Why Adolescents Engage in Early Alcohol Use: A Study of Drinking Motives

Koen Smit; Carmen Voogt; Roy Otten; Marloes Kleinjan; Emmanuel Kuntsche

doi:10.1037/pha0000383

Why Adolescents Engage in Early Alcohol Use: A Study of Drinking Motives

Koen Smit, Carmen Voogt, Roy Otten, Marloes Kleinjan, Emmanuel Kuntsche

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Shortly after young adolescents initiate alcohol use, we investigated whether (1) drinking motives are associated with current alcohol use and binge drinking, (2) motives predict these alcohol outcomes 6 months later, and (3) alcohol outcomes predict motives 6 months later. Data on adolescents’ drinking motives and alcohol use were drawn from a Dutch longitudinal 7-wave family study at the timepoint of alcohol use initiation (t0, N = 210, 51.4% male, M_age = 14.01 SD = 1.02) and 6 months later (t1, n = 88). Logistic and linear regressions were conducted. Results indicated that young adolescents mainly drink for social and enhancement motives rather than coping and conformity motives. Shortly after alcohol initiation, social motives were associated with alcohol use at t0 ( OR= 1.52), enhancement motives with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 2.35), and coping motives with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 2.62) and at t1 ( OR= 3.00). Conformity motives were inversely associated with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 0.42). Binge drinking predicted coping motives at t1 (B = 0.71, SE = -0.35), but no other associations among alcohol use, binge drinking, and drinking motives at t1 were found. Conclusively, this study shows that young adolescents drink to enjoy parties and to get drunk (social and enhancement motives) rather than to fit in (conformity motives).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	73–81
Number of pages	9
Journal	Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology
Volume	30
Issue number	1
Early online date	2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/pha0000383
Publication status	Published - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided by Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) VIDI Grant 452-13-003 awarded to Emmanuel Kuntsche, NWO, Den Haag, the Netherlands. NWO had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication. The anonymized data file is to be found at https://osf.io/ngcmt/. All authors have contributed to, have read, and approved the final manuscript

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Psychological Association

Keywords

Alcohol use
Drinking motives
Young adolescents

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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title = "Why Adolescents Engage in Early Alcohol Use: A Study of Drinking Motives",

abstract = "Shortly after young adolescents initiate alcohol use, we investigated whether (1) drinking motives are associated with current alcohol use and binge drinking, (2) motives predict these alcohol outcomes 6 months later, and (3) alcohol outcomes predict motives 6 months later. Data on adolescents{\textquoteright} drinking motives and alcohol use were drawn from a Dutch longitudinal 7-wave family study at the timepoint of alcohol use initiation (t0, N = 210, 51.4% male, Mage = 14.01 SD = 1.02) and 6 months later (t1, n = 88). Logistic and linear regressions were conducted. Results indicated that young adolescents mainly drink for social and enhancement motives rather than coping and conformity motives. Shortly after alcohol initiation, social motives were associated with alcohol use at t0 ( OR= 1.52), enhancement motives with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 2.35), and coping motives with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 2.62) and at t1 ( OR= 3.00). Conformity motives were inversely associated with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 0.42). Binge drinking predicted coping motives at t1 (B = 0.71, SE = -0.35), but no other associations among alcohol use, binge drinking, and drinking motives at t1 were found. Conclusively, this study shows that young adolescents drink to enjoy parties and to get drunk (social and enhancement motives) rather than to fit in (conformity motives).",

keywords = "Alcohol use, Drinking motives, Young adolescents",

author = "Koen Smit and Carmen Voogt and Roy Otten and Marloes Kleinjan and Emmanuel Kuntsche",

note = "Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) VIDI Grant 452-13-003 awarded to Emmanuel Kuntsche, NWO, Den Haag, the Netherlands. NWO had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication. The anonymized data file is to be found at https://osf.io/ngcmt/. All authors have contributed to, have read, and approved the final manuscript Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 American Psychological Association",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.1037/pha0000383",

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AU - Kuntsche, Emmanuel

N1 - Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) VIDI Grant 452-13-003 awarded to Emmanuel Kuntsche, NWO, Den Haag, the Netherlands. NWO had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication. The anonymized data file is to be found at https://osf.io/ngcmt/. All authors have contributed to, have read, and approved the final manuscript Publisher Copyright: © 2020 American Psychological Association

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N2 - Shortly after young adolescents initiate alcohol use, we investigated whether (1) drinking motives are associated with current alcohol use and binge drinking, (2) motives predict these alcohol outcomes 6 months later, and (3) alcohol outcomes predict motives 6 months later. Data on adolescents’ drinking motives and alcohol use were drawn from a Dutch longitudinal 7-wave family study at the timepoint of alcohol use initiation (t0, N = 210, 51.4% male, Mage = 14.01 SD = 1.02) and 6 months later (t1, n = 88). Logistic and linear regressions were conducted. Results indicated that young adolescents mainly drink for social and enhancement motives rather than coping and conformity motives. Shortly after alcohol initiation, social motives were associated with alcohol use at t0 ( OR= 1.52), enhancement motives with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 2.35), and coping motives with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 2.62) and at t1 ( OR= 3.00). Conformity motives were inversely associated with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 0.42). Binge drinking predicted coping motives at t1 (B = 0.71, SE = -0.35), but no other associations among alcohol use, binge drinking, and drinking motives at t1 were found. Conclusively, this study shows that young adolescents drink to enjoy parties and to get drunk (social and enhancement motives) rather than to fit in (conformity motives).

AB - Shortly after young adolescents initiate alcohol use, we investigated whether (1) drinking motives are associated with current alcohol use and binge drinking, (2) motives predict these alcohol outcomes 6 months later, and (3) alcohol outcomes predict motives 6 months later. Data on adolescents’ drinking motives and alcohol use were drawn from a Dutch longitudinal 7-wave family study at the timepoint of alcohol use initiation (t0, N = 210, 51.4% male, Mage = 14.01 SD = 1.02) and 6 months later (t1, n = 88). Logistic and linear regressions were conducted. Results indicated that young adolescents mainly drink for social and enhancement motives rather than coping and conformity motives. Shortly after alcohol initiation, social motives were associated with alcohol use at t0 ( OR= 1.52), enhancement motives with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 2.35), and coping motives with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 2.62) and at t1 ( OR= 3.00). Conformity motives were inversely associated with binge drinking at t0 ( OR= 0.42). Binge drinking predicted coping motives at t1 (B = 0.71, SE = -0.35), but no other associations among alcohol use, binge drinking, and drinking motives at t1 were found. Conclusively, this study shows that young adolescents drink to enjoy parties and to get drunk (social and enhancement motives) rather than to fit in (conformity motives).

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Why Adolescents Engage in Early Alcohol Use: A Study of Drinking Motives

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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