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Motivations for Alcohol Use Among Adolescents: Development and Validation of a Four-Factor Model

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Mary Lynne Cooper at University of Missouri
Mary Lynne Cooper
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Abstract

A 4-factor measure of drinking motives based on a conceptual model by M. Cox and E. Klinger (see PA, Vol 75:32975; see also 1990) is presented. Using data from a representative household sample of 1,243 Black and White adolescents, confirmatory factor analyses showed that the hypothesized model provided an excellent fit to the data and that the factor pattern was invariant across gender, race, and age. Each drinking motive was related to a distinct pattern of contextual antecedents and drinking-related outcomes, and these relationships did not generally vary across demographic subgroups. Results support both the conceptual validity of Cox and Klinger's model and the utility of this measure for clinical and research purposes across a diverse range of adolescent populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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... or to avoid exclusion from friends or fitting into one's group (external source and negative reinforcement result in the conformity motive: "to be liked.") (19). ...
... The four drinking motives are the most proximal predictors of alcohol use because they directly elicit the behavior of drinking to obtain a certain outcome (15,(19)(20)(21). Knowledge about drinking motives is important, since it has helped to inform interventions to reduce drinking itself, and its costly consequences, by addressing the motivational causes for drinking (22). ...
... Before the COVID-19 pandemic, when considering the strength of each motive, people reported drinking predominantly for social motives, followed by, enhancement motives, coping motives, and, at last, conformity motives (19,(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). During COVID-19, contact restrictions limited the influence of both external motives: the social motive (drinking to socialize) and the conformity motive (drinking to fit in with the group). ...
Alcohol use and drinking motives across five countries: a post-COVID-19 pandemic update
Article
Background: It is necessary to understand drinking motives to inform tailored interventions counteracting high-risk alcohol use and alcohol use disorder. Research suggests that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, drinking to cope with the current situation (i.e. coping motive) increased. This was alarming since the coping motive is a predictor of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems.Objective: In the current study, we aimed to elucidate whether this COVID-19-induced increase in coping-motivated alcohol use outlasted the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA, Great Britain, Mexico, Spain, and Germany. We provide a 2023 post-COVID-19 update on alcohol use and drinking motives.Methods: In spring 2023, 1032 participants recruited via Prolific (48% female) across the five countries completed a cross-sectional online survey, including the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) for alcohol use patterns and the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R) for drinking motives.Results: Across all five countries, 20-30% of the participants exceeded the AUDIT cutoff score for high-risk alcohol use. The ranking of all four motives for alcohol use was cross-nationally consistent: Social > Enhancement > Conformity > Coping.Conclusion: Compared to most research before the pandemic, with a Social > Enhancement > Coping > Conformity motive ranking, and research during COVID-19, with an Enhancement > Coping > Social > Conformity motive ranking, our data suggests that post-COVID drinking to socialize and to enhance one's own mood, are again the most important motives to drink alcohol. Furthermore, it seems like the increase in the coping motive found in research during the pandemic, did luckily not persist but conversely, post- compared to pre-COVID, the conformity motive seems more important than coping motive.
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... These motives can be categorized based on the type of reinforcement individuals seek, whether positive or negative, in relation to either the psychoactive effects of alcohol (internal) or social effects (external) [4]. Thirty years ago, a four-factor model for understanding drinking motives among adolescents was developed and validated [11]. These factors encompass enhancement (internal positive, e.g., drinking to have fun), social (external positive, e.g., drinking to be sociable), coping (internal negative, e.g., drinking to forget problems), and conformity (external negative, e.g., drinking to fit in with a group). ...
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... This study found that across 16 European countries, drinking motives among 15e16-year-old students who reported alcohol consumption in the past 12 months (n ¼ 34,295) can be grouped into 3 drinking motive factor groups: (1) enhancement and social; (2) coping; and (3) conformity motives. This three-factor model differs slightly from the earlier mentioned four-factor model from existing literature [11,19]. In the four-factor model, positive drinking motives were separated into internal (enhancement) and external (social) components, whereas our study with ESPAD data, all positive drinking motives loaded on one factor in the factor analysis. ...
