Motivational Pathways to Problematic Drinking Among Latinx College Drinkers

Though Latinx drinkers experience disparities in problematic drinking, emerging mechanisms that lead to these disparities remain understudied. The objective of this study was to examine drinking motives as the most proximal pathways to problematic drinking that mediate the effects of personality and sociocultural distal antecedents among Latinx college drinkers. A total of 264 Latinx undergraduate drinkers (67% cisgender women, 31% cisgender men, 2% gender fluid/nonconforming individuals) completed a battery of self-report measures assessing problematic drinking, drinking motives, alcohol expectancies, sensation seeking, stress, campus climate, injunctive peer drinking norms, and familismo. Consistent with hypotheses, structural equation modeling revealed that coping motives were the strongest predictors of problematic drinking. Stress, campus climate, and alcohol expectancies were indirectly associated with problematic drinking through coping motives. Unexpectedly, sensation seeking had a direct effect on problematic drinking while familismo was not a protective factor. Stress and campus climate emerged as two important sociocultural antecedents associated with problematic drinking through coping motives. Findings also generally support the tenets of motivational models of alcohol use and extend their applicability to Latinx college drinkers. Results highlight the need for culturally responsive interventions that address motivational pathways to problematic drinking within the sociocultural environment in which Latinx college drinkers are embedded.