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Introduction and Aims: Given the prevalence of drinking games among university students and the health risks associated with playing drinking games, it is important to consider motivations for participation. The psychometric properties of the Motives for Playing Drinking Games (MPDG) measure have been examined among US college student samples, but mixed findings have been reported regarding the number of factors in the measure. This is the first study to examine the factor structure and applicability of the MPDG measure among a sample of Australian university students.Design and Methods: University students (N = 254; aged 18-46 years; 62% female) with prior drinking experience completed an online survey which included questions pertaining to demographics, drinking game frequency and consumption, drinking game consequences and the MPDG measure.Results: Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the originally proposed 8-factors within the MPDG measure were problematic in the current sample and a revised 7-factor solution was preferred. Analyses examining the relations of the revised 7 MPDG factors with drinking game behaviours (e.g. gaming-specific consequences and amount consumed during play) highlighted the importance of some MPDG (enhancement/thrills, conformity and sexual pursuit motives).Discussion and Conclusions: While the MPDG measure shows promise for assessing drinking game-specific motives, the need to consider the applicability of MPDG subscales across different samples was apparent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current study was to test the direct and indirect influence of parents' drinking motives and problem drinking on their children's drinking motives, alcohol use and substance misuse. Cross-sectional analysis of parent and child drinking patterns and motives, derived from the nationally representative Drinkaware Monitor panel survey. The sample comprised a total of 148 couples of parents and child. Path analysis revealed that children's alcohol use and substance misuse were influenced by their own drinking motives and parents' problem drinking. Parents' conformity motives were linked to their children's conformity motives. Finally, parental drinking problems mediated the effect of their coping motives on their childrens' alcohol use and substance misuse. In conclusion, parental drinking styles relate to their children's alcohol use and substance misuse through problem drinking and drinking motives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Alcohol consumption among young people in Nigeria has traditionally been constrained due to the socio-cultural belief that alcohol is for adults. In contemporary Nigeria, media reports indicate that young people drink alcohol regularly in large quantities, but empirical research on what motivates their alcohol use is lacking. Objectives: To explore the motives for consuming alcohol among male and female students at a Nigerian university. Methods: Drawing on motivational theories of alcohol use, 31 semi-structured interviews were conducted with students (aged 19-23 years). The data were analyzed to generate themes with the aid of NVivo software. Results: Three themes (drinking to cope; overcoming academic performance anxiety; and drinking to socialize) were identified under coping, enhancement and social motives. First, while both male and female participants used alcohol to attenuate sorrow, anger, and stress, females also drank to ameliorate depression and heartbreak due to relationship problems. Second, men and women perceived that alcohol provided them with “academic courage.” Hence, they drank to boost their confidence in delivering class seminars. Relatedly, women used alcohol in a bid to enhance their retentive memory before taking written examinations. Third, men and women engaged in gendered heavy drinking rituals purposefully to get drunk and loosen up. This enables men to discuss what they referred to as “men's affairs” while it enables women to “reveal deep secrets” (to inebriated group members) that they would not ordinarily reveal when they are sober. Women's drink choice was associated with social motives because spirits were used purposefully to quicken their intoxication. Conclusions: Participants who drank due to coping and social motives consumed larger quantities of alcohol than they consumed on “normal” drinking occasions. We discuss the implications of these findings and offer suggestions for public health interventions that policymakers might consider implementing, to reduce alcohol-related harms in the Nigerian Higher Education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although motivations to use alcohol have been shown to predict alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, little is known about how drinking motives develop. This study identified antecedents in adolescence of social and coping motives for drinking in early adulthood. Data came from a longitudinal study of youths in the eastern U.S. (N = 451) followed from secondary school into early adulthood (52.4% female; Mage = 23.01; SD = 1.03). In a structural equation analysis, frequency of drunkenness and peer alcohol use positively predicted young adult social motives, whereas only frequency of drunkenness predicted coping motives. These findings indicate that alcohol use behaviors and social relationships in adolescence may contribute to the development of adult drinking motives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drinking motives have been theorized as “the final common pathway” to alcohol use, and have been found to be associated with certain drinking patterns and related outcomes. Given the importance of the context in which people drink, researchers have also begun to pay close attention to motives that are specific to participation in a drinking game. The present