A new study explored alcohol use motivations among underage college students and illustrated how a person-centered analytic approach could inform the understanding of these alcohol motivations. Data was collected from college students (N = 6,660) who had completed a survey for the 2013 Indiana College Substance Use Survey (ICSUS). The survey included questions about alcohol motivations, such as “did you drink alcoholic beverages for any of the following reasons in the last 6 months?” It also included questions regarding alcohol-related behaviors and drinking consequences that were based on the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey. The authors used latent class analysis (LCA) and multinomial logistic regression to identify underage drinking motivation subgroups and examine the associations between subgroup membership and alcohol-related behaviors and consequences. Results showed that proportions were similar for males and females among the three reasons to drink: to experiment, relax or relieve tension and to have a good time with friends. Furthermore, four underage drinking motivation subgroups were identified. The first subgroup was labeled “Social Drinkers” because “to have a good time with my friends” was the main reason with a high probability of being endorsed. This subgroup included 24% of males and 28% of females. The second subgroup was labeled “Social Relaxers” as there was a high probability of endorsing “it tastes good” and to relax or relieve tension”. This subgroup included 15% of males and 29% of females. The third subgroup was labeled “Feel Good Drinkers” as there was a high probability of endorsing “to feel good or get high”. This subgroup was the largest for both males and females with 42% being males and 30% being females. Lastly, the fourth subgroup was labeled “Emotion Coping Drinkers” as it highly endorsed “because of boredom, nothing else to do” and “to get away from problems or troubles”. This group included 20% of males and 13% of females. In addition, all four alcohol-related behaviors and consequence covariates (blacked out, driving under the influence, binge drinking, and past month alcohol use) significantly predicted drinking motivation subgroups (all ps < .001). For blacking out and driving under the influence, “Emotion Coping Drinkers” had the highest odds of experiencing these negative consequences. “Feel Good Drinkers” had the next highest odds followed by “Relaxer Drinkers” and “Social Drinkers”. For binge drinking and past month alcohol use, there was a similar pattern where the “Emotion Coping Drinkers” had the highest odds, followed by the “Feel Good Drinkers” and the “Social Drinkers” and “Relaxer Drinkers”.
Take away: This study identified four distinct subgroups of underage drinkers who varied in their combination of alcohol motivations including the Social Drinkers, Social Relaxers, Feel Good Drinkers, and Emotion Coping Drinkers.