Original articleDrinking Motives Mediate Cultural Differences but Not Gender Differences in Adolescent Alcohol Use
Section snippets
Study design
Most data used in this study are from the “Health Behaviour in School-aged Children” (HBSC.org) study [8]. Of the 43 countries and regions participating in this World Health Organization (Europe) collaborative project, 11 included the “Drinking Motive Questionnaire Revised Short Form” (DMQ-R SF [20]) in their 2009/10 survey. The Hungarian and Italian data were collected independently from Health Behaviour in School-aged Children but also using a random cluster-sampling procedure with school
Sample description
Although frequencies of drinking and drunkenness varied considerably across countries, a clear pattern emerged for all age groups (Table 1). Compared with southern Europe, adolescents from northern Europe reported drinking less frequently but reported more frequent drunkenness. Both the frequencies of drinking and drunkenness increased across the age groups. Among those who had drunk alcohol, the 11- to 13-year-olds reported, on average, drinking 25 times in the last year and having been drunk
Discussion
This study aimed to test whether drinking motives mediate the link between gender and drinking culture on alcohol use among 11- to 19-year-olds from 13 European countries. Consistent with previous research, the results revealed that boys drank more frequently and were drunk more often than girls and that these gender differences increased with age [6], [7]. These findings might reflect differences in physical maturation, alcohol tolerance, metabolism, and socialization between boys and girls [5]
References (40)
- et al.
Characteristics of binge drinkers in Europe
Soc Sci Med
(2004) Intoxication and bad behaviour: Understanding cultural differences in the link
Soc Sci Med
(2001)- et al.
Why do young people drink? A review of drinking motives
Clin Psychol Rev
(2005) - et al.
Personality factors and alcohol use: A mediator analysis of drinking motives
Pers Individ Diff
(2008) - et al.
Who drinks and why? A review of socio-demographic, personality, and contextual issues behind the drinking motives in young people
Addict Behav
(2006) - et al.
Alcohol-specific socialization practices and alcohol use in Dutch early adolescents
J Adolesc
(2010) - et al.
Drinking to have fun and to get Drunk: Motives as predictors of weekend drinking over and above usual drinking habits
Drug Alcohol Depend
(2010) Preventing drug abuse in schools: Social and competence enhancement approaches targeting individual-level etiologic factors
Addict Behav
(2000)- et al.
Birth cohort effects and gender differences in alcohol epidemiology: A review and synthesis
Alcohol Clin Exp Res
(2011) - et al.
Cultural and gender convergence in adolescent drunkenness
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med
(2011)
Gender and alcohol consumption: Patterns from the multinational Genacis project
Addiction
Gender differences in drinking: Why do they still exist?
Addiction
Disentangling gender and age effects on risky single occasion drinking during adolescence
Eur J Public Health
Adolescent alcohol and tobacco use: Onset, persistence and trajectories of use across two samples
Addiction
Alcohol-related adverse consequences: Cross-cultural variations in attribution process among young adults
Eur J Public Health
Adolescent drinking patterns across countries: Associations with alcohol policies
Alcohol Alcohol
Adolescent alcohol use: A reflection of national drinking patterns and policy?
Addiction
A motivational model of alcohol use
J Abnorm Psychol
Same wording, distinct concepts? Testing differences between expectancies and motives in a mediation model of alcohol outcomes
Exp Clin Psychopharmacol
Cited by (71)
Latent profiles of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and sleep disturbances in relation to drinking to cope motives among college students
2023, Journal of Psychiatric ResearchCOVID-19 pandemic-related trauma symptoms are associated with postpartum alcohol consumption
2023, General Hospital PsychiatryAssociation between perceived decline in family income due to COVID-19 and alcohol consumption among Korean adolescents
2022, Journal of Affective Disorders