The Relationship Between Reward Sensitivity and the Motivation to Drink Alcohol Before Going to Events Where Alcohol is Served (Pre-Drink)
Date
2019-05
Authors
Thompson, Linda-Brooke
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Abstract
The term “pre-drinking” refers to the purposeful act of drinking alcohol before
attending an event where alcohol is served. This practice is associated with higher overall
alcohol consumption per drinking episode and a greater number of adverse alcoholrelated events. Some studies suggest that young women may be particularly vulnerable to
this practice. To improve prevention efforts, it is important to understand the factors that
may contribute to pre-drinking. To this end, the current study focused on the
interrelationships between reward sensitivity (both behavioral indices and self-reported
levels), drinking motives, and quantity/frequency of pre-drinking among female college
students. Based on previous studies, it was hypothesized that enhancement drinking
motives would mediate the relationship between reward sensitivity and pre-drinking.
Results indicated that, while enhancement motives were related to both reward sensitivity
and pre-drinking (either significantly, or at the trend level), correlations between reward
sensitivity and pre-drinking were not significant in this participant sample. Taken
together, the results of this study suggest that female college students who drink for
enhancement reasons may be at greater risk of engaging in pre-drinking behaviors.
Ultimately, this information could contribute to the improvement of prevention efforts on
college campuses.
Description
Keywords
Reward sensitivity, Predrinking, Pregaming, Prepartying, Alcohol, Drinking motives, Enhancement
Citation
Thompson, L. B. (2019). The relationship between reward sensitivity and the motivation to drink alcohol before going to events where alcohol is served (pre-drink) (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.