderon). Funding for Open Access fees provided by Universidad de Huelva/CBUA.

OBJECTIVE: Over the past two decades, rates of alcohol use among female students have risen to meet or even surpass those seen among males. Yet, little is known about factors that play a role in the relationship between drinking motives and alcohol consumption for female college students. The present study examines self-esteem as a moderator in the association between categories of drinking motives and alcohol use in a sample of female college students. METHOD: Participants included 196 female undergraduates who reported drinking alcohol at least once in the preceding month (M(age) = 19.5 years, 88.8% White) at a northeastern public university. Participants completed an online questionnaire assessing self-esteem, drinking motives, and past month alcohol use. RESULTS: Self-esteem was significantly negatively correlated with coping (r=−.40, p

Zusammenfassung. Ziele: In der vorliegenden Studie werden sowohl frühkindliche als auch elterliche Risikofaktoren, die jugendliche Trinkmotivation und die Übereinstimmung zwischen den Müttern und Jugendlichen hinsichtlich des jugendlichen Alkoholkonsums zur Ableitung von präventiven Ideen ausgewertet. Methodik: Die Daten von 239 Familien aus dem längsschnittlichen deutschen Projekt Zukunft Familie wurden vom Kindergartenalter ( M = 4.5 Jahre) bis in das Jugendalter ( M = 14 Jahre) erhoben. Mittels binär logistischer Regressionsmodelle wurden die Zusammenhänge zwischen psychischen Auffälligkeiten im Kindesalter, der soziodemographischen Situation sowie Verhaltensweisen der Eltern und dem Alkoholkonsum der Kinder zehn Jahre später analysiert. Ergebnisse: Kinder von Müttern mit einer höheren Schulbildung und aus Familien mit einem höheren sozialen Status hatten ein erhöhtes Risiko, schon vor dem gesetzlich erlaubten Mindestalter, regelmäßig Alkohol zu trinken. Bei den im Durchschnitt 4.5-jährigen Kindern erwiesen sich internalisierende Auffälligkeiten als Schutzfaktor vor einem frühzeitigen jugendlichen Konsum. Alkohol wurde im Jugendalter vor allem aus sozialen und Verstärkungsmotiven getrunken. Mütter unterschätzten signifikant den Konsum ihrer Kinder um das Vier- bis Fünffache. Schlussfolgerung: Präventionsmaßnahmen könnten den Jugendlichen Alternativen aufzeigen, um die sozialen und verstärkenden Motivationen auf risikofreien Wegen zu erreichen. Zur verbesserten Einschätzung des kindlichen Konsums, könnten Mütter in Hinweisen geschult werden, die auf einen übermäßigen Konsum hindeuten. Das erhöhte Risiko von Kindern aus Familien mit einem höheren sozialen Status könnte dabei berücksichtigt werden.

Alexithymia has been associated with substance use, but the magnitude of the association has not been evaluated and sub-group differences, if any, are unknown. The aim of this meta-analysis is to systematically review the association between alexithymia and substance use (alcohol or illicit drugs). We identified studies through a systematic review of PubMed and Web of Science and obtained a total of 52 publications using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 scale. Random effects meta-analysis was used to evaluate the overall and sub-group associations. Of the studies, 50 were cross-sectional and two longitudinal. Alexithymia was associated with any substance use (Cohen's d = 0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49-0.76), with little difference between estimates for use of alcohol or illicit drugs. A stronger association was observed for the alexithymia dimension "Difficulty in Identifying Feelings" (d = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.47-0.81) and "Difficulty in Describing Feelings" (d = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.32-0.55) than for "Externally Oriented Thinking" (d = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.09-0.28). The association was stronger in studies with clinical patient populations (d = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.62-1.05) than in those investigating general or student populations, and in studies with a majority of male rather than female participants. These findings suggest a strong overall association between alexithymia and substance use and a very strong association among clinical patient populations. The association may be stronger with the emotion-related dimensions than with the cognition-related dimension of alexithymia. As nearly all the studies were cross-sectional, more longitudinal studies are needed.