study builds on this burgeoning body of work by testing how sociability and liquid courage alcohol outcome expectancies and valuations are indirectly associated with drinking game behaviors by way of drinking game motives. Participants consisted of 686 students from eight U.S. colleges/universities (ages 18-23, mean age = 19.45; 73.8% female; 68.2% white) who completed a self-report questionnaire which asked about drinking game behaviors and motives for playing, alcohol outcome expectancies and valuations, general drinking motives, and typical alcohol use. Controlling for demographics, general drinking motives, and typical alcohol use, results indicated that liquid courage (alcohol outcome expectancies) and sociability (alcohol outcome expectancies and valuations) were indirectly associated with drinking game behaviors by way of enhancement/thrills and social lubrication motives for playing drinking games, respectively. Findings suggest that motives specific to playing drinking games operate similarly to general drinking motives as the “final common pathway” to drinking game behaviors. Implications for motivation-matched and expectancy challenge strategies aimed at reducing drinking games participation on college campuses are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between drinking motives and interpretation bias (interpreting ambiguous stimuli in an alcohol-related way) in problematic drinkers with and without mild to borderline intellectual disability (MBID).Method Participants (N = 178) were divided into 4 groups based on severity of alcohol use-related problems and full-scale IQ. They completed a word-association task and the Drinking Motives Questionnaire Revised (DMQ-R).Results Problematic drinkers showed an interpretation bias towards alcohol. Participants with MBID had a relatively strong interpretation bias. The DMQ-R coping motive predicted the strength of the bias in negative scenarios, whereas the DMQ-R coping and social motives predicted the strength of the bias in positive scenarios.Conclusions The activation of this bias might depend on individual differences in drinking motives, which provides implications for the assessment and treatment of problematic alcohol use in individuals with and without MBID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite an established relationship between social anxiety (SA) and negative reinforcement drinking motives (NRDMs), relatively little is known about the factors that explain this relationship. This study explored whether three processes implicated in cognitive models of SA (anticipatory processing, self-focused attention, and post-event processing) mediated the relationship between SA and NRDMs in undergraduates. Participants (N = 180) completed self-report measures of social interaction and evaluation anxiety, anticipatory and post-event processing, self-focused attention, drinking motives, and depression. Analyses were conducted using parallel multiple-mediation analyses, which employed bootstrapping tests of significance. Most notably, results showed that the relationships between interaction/evaluation anxiety and drinking to cope with anxiety were explained by trait tendency to experience anticipatory processing and self-focused attention. The relationship between interaction anxiety and drinking to cope with depression was also explained by a tendency to engage in self-focused attention. Conversely, evaluation anxiety directly predicted drinking to cope with depression, while both interaction and evaluation anxiety directly predicted drinking to conform to peers. Overall, these findings further elucidate these relationships by suggesting that anticipatory processing and self-focused attention, but not post-event processing, explain the relationship between SA and drinking to cope with negative affect. Alternatively, these cognitive processes do not appear relevant to SA and conformity-motivated drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Black young adults have lower rates of alcohol use than other racial groups. Genetic factors may protect against drinking. Specifically, the ADH1B*3 allele is present almost exclusively in Black populations and has been protective against alcohol use and alcohol use disorder. The protective effects of the ADH1B*3 allele, however, may differ as a function of alcohol-promoting cognitions.Objectives: The current study examined whether ADH1B*3 moderated relations of drinking motives with alcohol consumption among Black college drinkers.Methods: Participants were 241 undergraduate students of self-identified Black race (mean age = 20 years; 66% female) who reported consuming alcohol at least once in the past 30 days.Results: ADH1B*3 was not significantly associated with drinking motives or drinking behaviors. However, significant, albeit small, interaction effects of ADH1B*3 with drinking motives on drinking behavior were found; the presence of an ADH1B*3 allele protected against greater drinking quantity among students with high social motives (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.95, 95% CI [0.92, 0.99]) and against frequent drinking among students with low coping motives (IRR = 1.06, 95% CI [1.01, 1.11]).Conclusion: These findings represent a novel demonstration of genetic modulation of alcohol-related cognitions within Black college drinkers, although replication is needed. Results represent an initial step toward better characterizing individual differences in associations of drinking motives with drinking behavior, with potential implications for interventions aimed at motivational processes in alcohol use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R; Cooper, 1994) is the most widely used questionnaire to assess drinking motives. This research aimed to adapt and study the validity and reliability of the Spanish DMQ-R and its short form in a sample of adolescents. We assessed 504 drinkers