Moving beyond the keg party: A daily process study of college student drinking motivations

Cynthia D. Mohr, Howard Tennen, Molly Temple, Julie Clark, Stephen Armeli, Michael Todd, M. Anne Carney

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

125 Scopus citations

Abstract

Theoretical models of alcohol consumption assert that young adults endorse multiple drinking motives, including drinking to cope with negative experiences and to enhance positive experiences. Social contacts may be important to both pathways. This study applied daily process methodology to determine the relationship between college student drinking in different contexts and daily social contacts and moods. Each afternoon for 3 weeks, 122 undergraduates (43% men, 57% women) logged onto a secure Web site during specified hours to report daily activities, moods, and contacts. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses provided support for motivational models and the context-specific nature of motivated drinking. Individual differences were revealed for each motivation. These findings highlight the importance of studying within-person processes using daily process designs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)392-403
Number of pages12
JournalPsychology of Addictive Behaviors
Volume19
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2005
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Affective states
  • Alcohol use
  • College students
  • Drinking motives
  • Social contacts

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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