Background: Drinking motives are robust proximal predictors of alcohol use behaviors and may mediate distinct etiological pathways in the development of alcohol misuse. However, little is known about the genetic and environmental etiology of drinking motives themselves and their potential utility as endophenotypes. Methods: Here, we leverage a longitudinal study of college students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds (phenotypic N = 9889, genotypic N = 4855) to investigate the temporal stability and demographic and environmental predictors of four types of drinking motives (enhancement, social, coping, and conformity). Using genome-wide association study (GWAS) and in silico tools, we characterize their associated genes and genetic variants (single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs). Results: Drinking motives were stable across four years of college (ICC >0.74). Some robust environmental predictors of alcohol misuse (parental autonomy granting and peer deviance) were broadly associated with multiple types of drinking motives, while others (e.g., trauma exposure) were type specific. Genome-wide analyses indicated modest SNP-based heritability (14–22%, n.s.) and several suggestive genomic loci that corroborate findings from previous molecular genetic studies (e.g., PECR and SIRT4 genes), indicating possible differences in the genetic etiology of positive versus negative reinforcement drinking motives that align with an internalizing/externalizing typology of alcohol misuse. Coping motives were significantly genetically correlated with alcohol use disorder diagnoses (rg = 0.71, p = 0.001). However, results from the genetic analyses were largely underpowered to detect significant associations. Conclusions: Drinking motives show promise as endophenotypes but require further investigation in larger samples to further our understanding of the etiology of alcohol misuse.

Background: Drinking motives are robust proximal predictors of alcohol use behaviors and may mediate distinct etiological pathways in the development of alcohol misuse. However, little is known about the genetic and environmental etiology of drinking motives themselves and their potential utility as endophenotypes. Methods: Here, we leverage a longitudinal study of college students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds (phenotypic N = 9889, genotypic N = 4855) to investigate the temporal stability and demographic and environmental predictors of four types of drinking motives (enhancement, social, coping, and conformity). Using genome-wide association study (GWAS) and in silico tools, we characterize their associated genes and genetic variants (single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs). Results: Drinking motives were stable across four years of college (ICC >0.74). Some robust environmental predictors of alcohol misuse (parental autonomy granting and peer deviance) were broadly associated with multiple types of drinking motives, while others (e.g., trauma exposure) were type specific. Genome-wide analyses indicated modest SNP-based heritability (14–22%, n.s.) and several suggestive genomic loci that corroborate findings from previous molecular genetic studies (e.g., PECR and SIRT4 genes), indicating possible differences in the genetic etiology of positive versus negative reinforcement drinking motives that align with an internalizing/externalizing typology of alcohol misuse. Coping motives were significantly genetically correlated with alcohol use disorder diagnoses (rg = 0.71, p = 0.001). However, results from the genetic analyses were largely underpowered to detect significant associations. Conclusions: Drinking motives show promise as endophenotypes but require further investigation in larger samples to further our understanding of the etiology of alcohol misuse.

This exploratory survey aims to understand alcohol consumption in UK transgender and non-binary communities. Specifically, it will measure drinking behaviours, drinking motives and how they relate to experiences of discrimination and alcohol related harms. It will also aim to understand the experiences of people who have become abstinent from alcohol.

Exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) analyses of survey instruments suggest that the omission of small cross-loadings from confirmatory factor models and scale score computation upwardly biases first-order factor and scale score correlations, respectively. This bias can lead researchers to use fewer scores than is necessary to summarize item covariance, as well as theorizing about the identities of global constructs that may not necessarily exist as conceptualized in particular measures (e.g., the general factor of personality). Importantly, omitted cross-loading bias may also impact parameters quantifying the associations among scores serving as empirical proxies for different constructs. This may occur when the assumption of local independence does not hold, and items reflect factors that emerge from multiple instruments. Given that this possibility has received little attention in the substance use literature, here we use ESEM to determine whether omitted cross-loading bias affects estimates of the effects of drinking motives on alcohol use. We also examine whether measures of these constructs exhibit measurement invariance by drinking occasion, race/ethnicity, gender, age, and time. Measurement invariance testing allows us to determine if drinking motives and alcohol use are on the same metric across levels of drinking occasion, race/ethnicity, gender, age, and time; such that comparisons of scores are not confounded by measurement bias.

An ecological momentary assessment study investigating the relationship between affective states, drinking motives, extraversion, and estimated blood alcohol concentration as the UK was emerging of COVID-19 lockdown.

Aims. Past research has examined the association of cultural orientation with drinking motives and drinking outcomes, mainly, at the country level or in participants from a single region. This study examined the indirect associations of features of cultural orientation (i.e., vertical individualism, vertical collectivism, horizontal individualism, horizontal collectivism; VI, VC, HI and HC, respectively) with alcohol outcomes (i.e., use and negative consequences) via drinking motives in college students from seven countries (n = 4093, 72.8% female). Methods. Participants completed an online survey reporting alcohol use, experienced alcohol-related problems, drinking motives and cultural orientation. Results. VI was significantly indirectly associated with drinking outcomes mainly via positive reinforcement motives. VC and HC were indirectly associated with drinking outcomes via conformity motives; although the association was negative for HC and positive for VC. Although most of the associations between variables were invariant across countries, a few differences emerged. Conclusions. Overall, our findings suggest that the vertical component of individualism and the horizontal component of collectivism might operate as risk or protective factors, respectively. The small effect sizes of some paths also suggest that other variables could be mediating the association between cultural orientation and alcohol outcomes.

