Effects of depressive symptoms and coping motives on naturalistic trends in negative and positive alcohol-related consequences

ObjectiveDepressive symptoms and drinking to cope with negative affect increase the likelihood for drinking-related negative consequences among college students. However, less is known about their influence on the naturalistic trajectories of alcohol-related consequences. In the current study, we examined how positive and negative drinking-related consequences changed as a function of depressive symptoms and drinking motives (coping, conformity, social, enhancement).MethodParticipants (N = 652; 58% female) were college student drinkers assessed biweekly during the first two years of college. We used hierarchical linear modeling to examine means of and linear change in positive and negative consequences related to depression and motives, controlling for level of drinking.ResultsConsistent with hypotheses, negative and positive consequences decreased over the course of freshman and sophomore years. Higher levels of depression were associated with a faster decline in negative consequences during freshman year. Coping motives predicted average levels of negative and positive consequences across all years, with the effects of coping motives on consequences most pronounced at low levels of depression during sophomore year.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that screening students for depression and drinking to cope, independent of alcohol consumption, may help identify students at risk for experiencing negative alcohol consequences and that these factors should be addressed in targeted alcohol interventions.     

The separate and interactive effects of drinking motives and social anxiety symptoms in predicting drinking outcomes

Purpose

Our goal was to test the separate and interactive effects of drinking motives and social anxiety symptoms in predicting drinking-related consumption and problems.

Methods

Participants (N = 730; 59.7% female) were undergraduate college students who completed measures of social anxiety symptoms, drinking motives, alcohol consumption, and drinking problems.

Results

Greater social anxiety symptoms were significantly associated with less alcohol consumption, and there was some evidence that greater social anxiety symptoms were also associated with greater alcohol-relevant problems. Significant interactions between social anxiety and motives indicated that a) alcohol use was most pronounced for individuals high in enhancement motives and low in social anxiety symptoms; and b) among participants low in coping motives, drinking problems were greater for individuals high (vs. low) in social anxiety symptoms.

Conclusions

More fully identifying the individual difference factors that link social anxiety symptoms with drinking outcomes is important for informing prevention and intervention approaches.     

Alcohol-related protective behavioral strategies as a mediator of the relationship between drinking motives and risky sexual behaviors

Risky sexual behaviors (RSB) frequently occur in the context of alcohol use and are associated with distinct drinking motives among college students. Use of alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBS) is associated with reductions in alcohol use and related problems, which may extend to alcohol-related RSB. Moreover, as PBS use mediates the relationship between positive reinforcement drinking motives and alcohol-related problems, the same may be true for alcohol-related RSB, specifically. The current study examined whether PBS mediates the relationship between drinking motives and RSB among college students. Participants (N = 2039, 72.8% female, M_age = 19.79) from ten universities across ten U.S. states completed an online survey assessing past-month drinking motivation, alcohol PBS, alcohol consumption, and RSB. To test study aims, a saturated path model in which drinking motives were modeled as predictors of RSB via PBS use subscales and alcohol consumption was conducted. Several double mediation effects were found, such that stronger endorsement of motives (i.e., social, enhancement, conformity, coping for depression) were associated with lower PBS (particularly manner of drinking and serious harm reduction), which was associated with higher alcohol use, which was associated with higher RSB. Multi-group models found the mediation effects to be gender invariant, although several differences in direct associations were found across genders. For college students high in positive reinforcement motives (i.e., social or enhancement) for drinking, interventions that aim to increase PBS use, specifically related to modifying the manner in which one drinks and avoiding very dangerous consequences, may be effective in reducing alcohol-related RSB.     

