The associations between drinking motives and alcohol use : the moderation effects of context
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Introduction: Previous theories and studies have suggested that specific motives for drinking are uniquely predictive of alcohol consumption among young adults, and these effects of motives may vary depending on the characteristics of the immediate drinking environment. Although most previous studies examined these patterns at the person and day levels, the current study uses ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine whether drinking to enhance pleasure and drinking to cope with distress are associated with greater momentary drinking. The potential moderating effect of the immediate drinking context (location, the presence of others, and the perceptions of alcohol-related cues) was also examined. Methods: three hundred and twenty young adults (Mage = 24.05; 65.63% female) provided 2583 responses over a 14-day period that assessed drinking experiences multiple times per day. Results: Multilevel analyses suggest that momentary drinking to enhance scores were significantly associated with more drinks consumed since the previous prompt (bstandardized = 0.06, p < .01). Moreover, drinking to enhance scores interacted with being at home to predict drink numbers, such that when there was a higher likelihood of being at home, the association between drinking to enhance and alcohol consumption was weaker (bstandardized = -0.04, p = .033). Drinking to cope was not significantly related to drinks consumed in this sample. Additionally, being at a bar/restaurant, the presence of companions, and alcohol-related cues did not interact with either motive to predict drink numbers. Conclusion: Our results are consistent with previous studies that reported increased drinking as a pleasure-seeking behavior among young adults and highlight certain contexts that may strengthen or weaken the effects of drinking to enhance pleasure on consumption in the moment.
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M.A.