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... Para la recolección de la información, se utilizó una cédula de datos sociodemográficos (edad, sexo, ocupación y estado civil) y se aplicó el cuestionario de motivaciones para el consumo de alcohol (CMC) desarrollado por Cooper (1994). Este está integrado por 20 razones o motivos por los cuales un individuo inicia el consumo de alcohol y distribuidos en cuatro subescalas; motivos para manejar los problemas o de afrontamiento (1,4,6,15,17), motivos para tener conformidad con su vida (2,8,12,19,20), motivos sociales (3, 5, 11, 14, 16) y motivos para sobresalir o de realce (7,9,10,13,18); cada ítem cuenta con una escala tipo Likert de 5 opciones de respuesta (1 = casi nunca o nunca, 2 = pocas veces, 3 = la mitad de las veces, 4 = la mayoría de las veces y 5 = siempre). ...
Motivos de consumo de alcohol y variables sociodemográficas en adolescentes de preparatoria
Chapter
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  • Feb 2025
El consumo de alcohol en la adolescencia es un problema social y de salud cada vez más preocupante en nuestro país. Denominado como una droga lícita, esta sustancia causa severos daños en el organismo y está relacionado con los principales indicadores de morbilidad y mortalidad. Objetivo: Identificar las diferencias entre los motivos de consumo de alcohol y variables sociodemográficas en adolescentes escolarizados. Metodología: Estudio de tipo cuantitativo, descriptivo, comparativo y transversal en una muestra de 69 adolescentes de educación media superior que fueron seleccionados mediante muestreo no probabilístico por conveniencia. Se aplicó una cédula de datos sociodemográficos y el cuestionario de motivos para el consumo de alcohol (CMC). Los datos se procesaron en el programa SPSS versión 24 mediante estadística descriptiva y no paramétrica (U de Mann-Whitney). Resultados: El 53.6% de los participantes pertenecen al sexo masculino y el 46.4% al femenino, el 84.1% cuenta con una edad de 17 años. Los motivos sociales se presentan como la causa principal para el consumo de alcohol (M = 27.34, DE = 29.04), existen diferencias significativas entre los motivos de consumo con la edad, el sexo y la ocupación de los adolescentes. Conclusiones: El entorno social de los adolescentes influye gran medida para el consumo de alcohol ante la necesidad de pertenencia al grupo social. La edad, el sexo y la ocupación pueden tener influencia para motivar a los adolescentes en el consumo.
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... The incentive motivation model is widely used to explore motives for drinking [19,20]. Approach/avoidance goals and internal/external factors are brought together to produce four key motivators: conformity (external, negative); coping (internal, negative); enhancement (internal, positive); and social (external, positive) [21]. Enhancement motives, such as the desire to feel intoxicated may inhibit NoLo use, but those drinking to conform in a social setting may find NoLo products helpful. ...
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Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2025
  • DRUG ALCOHOL REV
Introduction: Consuming no or low (NoLo) alcohol products in place of regular strength alcohol products could reduce alcohol-related harms in high risk drinkers. This study provides a new perspective by exploring beliefs about NoLo products and motives for their use by level of risky drinking using a model of behaviour change. Methods: The 2022 Global Drug Survey included items on NoLo product use, beliefs, and motives for consuming or not consuming NoLo products. Findings were mapped onto the COM-B (capability-opportunity-motivation) model. Results: In a sample of 33,033 respondents (59.5% cis men; 37.3% cis women; 3.2% trans/non-binary) over half (52.2%) reported NoLo product use in the last 12 months. Recent NoLo use was associated with older age, employment status and more common in respondents who drank alcohol compared to non-drinkers. High-risk drinkers were more likely to believe NoLo products could help them to drink less and to avoid embarrassment. However, higher risk drinkers who had never consumed NoLo products were more likely to report that they drank to be intoxicated and believed they would not have a good time if they switched. Discussion and conclusions: People who are drinking for enhancement motives (e.g., for fun, to feel intoxicated) may be less amenable to substituting regular strength alcohol products for NoLo products. NoLo use may help some higher risk drinkers consume less alcohol, and social and motivational factors could be targeted to increase their use. There should be renewed focus on broader intervention strategies, such as creating viable social alternatives to consuming alcohol.