at Time 1 (T1, Mage - 14.15, SD - 0.00, 52.30% female), of whom 230 participated in a 1-year follow-up (T2, Mage = 15.05, SD = 0.54, 58.82% female). They completed the DMQ-R at T1, the alcohol use measure at T1 and T2, and the alcohol-related problems questionnaire at T2. We performed Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs) to test the structure validity of the questionnaire, Cronbach's alphas to test the internal consistencies of the scales, and path analyses to test the concurrent and predictive validity of motives on alcohol outcomes. CFA indicated that the short form of the 4-factor model best fitted the data. Cronbach's alphas were .70 or higher. Direct effects of the path analysis showed that social motives cross-sectionally predicted alcohol use, while coping motives prospectively predicted alcohol-related problems. Indirect effects showed that social motives prospectively predicted alcohol use and problems. To conclude, the DMQ-R short form appears to be reliable and valid to assess drinking motives among Spanish adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Response-order effects refer to differences in participant responding based on the order of questionnaire response options. Theory predicts primacy effects (options presented earlier are more frequently endorsed). We predicted primacy effects for unipolar scales related to alcohol. Undergraduates ( N  = 791) completed questionnaires on drinking motives, personality, and alcohol problems. Participants were randomly assigned to ascending (lowest-to-highest) or descending (highest-to-lowest) response-order conditions. Pre-registered analyses found primacy effects for sensation-seeking and enhancement motives. There was no moderation by sex, ethnicity, or age. Experimental condition had no impact on concurrent validity. Exploratory analyses found that undergraduates selected “Strongly Agree” more often in the descending condition and primacy effects for alcohol problems. Overall, we found evidence for small primacy effects in undergraduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research indicates that individuals drank more heavily and experienced more harms on days they consumed alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmEDs). Limited research, thus far, has examined predictors of AmED use on a daily level. Drinking motives, or reasons for drinking, are shown to discern AmED users from non-users, but the extent to which daily drinking motives covary with AmED use has not been tested. The current study used a daily diary design to determine how motives differ between AmED and other drinking occasions. Participants included 122 college students (73.8% women) with a mean age of 20.39years. Participants completed up to 14 daily surveys, resulting in 389 drinking days (40days involved AmED use). Participants reported on their drinking motives at baseline as well as on each drinking day. Multilevel models revealed that, after controlling for other motives, AmED use was more likely on days where conformity motives were higher than usual and was less likely when enhancement motives were higher. Daily social and coping motives as well as all motives measured at baseline were unassociated with AmED use. Our findings suggest that conformity motives, or drinking to fit in with others, are the most salient drinking motive predicting AmED use on a drinking day. Given that conformity motives are often less associated with alcohol use outcomes in general, these findings highlight AmEDs as a unique alcoholic beverage. Clinicians and interventionists working with frequent AmED users should consider the unique conditions under which AmEDs are consumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study sought to examine whether drinking motives (i.e., coping, social, conformity, and enhancement) moderated the relationship between physical, sexual, and psychological dating violence victimization and alcohol-related problems in a sample of drinking college women (N = 177). Results demonstrated that coping and social drinking motives moderated the relationship between sexual victimization and alcohol problems; conformity, social, and enhancement drinking motives moderated the relationship between alcohol-related problems and physical victimization; no significant findings were evident for psychological aggression victimization. Our results partially support the self-medication model of alcohol use, and this may be particularly relevant to sexual victimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Since alcohol use disorders are among the most prevalent and destructive mental disorders, it is critical to address factors contributing to their development and maintenance. Drinking motives are relevant driving factors for consumption. Identifying groups of drinkers with similar motivations may help to specialize intervention components and make treatment more effective and efficient. We aimed to identify and describe distinct motive types of drinkers in dependent males from two diverse cultures (Uganda and Germany) and to explore potential differences and similarities in addiction-related measures. Moreover, we investigated specific links between motive types and childhood maltreatment, traumatic experiences, and symptoms of comorbid psychopathologies. Methods: To determine distinct drinking motive types, we conducted latent class analyses concerning drinking motives (Drinking Motive Scale) in samples of treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent men (N = 75). Subsequently we compared the identified motive types concerning their alcohol consumption and alcohol-related symptoms (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test), history of childhood maltreatment (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), trauma exposure (Violence, War and Abduction Exposure Scale), psychopathology (Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, Depression-section of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, and Brief Symptom Inventory) and deficits in emotion regulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale). Results: We found two congruent drinking motive types in both contexts. Rewardoriented drinking motives like the generation of positive feelings and enhancing performance were endorsed almost equally by both motive types, whereas high relief motive endorsement characterized one group, but not the other. The relief motive type drank to overcome aversive feelings, withdrawal, and daily hassles and was characterized by higher adversity in general. Emotional maltreatment in childhood and psychopathological symptoms were reported to a significantly greater extent by relief drinkers (effect sizes of comparisons ranging from r = 0.25 to r = 0.48). However, the motive types did not differ significantly on alcohol consumption or alcohol-related symptoms and traumatic experiences apart from childhood maltreatment. Conclusion: The chronology of addiction development and patterns of drinking motivation seem to be similar across cultures, i.e., that motive targeting interventions might be applicable cross-culturally. Addressing comorbid symptomatology should be a key treatment component for relief drinkers, whereas finding alternatives for the creation of positive feelings and ways to counteract boredom and inactivity should be a general treatment element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Evidence from adult samples suggests a co-occurrence between pain and alcohol abuse. However, studies in adolescents are scarce and results are inconsistent, with some studies observing heightened and others observing reduced alcohol consumption in adolescents suffering from pain. We hypothesized that in adolescents the association between pain and alcohol use will be moderated by drinking motives. Methods. Data from a large representative sample of Flemish school children and adolescents (N510,650, 50.8% boys, age range 5 10-21 years, Mage514.33 years) were collected as part of the World Health Organization collaborative Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey. Pain severity was graded based on a pediatric pain classification system that accounts for both pain intensity and disability. Alcohol consumption was operationalized using two variables: frequency of drinking and drunkenness. The Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised was used to capture drinking motives; it assesses four motive categories (enhancement, coping, social, and conformity). Results. Findings indicated that higher pain severity was associated with greater frequency of alcohol use and drunkenness. However, drinking motives moderated this association. The positive association between pain severity and drinking frequency was stronger in case of high conformity motives. Likewise, the association between pain severity and drunkenness frequency was stronger at high levels of conformity motives and reached significance only at high levels of coping motives. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that specific drinking motives are linked to problematic alcohol use in adolescents with pain. Future studies using a longitudinal design are needed to draw conclusions about direction of effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol misuse is a major problem on university campuses. One way to determine which students are at risk is to examine their drinking motives. Coping with anxiety-motivated (CAM) drinkers have been found to have elevated alcohol problems, even after controlling for alcohol consumption levels. Socially motivated (SM) drinkers do not show elevated alcohol problems. The current study investigated the impact of mood induction (positive or anxious) and drinking motive (CAM or SM) on laboratory alcohol consumption levels in a sample of 81 undergraduate drinkers. SM drinkers consumed more alcohol when a positive vs. anxious mood was induced (t(42) = −2.18, p = .04). Contrary to hypotheses, CAM drinkers did not consume more alcohol when an anxious vs. positive mood was induced (t(35) = −0.21, p = .84). However, they did not exhibit the normative pattern of reducing alcohol use when experiencing an anxious mood. CAM drinkers’ increased alcohol problems may be related to this lack of inhibition of drinking when experiencing negative mood states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduates with high social anxiety have increased alcohol problems, despite lower or equivalent alcohol use levels. Drinking motives mediate the cross-sectional relationship between social anxiety and alcohol problems, with coping and conformity motives being the most commonly observed mediators. Our study extended prior research by using a longitudinal design, examining coping with anxiety motives (CAM) and coping with depression motives (CDM) separately using path analysis, simultaneously considering a variety of drinking motives in the model, and focusing on a particularly severe form of social anxiety - namely, social avoidance. We collected data from 219 undergraduates (72.6% women, mean age of 20.59years) over three waves spaced six months apart. Results indicated CDM mediated the prospective relationship between social avoidance and alcohol problems. Findings suggest socially avoidant students' escalations in CDM explain their increased alcohol problems over time. Future research should examine involvement of depression and social isolation in contributing to this pathway to alcohol problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent research suggests that ruminative thinking (specifically problem-focused thoughts) may explain why individuals engage in drinking to cope (DTC) when dealing with depressive symptoms; which in turn leads to increased negative alcohol-related consequences. Cross-cultural