Abstract
Automatic cognitive processes have been shown to be unique predictors of drinking behavior and can be assessed using implicit measures. Drinking motives (e.g., enhancement and coping motives), which are also predictive of alcohol use, have not been studied using implicit measures. Moreover, in the US, implicit measures have been studied in samples largely consisting of Caucasian or White Americans. This study adapted the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to examine automatic analogues of enhancement and coping drinking motives and approach/avoid tendencies in 56 Asian American undergraduates. Enhancement and coping IATs were correlated with self-reported drinking motives and predicted unique variance in drinking frequency and heavy drinking when controlling for self-reported motives. Approach IAT scores were neither associated with self-reported approach/avoid tendencies nor predictive of drinking behaviors. These findings provide initial support for the unique predictive utility of drinking motives in Asian Americans, an understudied population.
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Notes
Models were also run using traditional linear regression, and the overall pattern of results was similar.
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Acknowledgments
Manuscript preparation was supported by R00AA017669 (PI: Lindgren) and F32AA01862 (PI: Hendershot). This research was also supported by the small grants program at the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute and F31AA016440 (PI: Hendershot).
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Lindgren, K.P., Hendershot, C.S., Neighbors, C. et al. Implicit coping and enhancement motives predict unique variance in drinking in Asian Americans. Motiv Emot 35, 435–443 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-011-9223-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-011-9223-z