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... Supporting this, research from the alcohol use literature suggests there are motives which are unique to different patterns of the same behavior (George, Zamboanga, Martin, & Olthuis, 2018). For example, Cooper (1994) originally identified that the core motives for drinking were coping, enhancement, conformity, and social. However, subsequent research identified a range of additional motives for different patterns of drinking, such as playing drinking games (Zamboanga et al., 2019) and predrinking (Bachrach, Merrill, Bytschkow, & Read, 2012). ...
Construction and validation of the motives for smartphone use questionnaire
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Background and aims Smartphones have been so widely adopted that many consider them essential for modern life. However, some people use their phone excessively, which can cause functional impairment or harm, termed problematic smartphone use (PSU). Smartphone use motives may help explain why users engage in general smartphone use and PSU, but existing measures may not capture certain motives which research suggests are important to smartphone use. To address this, across two studies, we constructed and validated a Motives for Smartphone Use Questionnaire (MSUQ) among young adults. Methods and results In Study 1, the Delphi method was used, whereby engagement with a panel of 23 international academic experts resulted in a pool of 62 smartphone use motives items that measure 11 proposed motives. In Study 2, the 62 items were administered to 680 young adults aged 18–25 years ( M age = 22.50, SD = 2.16). Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses found that the MSUQ has a seven-factor structure, assessing smartphone use to cope, pass time, socialize, obtain social comfort, feel safe, fulfil social obligations, and seek information. These motives differentially influenced PSU and smartphone usage. Conclusions The MSUQ is a valid measure of motives for smartphone use. It was developed specifically for smartphone use and it includes motives not captured in prior measures.
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Suicide and Substance Use among African American Adolescents
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Background Suicide among African American adolescents is a significant and preventable public health issue in the United States. Recently, the suicide rate among this group has significantly increased. At the same time, that for White adolescents has remained relatively stable, and those for Hispanic, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and other adolescents have decreased. While multiple factors influence suicidality, substance use is a significant factor that links to increased suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide. This review paper aims to discuss the relevant factors contributing to suicide and substance use among African American adolescents. Objectives (1) The objective was to investigate (historical), socio-economic, cultural, and environmental factors that contribute to higher rates of suicide and substance use among this population. (2) Explore the impact of systemic racism, poverty, and community violence on suicide and substance use in African American adolescents and (3) Identify and discuss resilience factors that can help mitigate the risks of suicide and substance use. Methods A qualitative review was conducted to identify selected relevant articles on suicide and substance use among African American adolescents published between 1990 and 2023 in PubMed, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, Medline, and Psychiatry Online. Results Historical risk factors associated with adolescent suicide generally have not been inclusive or relevant to differing racial and ethnic backgrounds. Assessing suicidality using “common” suicide risk factors poses a major problem. It is a less reliable predictor of suicide for African American adolescents, thus leading to ineffective suicide prevention and intervention. Relevant risk factors are selfesteem, family support, racism and racial discrimination, poverty, and the intersection of different marginalized identities. The relevant protective factors are religiosity and spirituality, family support, social support, private regard/strong African American identity, and personal factors. Conclusion Research on suicide among African American adolescents is still emerging, particularly in identifying relevant risk and protective factors for accurately assessing suicidal ideation. Substance use serves as one coping mechanism for dealing with the challenges of structural racism, discrimination, and oppression.