studies addressing these phenomena are scarce.Objectives: The present study cross-culturally tested whether four rumination facets (problem-focused thoughts, counterfactual thinking, repetitive thoughts, and anticipatory thoughts) uniquely mediate the relationships between depressive symptoms and drinking motives/alcohol outcomes in a multicultural sample of college student drinkers (n=1429) from Spain, Argentina, and the U.S.Method: Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the models, controlling for sex. Further, we conducted invariance testing to determine whether our models were culturally-specific or culturally-universal.Results: Within both proposed models, no rumination facet uniquely mediated the relationship between depressive symptoms and drinking motives. However, an exploratory model with a second-order latent factor of ruminative thinking did significantly mediate these associations (exception was conformity motives). Further, there were two significant double-mediated associations that suggested that increased depressive symptoms is associated with increased ruminative thinking, which is associated with higher DTC motives, which in turn is associated with higher alcohol consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences. All models were found to be invariant across countries and sex, suggesting that these associations may be relatively universal.Conclusions: Rumination is relevant to understand the increased vulnerability of college drinkers to exhibit greater alcohol consumption and negative consequences via DTC motives when dealing with depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to understand if motives to drink are associated to certain patterns of drinking and specific socio-demographic drinkers’ characteristics. As part of the Portugal Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey, developed with 5050 pupils (47.7% of boys), attending the 6th, 8th, and 10th grade levels and with a mean age of 13.98 years (SD = 1.85), the present study was carried out using the “Drinking Motive Questionnaire Revised Short Form” (Kuntsche & Kuntsche, 2009) in order to investigate the drinking motives among young people and its relationship with neighborhood characteristics, gender, age, and drinking patterns. Results showed that social motives are the most frequent, followed by enhancement, coping, and conformity motives. Statistically significant differences were found between gender and grade (a proxy for age), being essentially the boys who consume more socially and the boys of the 8th grade that reported to consume for enhancement motives, cope with negative emotions, or to affirm themselves within peers group. Differences between the place of residence and consumption patterns are also found, showing that pupils who live in a neighborhood marked by many night entertainment venues, violence and theft, along with its location in an isolated area, have a significantly higher average in the four motives. Considering the drinking pattern, drinking to cope or for conformity motives are more common during the week and during the day, while drinking for social motives is more frequent during the day. Implications of the results for health and educational public policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Research has demonstrated a strong relationship between drinking motives and alcohol use among young adult populations. Further, there is substantial evidence of the association between psychosocial stressors and greater alcohol consumption. In the present study, we examined whether acculturative stress would moderate the relationship between major drinking motives and alcohol use behaviors and alcohol-related problems, and whether this relationship differs by racial/ethnic group.Method: Six hundred diverse undergraduate students (mean age=21.50, SD=2.46; 82.8% female; 40.2% White/Caucasian) completed a series of measures, including demographic information, alcohol use/alcohol problems, and acculturative stress.Results: Findings showed varying patterns in the moderating effect of acculturative stress on the relationship between drinking motives and alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems, particularly for self-identified Hispanic, Black, and Asian students. Stronger drinking motives were associated with greater alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems, and this relationship was stronger among Asian and Hispanic students who reported higher levels of acculturative stress. For Black students, greater acculturative stress was observed to weaken the relationship between coping, enhancement, and conformity motives and alcohol drinking frequency.Conclusions: Results are discussed in terms of incorporating acculturative stress in the development of tailored alcohol use interventions for vulnerable young adults, such as certain ethnic minority and immigrant groups. Clinical implications include screening for acculturative stress in primary care and counseling centers and early intervention programs to identify young adults who may be at-risk for or currently experiencing alcohol problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ-R) is the most widely administered instrument to assess reasons for consuming alcohol and is conventionally premised on a four-factor structure. Recent research instead reveals that a bifactor measurement model of five motive factors (one general and four specific) represents a superior psychometric embodiment of the scale. The current study evaluated and compared the predictive validity of the four-factor and five-factor models of drinking motives in longitudinally explaining alcohol use and problems.Methods: Adult participants (N=413; age range=18-79 years) completed measures of drinking motives (Time 1) and alcohol use and problems one month later (Time 2).Results: Confirmatory factor analyses corroborated