Drinking motives and drinking behavior over time: A full cross-lagged panel study among adults.

Abstract

Drinking motives are among the most proximal factors for drinking behavior and serve as a mechanism through which more distal factors are mediated. However, it is less clear whether drinking motives are precursors of drinking or, in contrast, shaped by previous drinking experiences (reciprocal effects), or both. Moreover, in adults it is unclear whether drinking motives, usually shaped in adolescence, influence each other over time. In this longitudinal study (N = 2440, 47% women, average age 53 years), drinking motives and drinking behavior (i.e., number of drinks on the heaviest drinking day and number of drinking days; both during the past week) were assessed at 2 time points, separated by 3 months. Full cross-lagged regression models revealed that drinking motives were positively associated with drinking behavior over time and that drinking motives are shaped by the number of drinking days (i.e., reciprocal effects). Furthermore, coping and enhancement motives, as well as social and conformity motives, positively reinforced each other. Moreover, social motives were positively associated with enhancement motives over time. In conclusion, drinking motives influence each other over a 3-month period in adulthood and predict drinking behavior over time, making them important candidates for prevention efforts. Drinking motives are likely to be modifiable and might be used to stimulate drinking decrease.

Drinking Motives in the Prospective Prediction of Unique Alcohol-Related Consequences in College Students

“…The lack of effects of social motives on alcohol use and consequences replicates other cross-sectional work (Magid et al, 2007;Merrill and Read, 2010;Patrick et al, 2011). Other work also has shown nonsignifi cant associations between conformity motives and alcohol use (Crutzen et al, 2013;Magid et al, 2007;Merrill and Read, 2010;Patrick et al, 2011) and suggests that conformity motives may not be particularly relevant for college students (e.g., Karwacki and Bradley, 1996).…”

“…These motive types have less affect regulatory basis and are less frequently related to college drinking (Brown and Finn, 1982;Cooper, 1994;Johnston et al, 2003;Karwacki and Bradley, 1996;MacLean and Lecci, 2000). Nonetheless, research examining the impact of affectrelevant motives typically controls for the shared variance that exists across the range of motives for drinking (Cooper, 1994;Crutzen et al, 2013;Magid et al, 2007;Merrill and Read, 2010), allowing for isolation of the specifi c roles for coping and enhancement motives in drinking behavior.…”

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

“…The effect sizes of the cross-lagged associations in previous research were modest (magnitude (ß): 0.10-0.15 for Schelleman-Offermans et al; 21 0.04-0.11 for Crutzen et al 22 ).…”

“…SchellemanOffermans et al 21 reported that higher levels of social motives at baseline predicted an increase in coping motives at follow-up, assuming that younger adolescents might be more sensitive to external social reward than older adolescents. Crutzen et al 22 found that enhancement and coping motives were interlinked (i.e., there was a positive association in both directions between baseline and follow-up), as were social and conformity motives. Additionally, social motives at baseline were positively associated with enhancement motives at follow-up.…”

“…In a sample of adolescents (mean age = 14.8; SD = 0.8) in the Netherlands, Schelleman-Offermans et al 21 did not report any significant prediction of alcohol use on drinking motives one year later. In a sample of middle-aged adults (mean age = 53; SD = 17) in the Netherlands, Crutzen et al 22 found that higher numbers of drinks on the heaviest drinking day during the past week predicted an increase in enhancement, social and coping motives three months later. The authors argued that, in contrast to findings from Schelleman-Offermans et al, 21 drinking situations occur more frequently and regularly in adulthood than in adolescence, which may allow for a greater reinforcement of drinking motives.…”