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Addictive Behaviors

Alcohol Use Motives Moderate the Associations Between Item-Level Protective Behavioral Strategies and Alcohol-Related Consequences

(PS6-D91) Alcohol Use Motives Moderate the Associations Between Item-level Protective Behavioral Strategies and Alcohol-related Consequences

Saturday, November 19, 2022

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM EST

Location: Westside Ballroom, 5th Floor

Author(s)

NS

Nicole Schultz, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Washington, Seattle
Seattle, Washington

Co-Author(s)

KS

Kirstyn N. Smith-LeCavalier, B.S.

Predoctoral Research Assistant
University of Washington, Seattle
Seattle, Washington
KW

Katherine Walukevich-Dienst, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
MP

Mark A. Prince, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor; Associate Director of Addiction Counseling
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
ML

Mary Larimer, Ph.D.

Professor
University of Washington, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Seattle, Washington

College student alcohol misuse and negative alcohol-related consequences (ARC) are public health concerns. Cross-sectionally, greater use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS; behaviors that individuals can use before, during, after, or instead of drinking), is associated with less alcohol use and fewer ARC. Recent longitudinal research has shown that at the item-level, PBS have differential effects on alcohol consumption, including unexpected associations with increased use. However, it remains unclear how item-level PBS are related to ARC longitudinally. Further, one possible but relatively unexplored mechanism by which individual PBS use is related to ARC are drinking motives. Indeed, cross-sectional research has shown that drinking motives interact with PBS use to predict ARC. Thus, there is a need for additional research to fill two important gaps in the literature: 1) assess the utility of item-level PBS in relation to ARC, and 2) assess longitudinal relations between item-level PBS, motives, and ARC. The present study seeks to address these gaps by using longitudinal data to assess alcohol motives as moderators of the relations between item-level PBS and ARC. We conducted a secondary analysis of the control group of a large intervention study. The sample (N = 226) included college students who reported alcohol use in the past month prior to baseline (Mage = 20.2; 62.8% female). Participants completed measures including the Daily Drinking Questionnaire (DDQ) and Protective Behavioral Strategies Survey at baseline, and the DDQ and Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index at 3-month follow-up. Path analysis was conducted to assess the moderating effects of each drinking motive on the relations between each PBS item and ARC, controlling for use at 3-month follow up. Best practice for assessing interaction effects with highly skewed count outcomes is to calculate cross partial derivatives and identify the proportion of sample for whom the interaction effect is significant. This method was used to examine interactions between the four alcohol motives and the 15 PBS items on ARC, resulting in 60 interaction effects total. Item-level PBS x enhancement motive interactions were the most common significant interaction predicting ARC, observed in over half of the enhancement models. For example, those who reported more frequent use of “Avoid trying to ‘keep up’ or out-drink others” and higher enhancement motives experienced more ARCs, whereas those with lower motives did not. Social, coping, and conformity motives also moderated a notable proportion of effects on the item PBS and ARC relations. For example, those who reported higher coping motives and more frequent use of "Drink slowly, rather than gulp or chug,” also reported the greatest decrease in ARC at 3-month follow up (occurring for 29% of individuals). These results have important implications for prevention and intervention. Brief alcohol-interventions could be improved by helping individuals identify specific strategies based on their motivations for use, which may vary based on contextual factors, to help reduce the experience of overall ARC.