the four-factor (social, enhancement, conformity, and coping motives) and five-factor (each item double loading on general motives and a specific motives factor) measurement structures, but the latter rendered stronger fit indices. Structural equation models revealed that lower social motives, higher enhancement motives, and higher coping motives prospectively contributed to alcohol use. Furthermore, lower social motives, higher conformity motives, higher coping motives, and greater alcohol use contributed to alcohol problems.Discussion: The same set of paths emerged as significantly predictive in both models, but general motives additionally explained alcohol use and problems in the five-factor model. The incremental contribution of general motives (beyond the specific motives) on alcohol intake and detrimental consequences supports the predictive validity of the drinking reasons paradigm embodied by the inclusion of a global factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Drinking alcohol during the exams can affect academic performance and future career options, but is rarely investigated. Drinking motives, sociodemographics and personality characteristics are investigated in nonabstainers and weekly drinkers during the exams. Participants: 7,181 Belgian university students who anonymously responded to an email invitation to an online survey. Methods: Logistic regressions and mixed design analysis of variance on cross-sectional data. Results: One-third of the students continued drinking during the exams, with 40% drinking weekly. Nonabstainers were mainly men, elder, internally motivated when drinking, and housed with parents or independently. Weekly drinkers were similar, except mainly housed in student apartments or independently. Personality characteristics were nonsignificant. All drinking motives were less pronounced during the exams, with smaller differences for internal motives. Conclusions: Mainly linked to internal drinking motives, drinking during the exams in higher education is underestimated. The characteristics and motives of students doing so can be used in future interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests a link between masculine norms and drinking behaviors and related consequences; however, the mechanisms of risk are not well understood, particularly with respect to drinking games. The present study helps bridge the masculinity and alcohol use literatures by examining the mechanisms by which certain masculine norms (i.e., winning, risk taking, heterosexual presentation, power over women, and playboy norms) are directly associated with drinking game behaviors and consequences, and indirectly by way of increased motivations to play drinking games for competition reasons, for enhancement/thrills, and/or to sexually manipulate others. Participants completed anonymous self-report surveys and consisted of young adult men who were current drinkers and drinking gamers (N = 905). Controlling for typical alcohol use on nondrinking game occasions, results indicated that certain masculine norms (i.e., heterosexual presentation, risk taking, and power over women) were directly associated with drinking game behaviors and/or consequences. Consistent with motivational models of alcohol use, conformity to masculine norms was also indirectly related to drinking game behaviors and consequences through their associations with specific drinking game motives. Both power over women and playboy norms were indirectly related to negative drinking game consequences through their positive associations with sexual manipulation motives. In addition, risk taking, winning, and playboy norms were indirectly related to drinking game behaviors and related consequences by way of increased endorsement of enhancement/thrills motives. Finally, risk taking, winning, and power over women were indirectly related to drinking game frequency through their positive associations with competition motives. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a full cross-lagged model, this study investigates the extent to which drinking motives predict alcohol use and related consequences, and vice versa. At baseline and 15 months later, 4575 men (mean age = 19.4 years) in Switzerland completed a questionnaire assessing drinking motives, average weekly consumption, risky single-occasion drinking, and alcohol-related consequences. Results indicated that social and enhancement motives more strongly influenced alcohol use over time than the other way round. Coping motives predicted an increase in alcohol-related consequences, and vice versa. Higher social motives predicted an increase in coping motives while higher coping motives predicted a decrease in enhancement motives. These results suggest that social and enhancement motives amplify each other in early adulthood and predict increases in risky drinking. Structural measures aimed at reducing opportunities to engage in heavy drinking are recommended. Additionally, the detection of young adult men vulnerable to maladaptive coping behaviors appears important for alcohol prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

