Self-Discrepancy Theory discusses the ideal versus the actual. In relation to alcohol use, an ideal self may want to drink a certain amount, but the actual self may end up blacking out. The current study looks at levels of discrepancy and if this is linked to alcohol-related problems. They also looked at the mediating mechanisms of drinking motives and impaired-control-overdrinking (IC).
The study included 941 participants who had reported drinking alcohol at a minimum of once monthly. The measures for the survey included perfectionism, drinking motives, impaired-control-over-drinking (IC), Heavy-episodic-drinking, and alcohol-related problems. Perfectionism included a 23 item scale with 12 Discrepancy items, 7 High-Standard items, and 4 Orderliness items. Drinking motives included a 20-item scale with 5 responses from “almost never/never” to “almost always/always.” IC included 10 items with higher scores reflecting lower control over drinking.
The average age of participants included in the study was 19.9 with 54.1% Caucasian. Results showed that being male was related to more social and conformity motives along with more heavy-episodic-drinking. Higher levels of discrepancy were found to be indirectly related to higher alcohol-related problems through higher coping-motives, greater IC, and more heavy-episodic-drinking. Higher standards in the Perfectionism test was associated with fewer alcohol outcomes. These findings are important when providing targeted prevention and interventions potentially focusing on individual’s personality traits.
Take Away: Self-Discrepancy Theory discusses the ideal versus the actual which can be related to alcohol use. The current study looks at levels of discrepancy and if this is linked to alcohol-related problems. The study included 941 participants with measures including perfectionism, drinking motives, impaired-control-over-drinking (IC), Heavy-episodic-drinking, and alcohol-related problems. Higher levels of discrepancy were found to be indirectly related to higher alcohol-related problems through higher coping-motives, greater IC, and more heavy-episodic-drinking. Higher standards in the Perfectionism test was associated with fewer alcohol outcomes. These findings are important when providing targeted prevention and interventions potentially focusing on individual’s personality traits.