Background: The goal of this study was to empirically examine the degree to which alcohol use and drinking motives changed during the first month of the pandemic and to examine individual differenc...

AIMS: Previous research has shown mixed results (positive, negative or no effects) regarding socio-economic disparities in adolescent drunkenness. This study investigates whether family affluence is differently associated with frequency of adolescent drunkenness in traditional countries, at a later diffusion of innovation adopter stage according to the Theory of Diffusions of Innovations by Rogers (2003), compared with more progressive countries at a more advanced stage. Furthermore, we investigated as to whether differences in this association can be explained by differences in adolescent drinking motives.METHODS: This study used data from the 2009/2010 survey of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, including 25,566 alcohol-using adolescents aged 11-19 years old from 11 European countries. The Global Innovativeness Index was used to classify countries in progressive or more traditional countries. Multi-level regression analyses and structural equation modelling were conducted.FINDINGS: In traditional countries, family affluence showed a positive association with adolescent frequency of drunkenness. A higher endorsement of social (drinking to celebrate an event) and enhancement motives (drinking to increase moods) by adolescents with a higher family affluence mediated this positive association between family affluence and frequency of drunkenness. In progressive countries, family affluence was negatively associated with frequency of drunkenness. In these countries, a higher endorsement of coping drinking motives by adolescents with a lower family affluence mediated this association.CONCLUSION: A country's diffusion of innovation stage (i.e., traditional vs. progressive) seems to shape the direction of the association between family affluence and adolescent drunkenness including the psychological pathways that explain these socio-economic inequalities. This is most likely due to a quicker and smoother adoption of the new 'low drunkenness norms' ('it is not cool to drink to get drunk') in progressive countries and among adolescents with a higher family affluence.

Aims: Previous studies have shown a close association between drinking motives and drinking behaviour among adolescents. However, there is a lack of evidence from the Nordic countries since few studies covering this topic have been carried out in this context. The present study among Swedish adolescents aims to examine (1) the prevalence of different drinking motives, (2) how drinking motives are associated with drinking frequency and heavy drinking frequency, and (3) whether the associations are moderated by sex. Methods: A nationally representative sample ( n = 5,549) of Swedish adolescents (aged 15–16 years) answered a questionnaire in school. Of these, 2,076 were drinkers and were included in our study. Eighteen items from the Modified Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (Modified DMQ-R) were used. Bivariate relationships between motives and drinking were examined with correlations. Linear regression models were used to assess the links between motives and drinking. Moderating effects of sex were examined with interactions. Results: Most common were social motives, followed by enhancement, coping-anxiety, coping-depression, and conformity motives. Coping-depression motives were slightly more common among girls. Conformity motives were associated with a lower frequency of drinking and heavy drinking while enhancement, social and coping-depression motives were associated with a higher frequency of both outcomes. No associations were found for coping-anxiety motives. No moderation effect of sex was found. Conclusions: Approach motives (social/enhancement) are the most prevalent drinking motives among Swedish adolescents. These also have the strongest association for both frequency of drinking and frequency of heavy drinking. This shows that Swedish adolescents drink to achieve something positive, rather than to avoid something negative, raising implications for prevention and intervention.

Objective: Sexual minority women (SMW) evidence elevated rates of trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress (PTS), and alcohol consumption. Self-medication models of drinking suggest that individuals may drink to cope with symptoms of PTS, but this possibility remains untested among SMW. Method: The current study used data from drinking days collected via daily diary assessments from 81 trauma-exposed SMW. Participants were mostly White (72.8%) and ranged in age from 18 to 25 (M = 23.8). Participants were followed over 2 14-consecutive-day measurement bursts (720 person-days reported). Analyses were conducted to examine whether coping drinking motives (vs. social, enhancement, and conformity drinking motives), as assessed by an adapted Drinking Motives Questionnaire, mediated the daily level relationship between PTS symptoms (assessed by the PTSD Checklist) and the number of standard drinks per drinking day. Results: Results from multilevel structural equation models indicated that day-to-day fluctuations in PTS symptoms, as well as average levels of PTS symptoms, were associated with increased coping drinking motives. Coping drinking motives, but not other drinking motives, mediated within-person associations between PTS and drinking, such that daily fluctuations in PTS symptoms were associated with stronger-than-normal coping drinking motives, which in turn predicted more drinks per drinking day. Conclusions: Results highlight the importance of coping drinking motives and suggest that alternative coping strategies may help trauma-exposed SMW to manage heightened PTS symptoms without increasing their alcohol consumption. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Alcohol use is common among individuals attending university and frequent use is associated with several negative effects. It is therefore important to assess individual difference factors preceding alcohol use. Materialism, a value one holds that prioritizes status through the acquisition of money and possessions, has received minimal research focus in relation to alcohol use and has predominantly been examined using cross-sectional designs (i.e., data collected at one time point). The present study was the first to test the association between materialism, risky drinking motives (i.e., motives preceding alcohol use associated with increased consumption and related problems), and risky personality traits (i.e., stable characteristics associated with frequent substance use and related problems) using a short-term longitudinal design. Undergraduate student drinkers (N = 317) completed self-report questionnaires at baseline and follow-up (2 weeks later). Hierarchical regression analyses found that greater levels of materialism significantly predicted each drinking motive while controlling for risky personality traits. Materialism significantly predicted drinking to cope with depression when controlling for trait hopelessness (β = .16, p = .014), drinking to cope with anxiety while controlling for anxiety sensitivity (β = .11, p = .024), and drinking for enhancement while controlling for sensation seeking (β = .24, p < .001). Results provide evidence that materialism is associated with risky drinking motives, which may inform prevention and treatment efforts for problematic use among undergraduate students.

