REASONS FOR DRINKING ALCOHOL - THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO PSYCHOSOCIAL VARIABLES AND ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION

The present investigation was designed to gain a better understanding of the psychosocial factors that predict reasons for drinking alcohol and how these drinking motives differentially relate to alcohol consum ption. Four distinct reasons for drinking alcohol scales were establis hed through factor analysis: drink to cope, drink to be sociable, drin k to enhance social confidence, and drink for enjoyment. Multiple regr ession analyses showed that 1) each reason for drinking was predicted by a somewhat different set of demographic and psychosocial variables, and 2) the reasons for drinking, in turn, differentially predicted mu ltiple indicators of quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption. Th eoretical implications of the study results and suggestions for future research are discussed.