Drinking,abstinence, and academic motives: Relationships among multiple motivational domains and alcohol use in college students

BackgroundDrinking, abstinence, and academic motives have been previously linked with alcohol consumption in high school and college students; however, little research has examined the impact of such sources of motivations concurrently.ObjectiveDrawing from self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000), the current study tested the hypothesis that alcohol-related and academic motives would be associated with one another along internal vs. external focused dimensions. We also examined the relative influence of these motives on alcohol consumption.MethodsCollege students (N = 226) completed self-report measures assessing drinking motives, abstinence motives, academic motives, and alcohol-related outcomes.ResultsFindings suggest that drinking motives are related to abstinence motives but not academic motives. Both forms of alcohol-related motives were related to alcohol use and consequences; no associations between academic motives and alcohol variables were observed.Conclusions/importanceThe lack of associations among academic motives, alcohol-related motives, and alcohol variables departs from previous findings suggesting that academic motives impact alcohol use. The current findings indicate a greater understanding of the interplay of motivational sets related to salient issues for youth, such as academics, is needed in order to expand intervention models for alcohol use in such populations.     

Adverse consequences of student drinking: the role of sex, social anxiety, drinking motives

This study examined whether biological sex, social anxiety, and drinking motives relate differently to distinct types of alcohol-related consequences using Poisson regression. One hundred eighteen college students completed self-report measures assessing drinking motives and social anxiety and an interview assessing alcohol consumption and consequences. Highly socially anxious women were particularly apt to experience adverse role functioning consequences, while men were particularly apt to experience physical consequences. Although highly socially anxious women reported more personal consequences than did women with low to moderate social anxiety, men with low to moderate social anxiety reported experiencing more social and personal consequences than did women with low to moderate social anxiety. When taking into consideration the above associations, coping motives were statistically associated with social consequences and marginally related to personal consequences, while enhancement motives were significantly associated with physical consequences. Targeting these factors may lead to effective interventions for individuals with co-occurring social anxiety and drinking problems.     

Drinking motives and alcohol consumption behaviors among young French people

IntroductionNumerous studies suggest that social, enhancement, conformity and coping drinking motives each lead to unique behavioral patterns related to alcohol consumption. Recently it has been suggested to study specific coping motives that distinguish feelings of anxiety and depression. This study aims primarily to 1) psychometrically validate the recent five factor questionnaire of drinking motives among young French people, 2) explore differences in mean endorsements of motives across age and sex and 3) explore the concurrent validity of drinking motives by studying their associations with alcohol consumption behaviors.MethodsThe French Modified Drinking Motives Questionnaire Revised and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test were administered to 314 university students and 193 high school students.ResultsThe 5-factor model of drinking motives provided a good fit to the data and a better fit than the 4-factor model. Conformity motives were more strongly endorsed among high school students than among university students (d = 0.26). Social motives were more endorsed by men than by women (d = 0.47), as were enhancement motives (d = 0.48). Our study suggests that each of the studied motives transcribes a specific set of drinking behaviors.ConclusionsResearchers and practitioners could effectively use this conception of drinking motives in order to better understand and prevent problematic alcohol use among young people.     

Drinking identity as a mediator of the relationship between drinking motives and weekly alcohol consumption among heavy drinking undergraduate students

Objectives

The present study assessed relationships among social, coping, enhancement, and conformity drinking motives and weekly alcohol consumption by considering drinking identity as a mediator of this relationship.

Methods

Participants were 260 heavy drinking undergraduate students (81% female; M_age = 23.45; SD = 5.39) who completed a web-based survey.

Results

Consistent with expectations, findings revealed significant direct effects of motives on drinking identity for all four models. Further, significant direct effects emerged for drinking identity on weekly drinking. Results partially supported predictions that motives would have direct effects on drinks per week; total effects of motives on drinking emerged for all models but direct effects of motives on weekly drinking emerged for only enhancement motives. There were significant indirect effects of motives on weekly drinking through drinking identity for all four models.

Conclusions

The findings supported the hypotheses that drinking identity would mediate the relationship between drinking motives and alcohol consumption. These examinations have practical utility and may inform development and implementation of interventions and programs targeting alcohol misuse among heavy drinking undergraduate students.     

