Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Indirect effects of personality on high-intensity drinking: The role of drinking motives.

Bachrach RL, Zhou A, Kumar L, Lyons G, Skrzynski CJ, Creswell KG. Indirect effects of personality on high-intensity drinking: The role of drinking motives. Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research. 2023 Feb 1; 47(2):361-369.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Researchers have long been interested in identifying risk factors for binge drinking behavior (4+/5+ drinks/occasion for females/males), but many studies have demonstrated that a substantial proportion of young adults are drinking at levels far beyond (often 2 to 3 times) the standard binge threshold. The consumption of such large quantities of alcohol, typically referred to as high-intensity drinking (HID), can cause severe alcohol-related problems, such as blackouts, unintended sexual experiences, and death. This study is the first to investigate whether personality is indirectly associated with the likelihood of HID via drinking motives in a large (N  =  999) sample of underage young adult drinkers. We hypothesized that trait neuroticism would be indirectly associated with the likelihood of HID via coping motives and that extraversion would be indirectly associated with the likelihood of HID via social and enhancement motives. METHODS: To investigate these hypotheses, we used two archival data sets that recruited current underage (18- to 20-year-old) adult drinkers residing in the United States from online panel services. Participants completed self-report survey items assessing constructs of interest. To investigate the role of drinking motives in the association between personality and HID, both the direct and indirect effects were calculated via three path analyses. RESULTS: Findings revealed that neuroticism was partially indirectly associated with the likelihood of HID via coping motives (b  = 0.02, SE  =  0.004, p  < 0.01). In addition, extraversion was indirectly associated with the likelihood of HID via social (b  = 0.031, SE  =  0.002, p  < 0.01) and enhancement motives (b  =  0.01, SE  =  0.002, p  =  0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These findings are an initial step in examining the interplay among personality traits, drinking motives, and HID in underage drinkers and point to the need for longitudinal studies assessing these associations.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.