Different drinking motives, different adverse consequences? Evidence among adolescents from 10 European countries

Abstract

While the actual mean level of drinking motives, alcohol use and adverse consequence varied across countries, the consistency of association patterns implies that drinking motive-inspired health promotion efforts are likely to be beneficial across Europe. This is particularly important for coping drinkers because they are especially prone to adverse consequences over and above their alcohol use. [Wicki M, Kuntsche E, Eichenberger Y, Aasvee K, Bendtsen P, Dankulincová Veselská Z, Demetrovics Z, Dzielska A, Farkas J, de Matos MG, Roberts C, Tynjälä J, Välimaa R, Vieno A. Different drinking motives, different adverse consequences? Evidence among adolescents from 10 European countries.

Are Drinking Motives Universal? Characteristics of Motive Types in Alcohol-Dependent Men from Two Diverse Populations

“…This means that motives may change depending on specific situations or that several motives may be present within one drinking occasion. Although mostly validated in Western non-dependent adolescents and young adults, this result is in line with the literature that shows that drinking motives are not mutually exclusive, but highly correlated ( 32 , 43 , 45 , 49 , 58 , 59 , 66 – 68 ).…”

“…A four-factor model of drinking motivation has been confirmed in all countries, with the same ranking of youths’ drinking motive endorsement. Social motives were most frequent, followed by enhancement, coping, and conformity motivations ( 32 , 49 , 66 , 68 , 90 ).…”

Alcohol and other substance use in a cross‐cultural perspective

“… reported that, although pre‐drinking was practiced in all 25 countries included in the study, it was most common in English‐speaking and Nordic countries. Since pre‐drinking often also involves aspects of social and enhancement drinking, these cross‐cultural differences are consistent with the differences in positive reinforcement motives reported in the previous paragraph . In addition, this study indicates that a country's drinking culture (measured by how prevalent binge drinking was in each country) and alcohol policy (here, the ratio between on‐ and off‐premise prices) affect common individual practices, such as pre‐drinking .…”

“…The same was found by Wicki et al . in their study among adolescents from northern Europe (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) compared to their counterparts from middle and southern Europe (Belgium, Portugal, Slovakia and Switzerland). In a previous study, we even demonstrated that the kind of drinking motives endorsed mediate the link between cultural differences and adolescent alcohol use .…”

“…A similar result was found concerning the association between drinking motives, alcohol use and adverse consequences in the paper by Wicki et al . , which includes adolescents from 10 different countries.…”