Solitary and social heavy drinking,suicidal ideation,and drinking motives in underage college drinkers

In college students, solitary heavy drinking (i.e., while alone) is associated with depression and with higher rates of drinking problems than heavy drinking in social contexts. This study explored the relationship among heavy episodic drinking context, suicidal ideation, and drinking motives among underage college drinkers (n = 91) with a history of passive suicidal ideation. Participants completed measures of depression, suicidal ideation, alcohol consumption and problems, and drinking motives. Multiple regression analyses revealed that suicidal ideation, but not depression, was significantly related to solitary heavy drinking. Neither was related to social heavy drinking. Enhancement motives for drinking, but not other drinking motives (i.e., social, conformity, drinking to cope), were significantly associated with social heavy drinking. In contrast, only drinking to cope was associated with solitary heavy drinking. These findings suggest that greater suicidal ideation is associated with greater frequency of becoming intoxicated while alone, and that this drinking is motivated by attempts to cope. Solitary heavy drinking is a potentially dangerous coping strategy for an individual experiencing suicidal ideation.     

Social Interaction Anxiety,Alexithymia, and Drinking Motives in Australian University Students

ABSTRACT

In young adults at university, social interaction anxiety has been linked to elevated risk of alcohol-related problems, as has alexithymia. The present study sought to assess whether social interaction anxiety is, like alexithymia, associated with the primary motive of drinking to cope with negative affect. There were 126 undergraduates (76 females, 50 males), aged 18–25 years, who were recruited from two southeast Queensland universities to complete validated self-report measures of problematic drinking, alexithymia, drinking motives, and social interaction anxiety. As predicted, social interaction anxiety was positively related to problematic drinking and coping motives for drinking. Alexithymia mediated the relationship of social interaction anxiety with coping motives. Findings were consistent with a developmental hypothesis of the links between social anxiety, alexithymia, and drinking motives. Given the cross-sectional design of the current study, longitudinal research is ultimately needed to confirm such interpretations of alexithymia and alcohol use among socially anxious young adults at university.     

Social discomfort moderates the relationship between drinking in response to negative affect and solitary drinking in underage drinkers

ObjectiveResearch shows that solitary drinking is associated with negative reinforcement motives (i.e., relieving negative affect). An untested hypothesis proposes that this association may be especially strong for individuals who experience social discomfort. This study aimed to 1) replicate findings linking solitary drinking to social discomfort (i.e., loneliness, social anxiety, and lack of perceived social support), alcohol problems, and drinking in response to negative affect (i.e., drinking to cope motives and inability to resist alcohol during negative affect), and 2) investigate whether greater social discomfort moderates the relationship between drinking in response to negative affect and solitary drinking in underage drinkers.MethodCurrent alcohol drinkers ages 18 to 20 (N = 664) recruited from a TurkPrime panel reported the percentage of time they drank solitarily and completed measures assessing social discomfort, drinking in response to negative affect, and alcohol involvement. Structural equation modeling was used to test the moderation model.ResultsResults replicated prior literature supporting the first aim. For the second aim, analyses indicated a positive association between solitary drinking and drinking in response to negative affect across all individuals, but contrary to prediction, this relationship was stronger for individuals with lower, rather than higher, social discomfort.ConclusionUnderage drinkers with lower, rather than higher, social discomfort appear to be at greater risk for drinking alone. These findings may inform our understanding of individuals at greatest risk for drinking alone and promote new avenues for intervention.     

Depressive symptoms,ruminative thinking,drinking motives,and alcohol outcomes: A multiple mediation model among college students in three countries

BackgroundRecent 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.ObjectivesThe 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.MethodStructural 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.ResultsWithin 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.ConclusionsRumination 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.     