College drinking is an important public health issue in many countries, especially in South Korea. This study aims to explore drinking motives and their relationship with drinking behaviors and drinking outcomes among Korean college students (N= 553). Utilizing a Web-based survey, this study found some similarities and differences relative to studies conducted in Western cultures. As previously observed, social and enhancement motives were the primary reasons for drinking, and enhancement motives were associated with drinking-related problems among Korean students. However, results differing from those of previous studies were revealed by comparing males and females: Korean male college students who drink to cope with stress tend to experience more alcohol-related problems, whereas Korean female college students tend to experience alcohol-related problems when drinking for enhancement motives. Implications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined the relationships between emotion dysregulation, peer drinking norms, drinking motives, and alcohol-related outcomes among 435 college students. We examined the mediating roles of drinking motives when predicting alcohol consumption and related problems from the subscales of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz and Roemer, 2004) via negative and positive reinforcement models. First, we hypothesized that individuals who lack in emotion regulation strategies or have difficulties in accepting negative emotions are more likely to drink to cope. Additionally, we hypothesized that individuals who act impulsively or become distracted when upset as well as those with higher peer drinking norms are more likely to drink for social and enhancement motives. The results of the path model indicated that limited access to emotion regulation strategies significantly predicted alcohol-related problems via both depression and anxiety coping motives, but did not predict alcohol consumption. Nonacceptance of emotional responses was not significantly associated with coping motives. Impulsivity had a significant direct relationship with alcohol problems. Difficulty in engaging in goal-directed behaviors predicted both enhancement and social motives, but only enhancement motives in turn predicted consumption. Norms indirectly predicted problems via enhancement motives and consumption. The results indicated that using alcohol to reduce negative or to increase positive emotions increases alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Overall, results advance our understanding of the mechanisms of increased alcohol use and problems among college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined differences in the relationship of drinking motives to drinking behavior among sanctioned and nonsanctioned 1st-year students ( N = 298). Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that for both sanctioned and nonsanctioned students, alcohol use was predicted by social and enhancement motives, and alcohol-related consequences were predicted by social, enhancement, and coping motives. High levels of conformity motives predicted alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences for sanctioned students only. Counseling implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim This study investigated 1) the validity and reliability of the Athlete Drinking Scale (ADS) in the context of professional rugby union and rugby league players in Australasia; 2) differences between the Sport-Related Drinking Motives (SRDM) of professional rugby union and rugby league players in Australasia. Method A modified version of the ADS was developed to suit the professional sport context and completed by a sample of professional rugby union and league players (n = 193) from Australia and New Zealand. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested a three factor, nine-item scale was most appropriate to measure the construct. Results Compared to rugby league players, rugby union players reported higher levels of both positive reinforcement and team/ group drinking motives. The respondents in this study identified SRDM of similar magnitude to samples in alternate settings reported elsewhere. Discussion The revised ADS has fewer items than the original ADS. Athletes in different sports are likely to have differing levels of sport-related drinking motivations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents often consume alcohol in the peer context. As students from boarding schools spend more time with peers than students from regular schools do, the former might also consume more alcohol. Methods: In order to analyse alcohol consumption, we examined 699 German adolescents at boarding and day schools in a cross-sectional design. Results: We found that adolescents from boarding schools - and students from Rural School Hall Residences (RSHR) in particular - drank more alcohol than students from day schools, although between-group differences tended to be small. Higher use of alcohol by students from boarding schools was reported across school-related and non-school-related contexts. Furthermore, most reasons for drinking alcohol were reported more often by adolescents from boarding schools than by their peers from day schools. Conclusion: We conclude that considering drinking motives, and involving teachers and parents might be promising ways to reduce alcohol consumption in students from boarding schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are at increased risk for HIV and problematic alcohol use. Drinking motives are associated with alcohol use in cross-sectional studies, but their associations with alcohol use and condomless anal sex (CAS) at the event-level remain unclear. The current study examined these event-level associations in a sample of 189 YMSM who completed self-report measures on a daily or weekly basis for two months. Participants were recruited between August 2014 and April 2015 for a randomized trial designed to study behavioral reactivity in diary studies. YMSM consumed more alcohol on days when they drank to cope, to enhance pleasure, or to be more social. CAS with casual partners was more likely on days when they consumed more alcohol. Drinking motives were not associated with CAS. Interventions may benefit from addressing drinking motives and the influence of alcohol use on CAS in different types of relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Alcohol misuse has historically affected men more than women. However, the differences in drinking behaviors across sex have steadily decreased over time and accumulating research suggests that gender role orientation, or culturally scripted