Citation

Hammarberg A, Oster C, Nehlin C. J. Addict. Dis. 2017; 36(2): 127-135.

Affiliation

d Uppsala University Hospital , Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10550887.2017.1291052

PMID

28166486

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ) measures motives for alcohol consumption on four subscales. Coping with negative affect and enhancement of positive affect have been shown to be associated with high levels of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Few studies exist concerning drinking motives among treatment-seeking patients. The aims of the study were to investigate the factor structure of the shortened form of the revised DMQ (DMQ-R SF), map main drinking, explore group differences in motives due to sex, age, level of drinking problems and symptoms of depression/anxiety and to investigate whether different drinking motives predict alcohol-related problems in this group.

METHOD: 274 treatment-seeking patients were recruited from four addiction treatment clinics in Sweden. The DMQ-R-SF was administered in conjunction with a regular visit to the clinics together with measures of degree of alcohol-related problems, psychiatric symptoms and demographic factors. Main drinking motives were identified. A Confirmatory factor analysis was run to confirm the factor structure of the DMQ-R SF. A logistic regression using the Enter method was performed to investigate associations between predictors and AUDIT scores.

RESULTS: The results confirmed the four-factor structure reported in studies on non-treatment-seeking individuals. Coping was the most commonly expressed motive. Not previously found in a clinical sample, the results showed that coping motives, together with being male and having elevated anxiety scores, were associated to AUDIT-scores indicative of alcohol dependence.

CONCLUSION: The DMQ-R SF is a brief and valid instrument that holds good potential for clinical use in mapping drinking motives among treatment seekers.

Language: en

Keywords

DMQ-R-SF; Motives for drinking; alcohol dependence; coping; treatment seekers