Drinking motives and PTSD-related alcohol expectancies among combat veterans

IntroductionCombat veterans are at increased risk for PTSD and alcohol misuse, and expectancies and motives for drinking may help explain the link between these comorbid issues. This investigation explored the relationships between PTSD symptoms, PTSD-related alcohol expectancies, motives for drinking, and alcohol consumption/misuse.Method67 veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) participated in this project. We examined correlations between PTSD severity, alcohol misuse, drinking motives, PTSD alcohol expectancies, and tested models of mediation and moderation.ResultsCoping-anxiety drinking motives and positive PTSD-related alcohol expectancies were associated with alcohol misuse and alcohol-related consequences, but not with consumption. Each PTSD symptom cluster was associated with positive and negative PTSD alcohol expectancies, and coping-anxiety was specifically related to reexperiencing and avoidance. Drinking to cope mediated the relationship between PTSD symptoms and hazardous drinking. Moderation analyses showed that a positive relationship between PTSD severity and hazardous drinking existed among those with moderate and higher levels of positive PTSD-alcohol expectancies.DiscussionOur findings point to surprising, and in some cases complex, relationships between PTSD and alcohol use. Although related, PTSD alcohol expectancies and drinking motives seem to function differently in the relationship between PTSD and alcohol misuse.     

Poor adjustment to college life mediates the relationship between drinking motives and alcohol consequences: a look at college adjustment, drinking motives, and drinking outcomes

The current study examined whether the relationship between drinking motives and alcohol-related outcomes was mediated by college adjustment. Participants (N=253) completed an online survey that assessed drinking motives, degree of both positive and negative college adjustment, typical weekly drinking, and past month negative alcohol-related consequences. Structural equation modeling examined negative alcohol consequences as a function of college adjustment, drinking motives, and weekly drinking behavior in college students. Negative college adjustment mediated the relationship between coping drinking motives and drinking consequences. Positive college adjustment was not related to alcohol consumption or consequences. Positive reinforcement drinking motives (i.e. social and enhancement) not only directly predicted consequences, but were partially mediated by weekly drinking and degree of negative college adjustment. Gender specific models revealed that males exhibited more variability in drinking and their positive reinforcement drinking motives were more strongly associated with weekly drinking. Uniquely for females, coping motives were directly and indirectly (via negative adjustment) related to consequences. These findings suggest that interventions which seek to decrease alcohol-related risk may wish to incorporate discussions about strategies for decreasing stress and increasing other factors associated with better college adjustment.     

Relationships Between Drinking Motives and Smoking Expectancies Among Daily Smokers Who Are Also Problem Drinkers

Objective: There is a high co-occurrence of problem drinking and regular cigarette smoking, and cognitive processes (e.g., motivation to use, expectations about the consequences of use) related to each are positively associated with one another. We explored drinking motives in relation to cognitive-based smoking processes among smokers with problematic drinking. We expected that drinking coping motives would be associated with smoking consequences related to negative reinforcement and negative personal outcomes and inflexibility of smoking behavior; observed effects for coping motives would be unique from shared variance with other motives and incrementally evident beyond the variance accounted for by tobacco-related health problems, smoking rate, negative affectivity, cannabis use, and gender.

Methods: The sample included 195 individuals recruited into a larger study of smoking cessation treatments (i.e., they were interested in quitting), who were heavy drinkers and smoked daily. Participants were primarily male (n = 122, 63%), fairly young (M_age = 30.3 years; SD = 12.46), and predominantly White/Caucasian (n = 175, 80%). Roughly 57% (n = 111) had at least one comorbid Axis I disorder, the most common being social anxiety (n = 21, 11%) and generalized anxiety disorder (n = 12, 6%).

Results: Coping drinking motives predicted negative smoking consequences, negative reinforcement, and smoking inflexibility. Enhancement drinking motives marginally predicted positive reinforcement. Conformity drinking motives predicted smoking consequences related to appetite/weight control. Social drinking motives predicted negative reinforcement and barriers to cessation and marginally predicted positive reinforcement.

Conclusions: Theoretical models and clinical activities focused on smoking cessation among problem drinkers may benefit from considering the role of drinking motives, particularly coping-oriented motives, to better understanding cognitive-based smoking processes.     