gender-specific characteristics, and negative reinforcement drinking motives may better explain risk for alcohol use and related problems than sex. Objectives: The current study tested a mediational model of the undifferentiated orientation (low masculinity and low femininity), an oft neglected orientation despite evidence that it could carry much weight in drinking behaviors, versus the other three gender role orientations, coping and conformity drinking motives, and hazardous alcohol use. Method: Participants were 426 current drinkers over age 21 (41% men; 77.8% Caucasian; Mage = 34.5, range = 21–73) residing across the United States who completed an online survey. Results: Structural equation modeling analyses suggested that individuals with an undifferentiated orientation (n = 99), compared to masculine (high masculinity, low femininity; n = 102), feminine (high femininity, low masculinity; n = 113), or androgynous (high masculinity, high femininity; n = 112) orientations, reported higher coping drinking motives, which were positively associated with levels of hazardous alcohol use. Although analyses suggested that undifferentiated individuals reported drinking for conformity motives more often than masculine and androgynous individuals, conformity motives were not associated with increased use. Conclusions/Importance: An undifferentiated gender role orientation may contribute a unique risk for alcohol use and related problems by increasing frequency of drinking to cope, a motive specifically associated with hazardous use trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Drinking Motives Questionnaire, previously postulated and documented to exhibit a measurement structure of four correlated factors (social, enhancement, conformity, and coping), is a widely administered assessment of reasons for consuming alcohol. In the current study (N = 552), confirmatory factor analyses tested the plausibility of several theoretically relevant factor structures. Fit indices corroborated the original four-factor model, and also supported a higher-order factor model involving a superordinate motives factor that explicated four subordinate factors. A bifactor model that permitted items to double load on valence type (positive or negative reinforcement) and source type (external or internal) generated mixed results, suggesting that this 2 × 2 motivation paradigm was not entirely tenable. Optimal fit was obtained for a bifactor model depicting a general factor and four specific factors of motives. Latent factors derived from this structure exhibited criterion validity in predicting frequency and quantity of alcohol usage in a structural equation model. Findings are interpreted in the context of theoretical implications of the instrument, alternative factor structures of drinking motives, and assessment applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether the effects of negative urgency, a unique facet of impulsivity marked by engaging in potentially unhealthy and rash behaviors in order to cope with anxiety or negative moods, on drinking behavior can be explained by positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies and specific drinking motives (i.e., coping and enhancement).Methods: College students (N=194) completed web-based surveys in exchange for course credit. Students completed measures of negative urgency, comprehensive effects of alcohol, drinking motives, and alcohol use behaviors.Results: Results of path analysis indicated significant indirect effects of negative urgency and alcohol use through both alcohol outcome expectancies and enhancement motives. The effects of enhancement motives on drinking were mediated by positive alcohol outcome expectancies. The effects of coping motives on drinking were not attributable to negative expectancies.Conclusions: Individuals high on negative urgency may consume alcohol in order to ameliorate their emotional distress due to strong desires to increase positive and decrease negative experiences associated with drinking. Emotion-focused impulsivity's influence on drinking outcomes can be ascribed to enhancement motives for drinking as well as positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies. Prevention efforts should target drinking motives and alcohol outcome expectancies among those higher in negative urgency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities across the United States have reported consistently high rates of alcohol use and abuse among students during the past 20 years. The college student alcohol consumption level is considered an important public health concern. The increase in problematic drinking seems to be campus wide, but there is an understudied at-risk demographic--collegiate student-athletes. The purpose of this study is to examine student-athletes' motives for alcohol consumption, drinking patterns, and alcohol-related negative consequences. Student-athletes (N = 283) from five Midwestern universities completed an online questionnaire assessing this behavior. Male student-athletes reported higher levels in all three categories than females. In addition, differences were found in the drinking motives of individual and team sport student-athletes. Unlike previous studies, Division I student-athletes did not differ from Division III with respect to these behaviors. Male student-athletes seem particularly at-risk for problematic alcohol consumption. Additionally, differences were found in motives experienced for alcohol consumption based on sport type (i.e., individual versus team). Level of play was not found to influence drinking motives or alcohol consumption which may signify participation in intercollegiate athletics is a greater influence than division. Differences found in gender and sport type may provide insight to help decrease dangerous drinking habits of student-athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]