Background: Social anxiety has been associated with higher rates of negative alcohol use consequences, and this relationship appears to be accounted for by coping drinking motives. Dissociation is ...

Alcohol is a prevalent drug worldwide. However, research has overlooked the reasons and contexts for alcohol consumption among international workers. This study addresses this research gap drawing upon motivational and contextual theories. An online survey targeted 870 international workers that include assigned expatriates, self-initiated expatriates, and migrants. Results indicate alcohol consumption among 89.2% of the respondents and heavy drinking among 5.8%. While migrants reported the lowest alcohol misuse, business expatriates reported heavy drinking, mainly at social events and business gatherings. The findings support the potential of distinguishing the drinking contexts and motives to predict unhealthy drinking among international workers' cohorts.

Objectives This study aimed to identify differences in drinking norms, heavy drinking, and motives between types of drinkers (abstainers, solitary, and social drinkers) in a representative sample of Korean adults. Methods An online survey of people registered on the electoral roll were randomly invited to be part of the “National Korean Drinking Culture Study” conducted in 2018 (n = 3,015). Participants included 1,532 men and 1,469 women aged 19–60 years. Questions included the number of times they drank in the last month, what they drank, and the volume drank. The amount of pure alcohol consumed was calculated. Drinking norms, motives, and types were determined in the survey questions. Results Solitary drinkers were more likely to be divorced or separated, less educated, and marginally employed. Solitary drinking peaked in those in their 30s (18.5%) and social drinkers in their 50s (68.1%). Solitary drinkers drank more frequently compared with social drinkers (6.1 vs. 3.6 times per month, p < 0.001), and consumed a significantly larger quantity of alcohol (69.5 g vs. 46.8 g per week). Solitary drinkers were more accepting of drinking-related behaviors in diverse situations compared with social drinkers. The regression analysis revealed that personal drinking motives were the most important factor influencing the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption in both solitary and social drinking. Conclusion Solitary drinkers may be more vulnerable to alcohol abuse than social drinkers.

INTRODUCTION Existing research points to a link between socioeconomic factors, alcohol consumption and harms, while another body of work documents the importance of varying motivations to drink in shaping alcohol behaviours. Yet, little is currently known about the extent to which alcohol consumption may be differentially associated with drinking motives as a function of deprivation, gender and age. METHODS Cross-sectional analysis of data from a UK sample aged between 18 and 75 years (n = 1639; 51% male, Mage 47.74, SD 14.66). Structural equation modelling, using clustering to account for the multi-level nature of the data set, was carried out to assesses the relationships between deprivation (Index of Multiple Deprivation), occupation, age, gender and problem alcohol consumption (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test) and social, conformity, enhancement and coping drinking motives. RESULTS Coping, enhancement and conformity, but not social, motives were associated with problem alcohol consumption. Drinking motives were stronger predictors of problem consumption than gender and age, with motives tending to be endorsed more strongly by younger and male respondents. Responses from participants with working-class occupations tended to be characterised by elevated endorsements of coping motives. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Drinking motives are stronger predictors of problem alcohol consumption than socio-demographic variables although these factors exert influences on people's motives to drink.

Negative Urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly during negative emotional states, is associated with alcohol misuse through various alcohol cognitions; however, these relationships are often examined in isolation and exclude certain alcohol cognitions.