Impulsivity and drinking motives predict problem behaviours relating to alcohol use in University students

Aims

This study used a four-factor model of impulsivity to investigate inter-relationships between alcohol consumption, impulsivity, motives for drinking and the tendency to engage in alcohol-related problem behaviours.

Methods

400 University students aged 18–25 completed an online survey consisting of the following measures: Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance and Sensation Seeking Scale (UPPS) to measure impulsivity; Student Alcohol Questionnaire to assess drinking quantity, frequency and rates of problem behaviours; Drinking Motives Questionnaire to assess motives for drinking.

Results

The majority of the sample (94.5%) drank alcohol at least monthly. Path analysis revealed direct effects of urgency, sensation seeking and premeditation, as well as the quantity of alcohol consumed, on the tendency to engage in risky behaviours with negative consequences. The effect of urgency was mediated by drinking for coping motives and by a combined effect of drinking for social motives and consumption of wine or spirits. Conversely the effect of sensation seeking was mediated by the quantity of alcohol consumed, irrespective of drink type, and the effect of premeditation was mediated by the consumption of wine and spirits, in combination with enhancement motives.

Conclusions

Sensation seeking, urgency and lack of premeditation are related to different motives for drinking and also demonstrate dissociable relationships with the consumption of specific types of alcohol (beer, wine and spirits) and the tendency to engage in risky behaviours associated with alcohol consumption. Screening for high levels of urgency and for severe drinking consequences may be useful predictors of alcohol-related problems in UK University students aged 18 to 25 years.     

Characterizing high school students who play drinking games using latent class analysis

Heavy alcohol use and its associated negative consequences continue to be an important health issue among adolescents. Of particular concern are risky drinking practices such as playing drinking games. Although retrospective accounts indicate that drinking game participation is common among high school students, it has yet to be assessed in current high school students. Utilizing data from high school students who reported current drinking game participation (n = 178), we used latent class analysis to investigate the negative consequences resulting from gaming and examined underlying demographic and alcohol-related behavioral characteristics of students as a function of the resultant classes. Three classes of “gamers” emerged: (1) a “lower-risk” group who had a lower probability of endorsing negative consequences compared to the other groups, (2) a “higher-risk” group who reported that they experienced hangovers and difficulties limiting their drinking, got physically sick, and became rude, obnoxious, or insulting, and (3) a “sexual regret” group who reported that they experienced poor recall and unplanned sexual activity that they later regretted. Although the frequency of participating in drinking games did not differ between these three groups, results indicated that the “lower-risk” group consumed fewer drinks in a typical gaming session compared to the other two groups. The present findings suggest that drinking games are common among high school students, but that mere participation and frequency of play are not necessarily the best indicators of risk. Instead, examination of other constructs such as game-related alcohol consumption, consequences, or psychosocial variables such as impulsivity may be more useful.     

Heavy episodic drinking in late adolescents: The role of theory of mind and conformity drinking motives

BackgroundHeavy episodic drinking (HED) implies severe consequences for health, both in the short and long term. Peer conformity has shown contradictory relationships with HED, suggesting the presence of a complex interaction between social and individual factors.ObjectiveThis study investigated the moderation role of conformity in the relationship between theory of mind (ToM) and HED.MethodParticipants were 170 Italian adolescents (M_age = 18.71, SD_age = 0.77) recruited in public high schools. Self-report measures were administered for evaluating drunkenness and HED. The Drinking Motives Questionnaire was used to assess three drinking motives, namely coping with negative emotions, enhancement of positive feelings, and the need for peer conformity, whereas the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test was adopted to test advanced theory of mind skills. ANOVAs, MANOVAs and regression moderation analyses were performed.ResultsDrunkenness, HED and drinking motives did not vary with gender. Only social motives were higher in boys (vs. girls). HED was positively related to drunkenness and to social, coping and enhancement motives. However, only enhancement significantly predicted HED. Finally, conformity moderated the relationship between ToM and HED. In the presence of high conformity, adolescents with impaired ToM reported significantly more HED than adolescents with high ToM.ConclusionsIn the presence of conformity needs, social cognition impairment appeared to be a risk factor for HED, whereas good socio-cognitive skills were protective. Implications for research, clinical assessment and prevention are discussed.     

