INTRODUCTION

Hazardous drinking rates among college students are exceedingly high. Despite the link between worry and alcohol use problems, there has been a dearth of empirical work examining worry-related risk factors in terms of motivations for alcohol use. Therefore, the aim of the present investigation was to examine the unique predictive ability of intolerance of uncertainty in terms of alcohol use motives.

METHODS

Participants were 389 college students (72.2% female, Mage=19.92, SD=3.87, Range=18-58 years) who completed self-report measures for course credit.

RESULTS

As hypothesized, after controlling for the effects of gender, smoking status, marijuana use status, alcohol consumption, negative affect, and anxiety sensitivity, greater levels of intolerance of uncertainty were significantly predictive of greater coping (1.5% unique variance) and conformity (4.7% unique variance) drinking motives, but not social or enhancement drinking motives.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that intolerance of uncertainty is associated with drinking to manage or avoid negative emotions, and interventions aimed at reducing intolerance of uncertainty may be helpful in reducing problematic alcohol consumption among college students.