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Getting Comfortable With Physical Discomfort: A Scoping Review of Interoceptive Exposure in Physical and Mental Health Conditions
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Interoceptive exposure (IE) involves the use of exercises, activities, or tasks to intentionally induce (or exacerbate) physical symptoms in the body, to challenge misconceptions about the harmful nature of the physical symptoms that maintain fear and problematic avoidance. IE was originally developed for the cognitive behavioral treatment and prevention of panic disorder. Bodily sensations and concern about physical symptoms are common features in many conditions, not limited to panic disorder. For this reason, IE could be theoretically relevant to cognitive behavioral intervention for many psychological, behavioral, and medical conditions. Yet, IE remains relatively underrecognized and underused as an intervention. Exposure involves feeling discomfort before experiencing relief; thus, it is often perceived as an aversive, unsafe, and illogical intervention because of the seemingly paradoxical approach. We conducted a systematic literature search for a scoping review with the aim of locating published studies on IE to understand how it has been studied beyond panic disorder. Studies focused solely on panic disorder were excluded. We were able to identify and extract data from 132 studies (published between 1992 and 2022), though this published literature is difficult to find. The use of IE has been widely investigated in conditions beyond panic disorder, although evidence for its efficacy is difficult to isolate from other forms of exposure and cognitive behavioral features. There is the strongest evidence for the efficacy of IE as a part of multicomponent cognitive behavioral treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder, health anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, and to aid in benzodiazepine discontinuation. Interventions that were primarily or exclusively IE-based did not consistently or directly influence claustrophobia fear, separation anxiety, suicidality, insomnia symptoms, cigarette or drug abstinence, or pain-related fear. No serious adverse events were reported in any study. Studies of IE require larger sample sizes, detailed descriptions and rationale of IE exercises, higher IE dosing, extended follow-up assessment, and documentation of safety.
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Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 1992
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Full-text available
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Alcohol Expectancies and Reasons for Drinking: Comments From a Study of Sexuality
Article
Full-text available
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Why Do the Nation's Students Use Drugs and Alcohol? Self-Reported Reasons from Nine National Surveys
Article
  • Jan 1986
The reasons that high school students give for their use of each of nine classes of licit and illicit substances are examined cross sectionally and over time. The data derive from the Monitoring the Future project, which involves annual surveys of large, nationally representative samples of American high school seniors. Reasons for use are found to vary substantially by drug, and also by degree of involvement with the drug; but reasons vary only to a rather limited degree by sex. An analysis of trends between 1976 and 1984 shows only a modest degree of change in the reasons given for using the various substances, despite the fact that prevalence rates for some drugs have changed substantially. Among the most commonly mentioned reasons for substance use are experimentation, social/recreational reasons, and relaxation.
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Some Cautions Concerning The Application Of Causal Modeling Methods
Article
  • Jan 1983
Literal acceptance of the results of fitting "causal" models to correlational data can lead to conclusions that are of questionable value. The long-established principles of scientific inference must still be applied. In particular, the possible influence of variables that are not observed must be considered; the well-known difference between correlation and causation is still relevant, even when variables are separated in time; the distinction between measured variables and their theoretical counterparts still exists; and ex post facto analyses are not tests of models. There seems to be some danger of overlooking these principles when complex computer programs are used to analyze. correlational data, even though these new methods provide great increases in the rigor with which correlational data can be analyzed.
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When is invariance not invariant: A practical scientist’s look at the ethereal concept of factor invariance
Article
  • Nov 1982
Discusses concepts of invariance of results from factor analytic studies within a context of considerations about what to control. It is concluded that it can be scientifically unrealistic to expect that the coefficients, as such, of factor pattern, covariance, and uniqueness matrices will remain invariant under sampling (of Ss or variables). However, it can be realistic, although demanding, to put forth hypotheses stipulating that the configuration of salient and hyperplane coefficients of pattern matrices remains invariant. Ordinarily the covariances among factors can be expected to vary. Configural invariance is shown to be consistent with a position L. L. Thurstone (1938, 1947) put forth in developing a rationale for simple structure. This form of invariance is a special case of W. Meredith's (see PA, Vol 39:3190 and 3191) mathematical proof of factor invariance under systematic selection with respect to extraneous variables. It is suggested that these conclusions are applicable to the design of structural equation modeling studies. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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