BACKGROUND Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology are linked to increased risk for problematic drinking, yet the factors that increase such risk remain largely unknown. Theoretical models suggest that affectively oriented drinking motives may be central to trauma-related drinking. Specifically, individual-level motivations to drink to regulate affect may be important for moderating drinking urges that occur acutely in response to trauma cues. Further, elevated distress associated with PTSD symptomatology may increase any affectively motivated, momentary drinking risks. However, research has yet to examine these dynamic affective processes. In a large experimental sample, the current study tested whether affective (i.e., coping and enhancement) drinking motives and PTSD symptomatology moderated individuals' drinking urge in response to a trauma cue in a laboratory cue reactivity paradigm. METHODS College drinkers (n = 611, 53% female) were recruited and selected across levels of trauma exposure and PTSD symptomatology by a structured clinical interview. Participants were randomized to a personalized trauma or neutral cue, reporting on their urge to drink alcohol before and after cue exposure. Drinking motives were assessed at the end of the experimental session. RESULTS Trauma cue associations with drinking urge were moderated by coping, but not enhancement, motives. Specifically, stronger coping motives were associated with increases in urge to drink alcohol following exposure to a trauma but not neutral cue. PTSD classification did not significantly moderate these associations. CONCLUSIONS Coping motives may increase drinking urge immediately following exposure to trauma cues and may differentiate individuals most at risk for problematic drinking during trauma-associated distress. Findings support momentary negative affect processes driving dynamic, immediate trauma-related drinking risks.

Anxiety sensitivity, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation difficulties have each demonstrated significant individual associations with problematic alcohol use and negative reinforcement motives for alcohol use among college students. However, extant research has yet to examine these three factors simultaneously with regard to the possibility of differential associations with alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems and coping and conformity motives for alcohol use. As such, the present study sought to examine whether such differential associations exist within a sample of undergraduates reporting past year alcohol use.

Alcohol use in college populations is highly prevalent. College students who consume alcohol can experience a variety of different alcohol-related consequences. Drinking motives, or reasons that individuals choose to consume alcohol, are proximal factors that affect alcohol use. Previous research has generally found that internal drinking motives (i.e., coping and enhancement motives) are particularly relevant in predicting alcohol-related consequences. However, most of this research has examined drinking motives as traits, rather than state (i.e., daily) motives. The present study sought to examine enhancement and coping motives as both distinct and combined predictors of alcohol-related consequences at the daily level, directly and via alcohol consumption. Multilevel analyses of a 30-day retrospective report of drinking behaviors showed that within-person enhancement motives increased alcohol-related consequences via increased alcohol use. In contrast, coping motives were directly associated with alcohol-related consequences at the between-person level. Implications of the findings are that clinicians should assess and discuss daily motives for alcohol use with patients presenting with problems related to alcohol use, as well as typical motives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Influential psychological theories hypothesize that people consume alcohol in response to the experience of both negative and positive emotions. Despite two decades of daily diary and ecological momentary assessment research, it remains unclear whether people consume more alcohol on days they experience higher negative and positive affect in everyday life. In this preregistered meta-analysis, we synthesized the evidence for these daily associations between affect and alcohol use. We included individual participant data from 69 studies (N = 12,394), which used daily and momentary surveys to assess affect and the number of alcoholic drinks consumed. Results indicate that people are not more likely to drink on days they experience high negative affect, but are more likely to drink and drink heavily on days high in positive affect. People self-reporting a motivational tendency to drink-to-cope and drink-to-enhance consumed more alcohol, but not on days they experienced higher negative and positive affect. Results were robust across different operationalizations of affect, study designs, study populations, and individual characteristics. These findings challenge the long-held belief that people drink more alcohol following increases in negative affect. Integrating these findings under different theoretical models and limitations of this field of research, we collectively propose an agenda for future research to explore open questions surrounding affect and alcohol use.

The evidence on why people initiate or cease drinking is vast; however, little is known regarding why people change their frequency and amount of drinking from intense (heavy or dependent drinking) to recreational (with little risk). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate how drinking motives and motives to decrease drinking differ between former heavy drinkers (problematic and dependent), current dependent, and current recreational drinkers. Data were obtained from four groups of individuals (n = 263) using alcohol with different severity. The participants were Polish young adults aged between 18 and 35 years. About 53% of the sample were women. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to assess the level of drinking; the Drinking Motive Questionnaire-Revised Short Form (DMQ-R SF) was used to assess drinking motives (social, coping, enhancement, and conformity). The reasons for abstaining and limiting drinking (RALD) instrument was used to assess the RALD. Additionally, a set of questions regarding motives to decrease drinking were analysed. The results show that differences were observed between the investigated groups: the current dependent group scored significantly higher on all the dimensions of drinking motives than the current low-risk group and significantly higher on coping, social, and enhancement motives than former heavy drinkers (both groups). The two groups of former heavy drinkers did not differ from each other on drinking motives. The investigated groups differed on the motives to reduce drinking—low-risk users scored the lowest on all the motives, whereas current dependent—the highest. The differences in motives to decrease drinking between current-depended and former heavy drinkers indicate which motives can be associated with the prevention strategies, programmes, and therapeutic approaches.