Adolescent precursors of young adult drinking motives

IntroductionNumerous cross-sectional and shorter-term longitudinal studies have supported the role of drinking motives as potent proximal predictors of alcohol phenotypes (e.g., alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking). However, missing from this literature is a focus both on the stability of drinking motives across young adulthood and on adolescent precursors of drinking motives.MethodsWe investigated the adequacy of using a latent trait-state model (LTSM) to investigate three-wave data on social, enhancement, and coping motives for drinking with a community sample of young adults (N = 1004) at the mean ages of 23.8 years, 28.9 years, and 33.5 years. We further investigated adolescent (M age = 16.73 years) predictors of young adult drinking motives using data collected on the sample approximately seven years prior to the first young adult data collection.ResultsFindings indicated that all three drinking motives across young adulthood were modeled adequately via the LTSM, and that drinking motives manifested high stability (i.e., rank order) across individuals. Significant common (e.g., being male, alcohol-using peers, stressful life events, boredom susceptibility) and specific (e.g., depressive symptoms for coping motives; heavy episodic drinking for enhancement motives) adolescent precursors of young adult drinking motives were identified.ConclusionsCommon and unique adolescent factors predicted trait-like drinking motives during young adulthood. These findings suggest the utility of intervening during the teen years to prevent or interrupt the development of cognitive motivations that encourage alcohol use for the purpose of affect regulation.     

Reducing drinking to cope among heavy episodic drinking college women: Secondary outcomes of a web-based combined alcohol use and sexual assault risk reduction intervention

College students are at high risk for engaging in heavy episodic drinking and for experiencing sexual assault. Further, drinking to cope with anxiety motives are associated with sexual assault history and drinking, and thus should be examined when targeting both sexual assault and drinking in college populations. The current study examined the effectiveness of decreasing coping with anxiety drinking motives among underage heavy episodic drinking college women (n = 264). Results indicate that a web-based combined alcohol use and sexual assault risk reduction intervention was effective at decreasing drinking to cope with anxiety motives among those with stronger drinking to cope with anxiety motives at baseline. However, the alcohol-only and sexual assault-only interventions were not. Decreases in drinking motives were associated with decreases in heavy episodic drinking. This suggests that alcohol interventions in college populations may not be effectively targeting drinking motives and this preliminary study provides evidence indicating that targeting alcohol and sexual assault together may decrease drinking to cope motives among a high risk population.     

Drinking motives for self and others predict alcohol use and consequences among college women: The moderating effects of PTSD

Although drinking motives have been shown to influence drinking behavior among women with trauma histories and PTSD, no known research has examined the influence of drinking motives on alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences for women with PTSD as compared to women with a trauma history but no PTSD and women with no trauma history. Therefore, the present study sought to examine the associations between drinking motives women held for themselves as well as their perception of the drinking motives of others and their own alcohol use and consequences, and whether this was moderated by a history of trauma and/or PTSD. College women (N = 827) were categorized as either having no trauma exposure (n = 105), trauma exposure but no PTSD (n = 580), or PTSD (n = 142). Results of regression analyses revealed that women with trauma exposure and PTSD consume more alcohol and are at greatest risk of experiencing alcohol-related consequences. A diagnosis of PTSD moderated the association between one's own depression and anxiety coping and conformity drinking motives and alcohol-related consequences. PTSD also moderated the association between the perception of others' depression coping motives and one's own consequences. These findings highlight the importance of providing alternative coping strategies to women with PTSD to help reduce their alcohol use and consequences, and also suggest a possible role for the perceptions regarding the reasons other women drink alcohol and one's own drinking behavior that may have important clinical implications.