[en] Background: Binge drinking, characterized by alternations between intense alcohol intakes and abstinence periods, is the most frequent alcohol consumption pattern among adolescents and has been repeatedly associated with cognitive and cerebral impairments. Objectives: In view of these harmful consequences, it appears crucial to disentangle the psychological factors involved in the emergence of binge drinking in adolescence, and centrally the role played by drinking motives, which have been strongly related to binge drinking habits. Methods: Using a longitudinal design, the present study explored the role of drinking motives (i.e. social order, conformity, enhancement, coping) in the emergence of binge drinking among young adolescents from the community. One hundred and forty-four young adolescents (81 girls) took part in a research assessing alcohol consumption and drinking motives at two assessment times (T1 and T2), with a one-year interval. After data checking, 101 adolescents (57 girls) aged from 12 to 15 years old were included in the study. Results: Correlations showed strong relationships between drinking motives and binge drinking. Additional regression analyses were then computed to determine how drinking motives assessed at T1 predicted binge drinking at T2, while controlling for global alcohol use. Results showed that the statistical model explained 60% of the binge drinking variance. In particular, the enhancement motivation, which is related to the search for the enjoyable sensations felt when drinking alcohol, constituted the unique predictor of future binge drinking. Conversely, in contrast with previous studies, social motives did not predict binge drinking in young adolescents. Conclusion: These findings highlight the central role of enhancement motivation (e.g., focusing on the positive expectancies towards alcohol) in youths’ alcohol consumption and call for the development of preventive interventions. It also suggests that the previously reported relationship between social motives and college drinking does not seem to play a key role in the early steps of binge drinking habits.
Disciplines :
Treatment & clinical psychology
Author, co-author :
Lannoy, Séverine
Dormal, Valérie
Billieux, Joël ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education (FLSHASE) > Integrative Research Unit: Social and Individual Development (INSIDE)
Maurage, Pierre
External co-authors :
yes
Language :
English
Title :
Enhancement motivation to drink predicts binge drinking in adolescence: a longitudinal study in a community sample