Drinking with others is seen as a necessary activity for business negotiations worldwide. However, employee alcohol use in business context is rarely investigated. This study focuses on employee business drinking (EBD), defined as employee drinking with clients for business matters. Based on role theory, the antecedents and consequences of EBD are examined using three-wave data obtained from 183 full-time Chinese employees. The results show that the leader business drinking norms and coworker business drinking norms have positive effects on EBD. Employees with high performance drinking motives and high alcohol tolerance are more likely to participate in EBD. Furthermore, EBD is positively related to leader-member exchange (LMX), team-member exchange (TMX), and client ties. These results show the drivers and potentially beneficial effects of EBD and provide important theoretical and practical implications.

Multiple interindividual and intra‐individual factors underlie variability in drinking motives, challenging clinical translatability of animal research and limiting treatment success of substance use‐related problems. Intra‐individual variability refers to time‐dependent continuous and discrete changes within the individual and in substance use research is studied as momentary variation in the internal states (craving, stressed, anxious, impulsive and tired) and response to external triggers (stressors, drug‐associated environmental cues and social encounters). These momentary stimuli have a direct impact on behavioural decisions and may be triggers and predictors of substance consumption. They also present potential targets for real‐time behavioural and pharmacological interventions. In this review, we provide an overview of the studies demonstrating different momentary risk factors associated with increased probability of alcohol drinking in humans and changes in alcohol seeking and consumption in animals. The review also provides an overview of pharmacological interventions related to every individual risk factor.

Background Moderate to heavy alcohol use during pregnancy (≥3 drinks/occasion) is linked to a range of adverse offspring outcomes. Prior studies suggest that adolescent and young adult mothers may be particularly vulnerable to these risky drinking behaviors during and after pregnancy. This study used latent class growth analysis (LCGA) to examine changes in risky drinking from prepregnancy to postpregnancy and identified prepregnancy predictors representing cognitive and social factors to inform prevention. Methods Participants included 432 adolescent and young adult mothers (aged 13 to 24; 78% Black) assessed annually since childhood in the Pittsburgh Girls Study. Participants prospectively reported frequency of risky drinking (≥3 drinks/occasion) in the year of pregnancy and 2 years before and after pregnancy, as well as social-cognitive risk factors for drinking (alcohol expectancies, drinking motives, caregiver, and peer alcohol use). Results Approximately 11% of young mothers in this community-based sample engaged in risky drinking at least once a month during the year of pregnancy, with greater frequency observed for young adult (vs. adolescent) mothers. LCGA revealed 4 risky drinking trajectories across the perinatal period, including 3 relatively stable trajectories (low, moderate, and high frequency) and 1 distinct trajectory ("postpartum initiators") characterized by increased risky drinking post-childbirth. Peer alcohol use during and after pregnancy distinguished higher risk from lower risk trajectories, controlling for age, race, and age of drinking onset. Exposure to caregiver alcohol use and prepregnancy coping motives for drinking also elevated risk, but only for mothers who became pregnant in early adulthood (vs. adolescence). Conclusions Adolescent and young adult mothers show heterogeneous risky drinking trajectories from prepregnancy to postpregnancy. Pregnant women in the transitional age of early adulthood who report exposure to caregiver alcohol use, more friends who drink, and coping motives for drinking may have elevated risk for moderate-heavy drinking during the perinatal period and may benefit from targeted intervention.

Aim The purpose of this study was to determine whether the association between affective drinking motives, delinquency and binge drinking varied as a function of sex and if so, whether delinquency moderated the relationship between affective drinking motives and binge drinking in late adolescent males and females. Methods Participants were 623 (257 males, 366 females) high school seniors from the 2018 Monitoring the Future study. A principal components analysis was initially performed to create component scores for the first factor of a 15-item drinking motives scale subsequently labeled affective drinking motives. These scores, along with sex and a measure of delinquency, were then entered into a three-way interaction. The interaction was found to correlate significantly with binge drinking. Because of the significant three-way interaction, analyses were performed on male and female participants separately. Results Analyses conducted on male participants revealed a moderate correlation between affective drinking motives and binge drinking but no evidence of an interaction between affective drinking motives and delinquency. Analyses performed on female participants, on the other hand, identified a significant main effect for affective drinking motives and a negative interaction between affective drinking motives and delinquency, indicating that the relationship between affective drinking motives and binge drinking was strongest when delinquency was low. Conclusions These results suggest that while delinquency had no apparent impact on the affective drinking motive–binge drinking correlation in boys, low delinquency clearly amplified the counter-binge drinking effects of low affective drinking motives in girls.

