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Development and Validation of a Three-Dimensional Measure of Drinking Motives

Authors:
Mary Lynne Cooper at University of Missouri
Mary Lynne Cooper
Marcia Russell at Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
Marcia Russell
Jeremy B. Skinner
Jeremy B. Skinner
Jeremy B. Skinner
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Michael Windle at Emory University
Michael Windle
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Abstract

Despite consistent evidence that alcohol can be used to cope with negative emotions or to enhance positive emotions, research on drinking motives has focused primarily on coping and social motives. This article reports on the development of a 3-factor measure that also assesses enhancement motives. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors demonstrated that enhancement motives are empirically distinct from coping and social motives and that a correlated 3-factor model fits the data equally well across race and gender groups in a large representative sample. Each drinking motive was also shown to predict distinct aspects of alcohol use and abuse. Finally, interaction analyses suggested that coping and enhancement motives differ in the magnitude of their effects on drinking behavior across Blacks and Whites and that enhancement motives differ in their effects across men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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... Alcohol consumption often occurs in positive emotional states and social environments (Cooper et al., 2015). Social and conformity motives consistently correlate positively with alcohol consumption in social settings but negatively at home (Cooper et al., 1992;Cooper et al., 1992). Enhancement motives, though self-focused, are linked to social settings, positively relating to drinking at home or in bars (Cooper et al., 1992;Kuntsche et al., 2010). ...
... Alcohol consumption often occurs in positive emotional states and social environments (Cooper et al., 2015). Social and conformity motives consistently correlate positively with alcohol consumption in social settings but negatively at home (Cooper et al., 1992;Cooper et al., 1992). Enhancement motives, though self-focused, are linked to social settings, positively relating to drinking at home or in bars (Cooper et al., 1992;Kuntsche et al., 2010). ...
... Social and conformity motives consistently correlate positively with alcohol consumption in social settings but negatively at home (Cooper et al., 1992;Cooper et al., 1992). Enhancement motives, though self-focused, are linked to social settings, positively relating to drinking at home or in bars (Cooper et al., 1992;Kuntsche et al., 2010). ...
Unveiling wine and cannabis consumption motivations: a segmentation study of wine consumers in Germany
Article
  • Jan 2025
Purpose Wine consumption is declining, while cannabis use among young adults in Germany has surged. With new laws partially legalising recreational cannabis, advocates claim it could replace alcohol, offering health benefits and cost savings. However, concerns remain that cannabis might increase alcohol consumption and associated health risks. Despite recognition of both substitute and complementary relationships between cannabis and alcohol, data on the cannabis–wine relationship is scarce. This study aims to understand the motivations behind wine and cannabis consumption, segment wine drinkers by those motives, profile wine drinkers who also consume cannabis and determine whether wine and cannabis act as substitutes or complements across distinct consumer groups. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted an online survey using random sampling and used cluster analysis to identify consumer segments based on motivations for wine consumption. Exploring various variables, including consumption motives, behavioural patterns and socio-demographics, the authors also examined cannabis consumption among wine drinkers. Findings This study surveyed 523 German wine drinkers aged 20–60 years, including 215 cannabis users. Four consumer segments emerged: “adaptive conformists”, “expansive strategists”, “self-conscious hedonists” and “ambivalent drinkers.” Three segments preferred wine for social and enhancing effects. “Adaptive conformists”, the group with the most cannabis users, sought negative reinforcement like conformity or coping. The “adaptive conformists” and “expansive strategists” show the tendencies of a complementary cannabis–wine relationship. Originality/value This study pioneers the use of the Marijuana Motives Measure scales, developed by Simons et al. (1998), within the motivational framework by Cox and Klinger (1988) and Cooper et al. (2015), for wine drinkers. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is also the first to categorise wine drinkers into segments based on MMM scales for both wine and cannabis and segment wine consumers using cannabis.
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... Using the TLFB-SA, six items were used to assess event-level drinking motives within 24 hr of suicide attempt, each assessed on an hourly basis for every hour that drinking was reported. Guided by a tripartite conceptualization of drinking motives (Cooper et al., 1992), three items from the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (Cooper, 1994;Cooper et al., 1992) were used to assess coping ("To forget your worries"), enhancement ("To get high"), and social ("To be sociable") motives for drinking. These motives are referred to as "Nonfacilitative Motives" and individually as "Coping," "Enhancement," and "Social" throughout the article. ...
... Using the TLFB-SA, six items were used to assess event-level drinking motives within 24 hr of suicide attempt, each assessed on an hourly basis for every hour that drinking was reported. Guided by a tripartite conceptualization of drinking motives (Cooper et al., 1992), three items from the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (Cooper, 1994;Cooper et al., 1992) were used to assess coping ("To forget your worries"), enhancement ("To get high"), and social ("To be sociable") motives for drinking. These motives are referred to as "Nonfacilitative Motives" and individually as "Coping," "Enhancement," and "Social" throughout the article. ...
