An Exploration of the Four-Factor Structure of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised Among Undergraduate Students in China.

BACKGROUND College drinking has become a significant health issue in China; the current study addressed the gap that no prior research has investigated drinking motives among Chinese undergraduate students. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to replicate the four-factor structure of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R) reported for Western populations. Additionally, the relationships between drinking motives and alcohol use were investigated. METHODS In 2012, 436 participants (mean age = 20.49 and SD = 1.49; 50% male) recruited from a college in China completed a self-administered survey in their classroom setting. Drinking motives were measured by the Chinese version of the DMQ-R; three indicators of alcohol use were assessed. Factor analysis was conducted to examine the factor structure of the DMQ-R, followed by regression analysis to investigate the associations between drinking motives and alcohol-related outcomes. RESULTS Confirmatory factor analysis failed to replicate the measurement model tested, but exploratory factor analysis identified a similar four-dimensional factor structure. Reliability and convergent and discriminant validity of the four factors were acceptable. The results also showed that social motives were related to alcohol use and heavy drinking; conformity motives were related to alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Enhancement motives were the strongest correlates of alcohol use; coping motives were the strongest correlates of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems. CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE The DMQ-R was a reliable and valid scale measuring four types of drinking motives among Chinese college students. Findings suggested that the motivational model of alcohol use may apply to studying college drinking in China.