This study examined whether motives for drinking and gambling have a similar conceptual structure in a representative sample of adults. Since instruments that measure motives for gambling were deve...

Alcohol drinking is typically initiated in adolescence, with use sometimes escalating to problematic levels. Escalation of drinking is often associated with a shift in drinking motives, with goal-directed initial use later transitioning to more habitual behavior. This study assessed whether adolescents are more sensitive than adults to habit formation when indexed via insensitivity to reward devaluation in an operant task for food reward. Adolescent and adult Sprague-Dawley rats were trained on either a random ratio (RR) or random interval (RI) schedule before undergoing devaluation. Adolescent animals on both schedules increased the number of lever presses across all training days. In contrast, adults in the RR group increased the number of lever presses across days whereas RI adults remained relatively stable. In response to pellet devaluation, only adolescents exhibited reduced responding, suggestive of goal-directed behavior, whereas no age differences were evident following control (home cage chow) devaluation. Contrary to our hypothesis, adolescents (but not adults) displayed goal-directed responding indexed via sensitivity to reward devaluation. These findings suggest that adolescents are not necessarily more likely to develop habits than adults, and hence other factors may contribute to the greater propensity of adolescents to engage in and escalate alcohol use.

Abstract. The present study examined whether personality traits and drinking motives interact to predict binge drinking and alcohol-related problems in a cross-cultural sample of college students. Participants were undergraduate drinkers ( N = 904; 66% female) from universities in Portugal ( N = 391) and the US ( N = 513). Participants completed measures assessing neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, drinking motives, frequency of binge drinking, and the number of alcohol-related problems. A significant Country × Neuroticism × Conformity interaction was explained by differences between US and Portuguese samples. The effect of this interaction on alcohol- related problems was mediated by binge drinking. Findings suggest similarities and differences across cultures in the manner in which personality and drinking motives are associated with alcohol outcomes. Across cultures, neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, and drinking motives are key factors to consider in the assessment, prevention, and treatment of alcohol use among college students.

This study assessed whether psychopathy and borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms are differentially related to three drinking motives: coping, enhancement, and social. Participants were 170 inmates (74% male) initially held on felony charges in a suburban jail. The Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; Hart, Cox, & Hare, 1995) and Borderline Features scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) were administered at the outset of incarceration. In a follow-up interview 4 to 6 years postincarceration, participants completed the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ; Cooper, Russell, Skinner, & Windle, 1992) assessing drinking motives. Controlling for drinking frequency, when compared to Factor 1 psychopathy, BPD symptoms had a stronger positive relationship with coping and enhancement drinking motives. No difference was observed for social motives for drinking. Individuals high in BPD symptoms may benefit from therapy emphasizing adaptive coping mechanisms and alternative means of seeking positive emotional states.

Theory and empirical findings have linked stress exposure to young adult alcohol misuse, but the processes underlying this association have not been fully investigated. This study examined gender differences in the indirect pathways linking stress in developmentally relevant domains to alcohol misuse in young adults, focusing on drinking motives as a possible mediator of the association. The longitudinal associations between adolescent heavy drinking and young adult stress were also explored. Participants were rural young adults who had been surveyed previously in adolescence (N = 442; 55.7% female; 96% White; Mage = 23.29, SD = 1.07). Chronic stress and drinking motives were concurrently associated with young adult alcohol misuse. For men, occupational stress was indirectly related to alcohol misuse through both social and coping motives for drinking, whereas for women relationship stress was indirectly related to alcohol misuse through social motives only. When investigating the longitudinal effects of adolescent drunkenness, more frequent drunkenness in adolescence was related to more adult occupational stress for men but to neither kind of stress for women. These findings indicate that stress in specific life domains is related to young adult alcohol misuse through drinking motives, that the link between stress and alcohol misuse may be bidirectional for men, and that different stressors and drinking motives are salient for young adult men and women.