... Despite these effects being diminished in stringent multivariate models that considered all motives simultaneously, they suggest a possible target for intervention. For example, it is possible that drinking to "forget … worries" and drinking to "numb … fears about committing suicide" are interrelated (e.g., supplementary analyses in our sample found a between-person correlation of 0.30, p < .01, between these motives; neither Enhancement or Social was significantly related to Fear) and are broadly examining drinking for reductions in emotional distress (Bagge et al., 2015;Cooper, 1994;Cooper et al., 1992). To put it another way, patients who have the tendency to use alcohol to cope may extend this to coping with suicide-specific phenomena, such as coping with the fear associated with making an attempt. ...
Motives for Alcohol Use Across the 24 Hours Prior to a Suicide Attempt
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2024
Objective: Acute alcohol use is a risk factor for suicidal behavior. This study examined sources of variance (between-person, within-person) in hour-to-hour self-reported alcohol consumption and drinking motives and assessed the interrelations of different motives for alcohol use across the 24 hr preceding a suicide attempt. Method: This multisite study utilized interview data obtained retrospectively from adult patients hospitalized following a suicide attempt. The current analysis examined participants (n = 110) who reported using alcohol within 24 hr of the attempt (Mage = 39.59; 48.2% female, 72.7% White; 4.5% Hispanic/Latinx). Participants reported suicide-facilitative drinking motives using three items from the Suicide Facilitative Drinking Motives Scale and reported typical, nonfacilitative motives using three items from the Drinking Motives Questionnaire–Revised. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Results: Most variance in reported drinking motives occurred between participants, though there was substantial within-person variability. Within-person increases in alcohol use were associated with suicide-facilitative motives for alcohol use, but not nonfacilitative motives. Social and enhancement motives were consistently negatively associated with facilitative motives, while coping motives were positively associated with reported drinking to reduce fear regarding suicide. Conclusions: Results suggest the assessment of motives for alcohol use in at-risk patients may provide key clinical targets (i.e., the function of drinking) for preventing suicidal behavior. When alcohol is consumed for coping motives or used to facilitate suicidal behavior, it is particularly concerning and warrants clinical intervention.
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... Early efforts to identify motives behind gambling behavior drew inspiration from research on motives for alcohol use and abuse (Cooper et al., 1992;Cooper, 1994), as well as literature exploring the influence of positive and negative reinforcement in addiction (Baker et al., 1986;Koob, 2013). As a result, scholars contend that both negative reinforcement (e.g., coping) and positive reinforcement (e.g., enhancement, social interaction, and financial gain) can motivate gambling behavior (Dechant, 2014). ...
The Role of Social Deficits in the Link Between Social Gambling Motives and Problem Gambling
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2025
  • J GAMBL STUD
In comparison to other motives for gambling, social motives (e.g., gambling for social interaction) are often suggested to be the least problematic and, in some cases, even a protective factor for problem gambling. This view is consistent with historical distinctions between ‘social’ versus ‘problem’ gambling. As a result, little research has attempted to identify the circumstances in which social motives are more likely to be associated with risk of problems. Consistent with self-determination theory, the present study examined whether the relationship between social motives and problem gambling varies based on social deficits, such as loneliness and a lack of social connectedness, in a weighted, census matched sample of adults in the U.S. (N = 2,835). Findings demonstrate support for the moderating influence of social deficits (i.e., loneliness and relatedness frustration) on the relationship between social gambling motives and problem gambling and provide unique insights into the circumstances in which social motives are more likely associated with gambling problems.
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... Negative reinforcement theories of drinking attempt to explain situations in which individuals drink to avoid undesirable outcomes (e.g., Conger, 1956;Khantzian, 1985). Drinking to cope, or coping motives, is a negatively reinforced reason for drinking that describes the behavior of an individual who drinks alcohol to reduce an undesirable emotion (Cooper et al., 1992). Drinking to cope is associated with negative drinking outcomes (Merrill & Read, 2010;Patrick & Schulenberg, 2011). ...
An Experimental Investigation Into the Impact of Acute Stress on Alcohol Craving
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2024
Drinking to cope is associated with many negative alcohol-related outcomes among college students, such as increased alcohol use, drinking-related problems, and alcohol use disorders. Previous experimental studies have shown that students exposed to a stressor, compared to those not exposed to a stressor, drink more and have stronger urges to drink, presumably to cope with the stressor. However, no such study has tested this effect using a remote-based stressor, which may be more common for students because of the recent increase in online learning. As such, the present study aimed to (a) test the impact of an acute stressor on state anxiety and alcohol craving and (b) investigate trait-level drinking characteristics as potential moderators of the impact of the acute stressor. Participants were 137 (Mage = 19.9, SDage = 2.0; 82.5% female; 41.6% White) college students who consumed alcohol in the past month. Using a between-subjects experimental design, we assigned participants randomly to an experimental (i.e., acute stress) condition or control (i.e., neutral) condition, and they completed a premanipulation battery of alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors and a postmanipulation measure of alcohol craving. On average, participants in the experimental condition reported greater increases in anxiety than those in the control condition, but there were no differences found in alcohol craving. However, for both anxiety and craving, greater increases from pre- to postmanipulation were found when trait-level anxiety and trait-level drinking were high, respectively. Thus, heavier drinking college students may be at greater risk for craving alcohol in response to stress than those who typically drink less.
