Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend a motivational model of problem
drinking (Cooper, Frone, Russel, & Mudar, 1995; Read, Wood, Kahler, Maddock &
Tibor, 2003), testing the notion that attachment is a common antecedent for both the
affective and social paths to problem drinking. The model was tested with data from three
samples, first-year university students (N=679), students about to graduate from
university (N=206), and first-time clients at an addiction treatment facility (N=21 1).
Participants completed a battery of questionnaires assessing alcohol use, alcohol-related
consequences, drinking motives, peer models of alcohol use, positive and negative affect,
attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. Results underscored the importance of the
affective path to problem drinking, while putting the social path to problem drinking into
question. While drinking to cope was most prominent among the clinical sample, coping
motives served as a risk factor for problem drinking for both individuals identified as
problem drinkers and university students. Moreover, drinking for enhancement purposes
appeared to be the strongest overall predictor of alcohol use. Results of the present study
also supported the notion that attachment anxiety and avoidance are antecedents for the
affective path to problem drinking, such that those with higher levels of attachment
anxiety and avoidance were more vulnerable to experiencing adverse consequences
related to their drinking, explained in terms of diminished affect regulation. Evidence that
nonsecure attachment is a potent predictor of problem drinking was also demonstrated by
the finding that attachment anxiety was directly related to alcohol-related consequences
over and above its indirect relationship through affect regulation. However, results failed
to show that attachment anxiety or attachment avoidance increased the risk of problem
drinking via social influence.