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Psicologia apresentada à Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação Autoengano, Conformidade e Alcoolismo: Impacto da Pandemia de COVID-19 nos Padrões de Consumo de Álcool dos Estudantes UniversitáriosEsta dissertação visa explorar os comportamentos de consumo de álcool dos estudantes universitários considerando alguns indicadores psicopatológicos e a sua relação com o contexto pandémico. Para o efeito, considerou-se a possível relação entre os motivos para beber (Cooper, 1994) e o consumo de álcool, bem como a existente entre os níveis de autoengano e o consumo de álcool antes e durante o primeiro confinamento. Procurou-se avaliar, também, a possível relação entre a desejabilidade social e o autoengano. A amostra utilizada (N = 174) é composta por estudantes universitários (n = 111) e não-estudantes (n = 63), com idades entre os 18 e os 36 anos (M = 24.17, DP = 3.79). O protocolo é composto pelas seguintes escalas de autorresposta: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Drinking Motives Questionnaire – Revised (DMQ-R), Self-Deception Questionnaire – 12 (SDQ-12), Brief Symptom Inventory – 18 (BSI-18) e a Escala de Desejabilidade Social de 20 Itens (EDS-20). Em conclusão, evidenciam-se relações significativas entre a ansiedade e os motivos “Coping” (ρ = .29) e “Conformidade” (ρ = .23), bem como um pequeno valor preditivo do motivo “Aprimoramento” sobre o consumo de álcool durante o primeiro confinamento (R2a = .14). Os estudantes reportam um consumo menor de álcool durante este período, embora apresentem maior ansiedade. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Self-Deception, Conformity and Alcoholism: Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on College Students’ Drinking PatternsThe aim of this dissertation is to explore college students’ alcohol-related behaviors when considering some psychopathological indicators and their relationship with the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, the possible relationship between drinking motives (Cooper, 1994) and alcohol abuse was considered, as well as the one between self-deception levels and alcohol use during the first quarantine period of the pandemic. The relationship between social desirability and self-deception was also examined. The sample (N = 174) is comprised of college students (n = 111) and non-students (n = 63), with ages ranging from 18 to 36 years old (M = 24.17, SD = 3.79). The protocol includes the following self-report scales: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Drinking Motives Questionnaire – Revised (DMQ-R), Self-Deception Questionnaire – 12 (SDQ-12), Brief Symptom Inventory – 18 (BSI-18), and Social Desirability Scale (EDS-20). In conclusion, there were statistically significant associations found between anxiety and “Coping” (ρ = .29) and “Conformity” (ρ = .23) motives, as well as a small predictive power between the “Enhancement” motive and alcohol use during the first quarantine period (R2a = .14). College students reported consuming less alcohol during this period than their non-student counterparts, although they report more anxiety.________________________________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION Previous work suggests that college students who perceive themselves as less able to tolerate negative affect are more motivated to use alcohol to alleviate psychological distress. Recent findings also indicate that distress tolerance influences alcohol outcomes via a positive reinforcement pathway. However, results concerning the association between distress tolerance and alcohol outcomes remain inconsistent. Aim: The present study examined the association between distinctive features of distress tolerance and alcohol outcomes via internal drinking motives (i.e., coping and enhancement) in Argentinean college students. Method: From April to November 2019, a sample of 387 college students with last-month alcohol use (Mean age = 21.09 ± 4.98) completed an online survey assessing alcohol outcomes (past-month frequency of binge drinking and negative alcohol-related consequences), internal drinking motives, and four components of distress tolerance (i.e., tolerance, appraisal, absorption, and regulation). Results: The associations between specific facets of distress tolerance and drinking outcomes were atemporally mediated by coping and enhancement motives. Coping motives significantly mediated the effect of absorption and appraisal on alcohol-related problems (i.e., lower absorption and lower appraisal were associated with more problems via higher coping motives). Enhancement motives significantly mediated the effect of absorption (lower absorption was associated with greater enhancement motives) on binge drinking frequency and alcohol-related problems. Conclusions: Distress tolerance was associated with alcohol outcomes via coping and enhancement motives in this sample of Argentinean undergraduates. The ability to withstand negative affect could be a focal point of interventions to prevent the development of maladaptive patterns of drinking.

Introduction Increased alcohol use coinciding with onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among women, has been documented among U.S. adults. This study examines trajectories of alcohol use and alcohol problems over a 9-month period during the pandemic, the extent to which these trajectories are predicted by social stress and drinking motives, and whether results differ for women and men. Methods Data come from three online surveys of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults ages 30–80 conducted in May-July 2020, October-November 2020, and March 2021. The analytic sample consists of N = 1118 who initially reported any past year alcohol use. The early-COVID survey assessed demographics, social stressors, and drinking motives. All three surveys assessed average drinks per day in past month and drinking-related problems. Results Alcohol use declined for men, but remained stable for women. Alcohol problems increased for both sexes, especially for men. Level of alcohol use was associated with loneliness and social demands for men, and drinking motives for both sexes, with changes in use related to loneliness and social demands for men. Level of alcohol problems was associated with loneliness for women and drinking motives for both sexes, with changes in problems related to drinking motives for women. Interactions of social stress with drinking motives were not found. Conclusions Sex differences in alcohol use and alcohol problems during the pandemic—as well as their associations with indicators of social stress and drinking motives—highlight the importance of tailoring prevention and treatment efforts for men and women.