Alcohol

Philosophy

Multilevel model

Anxiety sensitivity

Sensation seeking

Materialism

Social psychology

Trait

Longitudinal study

Psychiatry

Developmental psychology

Biochemistry

Computer science

Anxiety

Big Five personality traits

Psychology

Epistemology

Alcohol consumption

Medicine

Chemistry

Programming language

Clinical psychology

Personality

Machine learning

Pathology

Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research

Alcohol use is common among individuals attending university and frequent use is associated with several negative effects. It is therefore important to assess individual difference factors preceding alcohol use. Materialism, a value one holds that prioritizes status through the acquisition of money and possessions, has received minimal research focus in relation to alcohol use and has predominantly been examined using cross-sectional designs (i.e., data collected at one time point). The present study was the first to test the association between materialism, risky drinking motives (i.e., motives preceding alcohol use associated with increased consumption and related problems), and risky personality traits (i.e., stable characteristics associated with frequent substance use and related problems) using a short-term longitudinal design. Undergraduate student drinkers (N = 317) completed self-report questionnaires at baseline and follow-up (2 weeks later). Hierarchical regression analyses found that greater levels of materialism significantly predicted each drinking motive while controlling for risky personality traits. Materialism significantly predicted drinking to cope with depression when controlling for trait hopelessness (β = .16, p = .014), drinking to cope with anxiety while controlling for anxiety sensitivity (β = .11, p = .024), and drinking for enhancement while controlling for sensation seeking (β = .24, p &lt; .001). Results provide evidence that materialism is associated with risky drinking motives, which may inform prevention and treatment efforts for problematic use among undergraduate students.

Materialism and Drinking Motives: Examining the Longitudinal Associations in an Undergraduate Sample