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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Research suggests that adolescent student-athletes are at heightened risk for alcohol consumption. The identification of unique, modifiable risk factors for alcohol use in this population is needed.
PURPOSE/Objectives: Building on previous work highlighting the importance of each of athlete-specific drinking motives and alcohol expectancies, this study investigated whether athlete-specific psychosocial predictors optimize our ability to predict adolescent athlete alcohol consumption after accounting for general psychosocial predictors.
METHODS: Participants were 352 current high school student-athletes who completed a self-report questionnaire about their alcohol use attitudes, behaviors, and cognitions.
RESULTS: Hierarchical regression revealed that among the total sample, gender, class year, liquid courage/sociability, sexuality, and negative alcohol expectancies, and negative athletic-functioning alcohol expectancies predicted alcohol consumption. Among lifetime drinkers, gender, class year, enhancement motives, conformity motives (negative), negative athlete-functioning alcohol expectancies, and sport-related coping motives predicted alcohol consumption.
CONCLUSIONS/Importance: Negative athletic-functioning alcohol expectancies and sport-related coping motives emerged as important, athlete-specific predictors of adolescent athlete alcohol use. These factors provide important opportunities for targeted prevention efforts.
Language: en |