Using A Four Factor Model To Determine Interactions Between Family History Of
Alcoholism, Gender, And Motives For Drinking In A Freshman College Sample.
R.E. Jiantonio1; R.I. Rosen1; S. Armeli4; H. Tennen4; J.F. Sisante1, S. Raskin5; C.S. Austad3; R. Wood3, C.R. Fallahi3; M.K. Ginley1; G.D.
Pearlson1,2
1Olin
Neuropsychiatry Research Center, Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT,
2Dept. of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 3Dept. of Psychology, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT, 4University of Connecticut School of Medicine,
Farmington, CT, 5Dept. of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, Trinity College, Hartford, CT
HYPOTHESES
INTRODUCTION
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS
Gender will have significant effects on externalizing motives to drink. FH status will have significant effects on internalizing
motives to drink.
Alcohol is the drug of choice among college
students1.
Interactions between FH status and gender will be minimal, because one predicts externalizing motives to drink while the
other predicts internalizing motives to drink.
Prior research has identified four distinct
categories as psychological motivations to
consume alcohol: Social, (drinking to help enjoy
a party), Coping (to forget about problems),
Enhancement (drinking to ‘feel high’), and
Conformity (drinking so as not to feel left out)2.
Source
Adolescents with a family history of alcoholism
are more likely to show greater internalizing
motives (Coping and Enhancement) to consume
alcohol than those who are not4. Those who
report drinking for internalizing motives are more
likely to develop serious alcohol problems in
adulthood4.
Dependent Variable
Mean Square
F
Sig.
SOCIAL
COPING
ENHANCEMENT
CONFORMITY
81.3
3.283
26.192
64.805
2.179
0.189
0.719
4.718
0.14
0.664
0.397
0.03
SOCIAL
COPING
ENHANCEMENT
CONFORMITY
332.077
117.724
175.18
15.73
8.899
6.777
4.812
1.145
0.003
0.009
0.028
0.285
SOCIAL
COPING
ENHANCEMENT
CONFORMITY
48.151
2.986
0.765
3.442
1.29
0.172
0.021
0.251
0.256
0.679
0.885
0.617
Significant main effects of gender were found on those
who reported drinking to conform. A t-test showed that
males were more likely to report drinking to conform than
females (See Figure 2).
Gender
Our findings support previous literature reporting that
individuals with a FH of alcoholism are more likely to
report drinking for coping or enhancement reasons and
that males are more likely to report drinking for conformity
reasons.
FH
Identifying how young adults’ motives to drink
relate to their family histories of alcoholism can
provide information on how clinical interventions
and health policies can best be utilized on college
campuses4.
Future research on not only how much students are
drinking but why they are drinking is important in helping
to identify the level of risk for future alcohol use disorders.
We continue to follow students for 2 yrs to help assess
this.
Gender * FH
Previous research has focused on drinking
motives among adolescent samples, whereas the
current study focused specifically on a freshman
college sample in which participants’ ages ranged
from 18-25 years.
There was no interaction effect between FH+ males and
females and their motivations to drink (See Table 1).
Results showed significant main effects of family history
status on those who reported drinking for social, coping,
and enhancement reasons. Independent samples t-tests
indicated that FH+ were more likely to report drinking for
these motives than FH- (See Table 2).
TABLE 1: Two-way between groups ANOVA examining main and
interaction effects of Family History Status and Gender
Prior studies show males to be more likely to drink
for externalizing motives (Social and Conformity) 2
perhaps due to their competitive nature3.
For each drinking motive, a two-way between-groups
ANOVA examined main and interaction effects of family
history status and gender.
REFERENCES
1. Heffernan, T.M. & Bartholomew, J. (2006). Does excessive alcohol use in teenagers affect
their everyday prospective memory? Journal of Adolescent Health, 39: 138-140.
2. Cooper, M.L. (1994). Motivations for alcohol use among adolescents: Development and
validation of a four-factor model. Psychological Assessment ,6(2): 117-128.
Figure. 1: Differences in Drinking
Motivations based on Family History of
Alcoholism (+/- SEM)
MATERIALS AND METHODS
996 college freshmen (44.4% male) aged 1825 were recruited on a voluntary basis from
the ongoing NIAAA- funded BARCS (Brain
and Alcohol Research in College Students)
study from two Connecticut academic
institutions; one a small, private college and
the other a larger, public university.
Subjects were categorized into family history
positive (FH+ N=188) or negative (FH- N=808)
for alcoholism. FH+ was defined as having at
least one 1st degree relative with a history of
alcoholism, and FH- was defined as having no
first degree relatives with a history of alcohol
problems. Subjects unable to report on family
history of alcoholism were excluded.
Motivations to consume alcohol were
assessed via secure online surveys, using a
modified Drinking Motives questionnaire2 .
Figure 2: Differences in Drinking
Motivations based on Gender (+/- SEM)
4. Chalder, M., Elgar, F., & Bennett, P. (2006). Drinking and motivations to drink among
adolescent children of parents with alcohol problems. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 41(1): 107-113.
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16
14
3. Grossbard, J., Geisner, I., Neighbors, C., Kilmer, J.. & Larimer, M. (2007). Are drinking
games sports? College athlete participation in drinking games and alcohol-related problems.
Journal for Studies of Alcohol and Drugs, 68: 97-105.
Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students
**
12
(aka BARCS Study) “Mascot”
*
12
10
**
10
*
8
8
Female
FH+
FH-
6
6
Male
4
4
2
2
0
0
**: p≤0.01
*: p≤0.05
Social
Coping
Enhancement Conformity
Social
Coping
Enhancement Conformity
Funded by RO1 AA016599 (BARCS Study) and RC1 AA019036 to Dr. Godfrey Pearlson.