College students report higher rates of annual and past 30-day alcohol use compared to their non-college peers. In addition, college students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at a higher risk of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. This may be due to drinking motives that are associated with ADHD symptoms. The drinking motives include coping, enhancement, social, and conformity. Negatively reinforcing motives (coping and conformity) are most associated with alcohol-related problems and internal motives (enhancement and coping) are most related to frequency of use. Drinking motives are also related to personality and behavioral constructs like impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, and disinhibition. This study examines the relationship between ADHD symptoms and alcohol outcomes through drinking motives.
The study’s sample consisted of 872 college students who reported past-month alcohol use. Participants completed a daily drinking questionnaire to assess for past month alcohol use and a drinking motives questionnaire to assess for drinking motives during the past month. Past month alcohol-related problems were assessed using a modified version of the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI). Lastly, ADHD symptoms during the past six months were measured using a DSM-5 checklist. Data was analyzed using a saturated path model.
Results of the data analysis showed there was not a significant direct effect of inattention symptoms on alcohol-related problems or past-month alcohol use. However, there were positive indirect effects of inattention symptoms through both enhancement and coping-depression motives on alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. There was a negative indirect effects of coping-anxiety motives meaning that greater inattention symptoms were associated with higher coping-anxiety motives and lower levels of alcohol use. There was also a positive direct effect of hyperactive-impulsive symptoms on past-month alcohol use and problems. Lastly, higher levels of hyperactive-impulsive symptoms were related to stronger conformity motives and related to more alcohol-related problems for female but not male students.
Takeaway: Among college students, higher levels of inattentive ADHD symptoms may increase risk of problematic alcohol use when drinking to cope with depression and for enhancement reasons.