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... There appears to be a high degree of consistency between different areas of addictions research regarding the reasons why people engage with these behaviours as well as the motives that are typically more problematic. In fact, the commonly used Gambling Motives Questionnaire (GMQ; was based on an existing three factor model of drinking motivation (Cooper et al., 1992). A meta-analysis of 229 studies (n = 130,705) on drinking motives demonstrated that both enhancement and coping were most strongly associated with drinking-related harm, compared to drinking for social or conformity reasons (Bresin & Mekawi, 2021). ...
Why You Gamble Matters: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Association Between Gambling Motivation and Problem Gambling
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2024
  • J GAMBL STUD
The propensity for individuals to experience problem gambling (PG) varies depending on their motivation to gamble. The present meta-analysis assessed the effect sizes associated with various gambling motives identified in representative population samples. Studies were sourced through PsycINFO, PudMed, and databases maintained by the Alberta Gambling Research Institute and the Greo Evidence Insights. Quantitative studies and technical studies were included if they reported on gambling motivation as a correlate of PG; were published in English, French, or Spanish; used valid and reliable measures PG as an outcome variable; and targeted the general adult population. A random effects meta-analysis was conducted to estimate pooled odds ratios. A total of 26 studies were included from 17 jurisdictions, with most studies conducted in Canadian provinces (k = 17) or specific states of the United States (k = 7). Number of participants varied, depending on the gambling motivation analyzed, and ranged from 2,835 to 51,685. Fourteen unique motives were identified with odds ratios ranging from 0.53 (95% CI, 0.45, 0.63) for gambling for charity to 6.20 (95% CI, 3.83, 10.05) for the motive “to be alone”, with high study heterogeneity being observed for many gambling motives, given variability in important study characteristics. The results generally indicate that coping motives were associated with large effect sizes, enhancement motives with medium effect sizes, and all other motives with small or nil effects. Coping motives are on par with other strong risk factors such as participation in online gambling or electronic gaming machines, and are therefore important elements to consider when screening for PG or designing public health messages.
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Young adult drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic: Examining the role of anxiety sensitivity, perceived stress, and drinking motives
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Studies have shown that those high in anxiety were at increased risk for alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tension reduction theory points to anxiety sensitivity (AS) as a potential risk factor. Drinking to cope may further increase this risk. During the pandemic, those high in AS may have experienced increased stress and drank to cope, which may have put them at risk for misusing alcohol. Objective: The current study tested the association between AS and alcohol outcomes, mediated by perceived stress and drinking motives, among young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants and Methods: Young adults (N = 143) self-reported on AS, perceived stress, drinking motives, and alcohol outcomes (i.e., use and problems). Results: A mediation analysis revealed that AS positively predicted alcohol problems, via coping motives, and positively predicted alcohol use, via perceived stress and enhancement/sociability motives. Conclusion: These results confirm AS-risk for young adult alcohol use during the pandemic and highlight perceived stress and drinking motives as mechanisms of risk.
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CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PATIENTS WITH ANXIETY DISORDERS WHO HAVE A CERTAIN LEVEL OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION (In Russian)
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Full-text available
  • Oct 2024
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 patients with anxiety disorders. The level of alcohol consumption and the dynamics of its changes in patients with various clinical types of anxiety disorders were determined. Group 1 - 60 patients with episodic (paroxysmal) anxiety (phobic disorders - F40, panic disorder (F41.0)), and group 2 - 60 patients with generalized (diffuse, permanent) anxiety (generalized anxiety disorder - F41.1). Patients in group 2 had a longer course of the disease and a higher level of alcohol consumption compared to group 1: patients with dangerous ("risky") alcohol consumption and meeting the criteria of the initial (first) stage of dependence prevailed. The influence of the features of the onset of the disease and the clinical picture in changing the nature of alcohol consumption was noted: acute manifestation in group 1 with pronounced somatic and vegetative disorders led to complete abstinence from alcohol consumption. The severity of background anxiety, accompanied by secondary somatic symptoms and psychological discomfort in group 2, created prerequisites for the use of alcohol as a quick and affordable means of self-medication and a significant increase in alcohol consumption.
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Associations between symptoms, functioning and self-reported motivations for alcohol use and alcohol problems in patients with serious mental illness
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Self-consciousness, self-esteem, and success–failure as determinants of alcohol consumption in male social drinkers
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