Reciprocal Influences of Drinking Motives on Alcohol Use and Related Consequences: A Full Cross-Lagged Panel Study Among Young Adult Men

Abstract

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, 4,575 men (mean age = 19.4) 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 alcoholrelated 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.

Adolescent predictors of social and coping drinking motives in early adulthood

“…Thus, getting drunk frequently may lead to the formation of multiple drinking motives perhaps because it provides direct personal experience with the myriad effects of alcohol use (e.g., makes me confident, improves my mood). In addition, studies have demonstrated that, in adults, alcohol use both predicts and is predicted by drinking motives, indicating stability in these relationships (Crutzen, Kuntsche, & Schelleman‐Offermans, 2013; Labhart, Kuntsche, Wicki, & Gmel, 2017). Thus, in future longitudinal studies, it would be useful to measure alcohol use, perceived effects of alcohol, and drinking motives repeatedly to more closely examine their interrelations over time and how experience with alcohol leads to the formation of drinking motives throughout adolescence and early adulthood.…”

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

“…First, unlike the general epidemiological tradition where consequences are measured independently from exposure , almost all studies on the associations between drinking motives and consequences (e.g. ) measure the extent of alcohol‐related adverse consequences by asking respondents about their subjective self‐attribution, for example, ‘Have you had a fight or an argument because of your drinking?’ . This predictor‐criterion contamination leads to an attribution bias and a clear underestimation of the prevalence of adverse consequences .…”

Cross-lagged relations between motives and substance use: Can use strengthen your motivation over time?

“…Crutzen and colleagues (2013) found that among a sample of adults ( N = 2440), motives, excluding conformity, were able to predict number of days drinking and number of days drinking was also able to predict increased motives. Further, in a study of Swiss men ( N = 4575), cross-lagged relations were present between social motives and risky single occasion drinking as well as between social motives and alcohol consequences (Labhart et al, 2016). In that same study, coping motives and alcohol consequences also displayed a cross-lagged relationship.…”