Indirect associations between impulsivity and alcohol outcomes through motives for drinking responsibly among U.S. college students: an integration of self-determination theory and the acquired preparedness model

Abstract

The aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary investigation of the associations between facets of impulsivity and alcohol outcomes through motives for drinking responsibly described by self-determination theory (SDT) among college students. Participants (N = 2808) were part of a multisite investigation of college student drinking across 10 universities in 8 states in the USA who reported past-month drinking. Results of a structural equation model testing all possible indirect associations simultaneously indicated that one-third (20 out of 60) of the indirect associations were statistically significant (p<.01). Facets with higher scores representing higher impulsivity (negative/positive urgency) were negatively associated with more internalized motives (autonomous motivation and introjected regulation) and positively associated with less internalized motives (external regulation and amotivation) for drinking responsibly. Facets with higher scores representing lower impulsivity (perseverance and premeditation) demonstrated opposite patterns of associations with motives for drinking responsibly. In turn, more internalized motives were related to higher frequency of protective behavioral strategies use, lower alcohol use severity, and fewer negative alcohol-related consequences; less internalized motives demonstrated an opposite pattern of associations with these alcohol outcomes. The present findings should be replicated using experimental and longitudinal studies for appropriately testing mediation but offer support for a novel hypothesis for motivational pathways from impulsivity to alcohol outcomes that may provide insight into intervention targets, if further supported by future research.

Keywords:

• Impulsivity
• motivation
• self-determination theory
• alcohol
• college students

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

Data are available upon request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

Dylan K. Richards is supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Grant 5F32AA028712-03. Jack T. Waddell is supported by NIAAA Grant 1F31AA030167-01. NIAAA had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.