Socialand Coping Reasons for Drinking: Predicting Alcohol Misuse in Adolescents* CLARA M. BRADIZZA, PH.D.,ALAN REIFMAN, PH.D.,*AND GRACE M. BARNES, PH.D. Research Institute onAddictions, 1021 Main Street, Buffalo, New York14203-1016 ABSTRACT. Objective: Motivational models of alcohol consumption suggest a positive relationship between reasons for drinking andthe amount of alcohol consumed. Thepresent study examined race, gender, and age as moderators of the relationship between social andcoping motives and alcohol misuse in black and white adolescents. Method: A representative population sample (N = 699) of maleandfemale(54%) adolescents betweenthe ages of 13 and 16 was recruited using a random-digit-dial telephone procedure. Six face-to-face interviews with subjects and their familieswere cardedout at approximately yearlyintervals. Information gathered assessed alcohol use,social and coping motives for drinking, and psychological distress. Results: Mul- tiple analyses, including bothcross-sectional andlongitudinal logistic regression analyses and survival analysis were used to examine there- lationship of drinking motives to adolescent alcohol misuse. Contrary to ourpredictions, social motive wasa somewhat better predictor of al- cohol misuse than wascoping motive, particularly during mid- to late adolescence. However, there was somelimited evidence of a signifi- cant relationship between coping motives and alcohol misuse in the mid-adolescent age group. Somesupport was foundfor racialdiffer- ences such that social motives are better predictors of alcohol misuse among whites than among blacks and coping motives arebetter predic- torsamong blacks. Few gender differences were foundin the relation- ship of drinking motivesand alcohol misuse.Conclusions: These findings suggest a stronger tendency for social andcoping motives to influence alcohol misuse during mid to latethan in earlyadolescence. Research examining the development of motives andthe mechanisms by which theyinfluence drinking behavior is needed. (J. Stud. Alcohol 60: 491-499, 1999) RINKING is prevalent among adolescents. By the age of 14, over half of secondary school students drink at leastoccasionally (Barnes et al., 1997). Ratesof both drink- ing and heavy drinking increase steadily throughout adoles- cence such thatby ages 17 and 18, morethan30% of males and 15% of females can be classified as heavy drinkers (Barnes et al., 1993).Alcohol misuse among adolescents has been linkedto a range of psychosocial problems, including delinquency, family dysfunction, poor academic achieve- ment, and automobile accidents (Barnes, 1984; Barnes, 1990; Barnes and Welte, 1988). Thesealcohol-related diffi- cultiescan resultin negative consequences that last well into adulthood. Therelationship of alcohol use and a number of cognitive variables, including expectancies andreasons for drinking, has received a greatdeal of attention in the literature. Ex- pectancies can be differentiated from drinkingmotives in thatexpectancy refers to theanticipation of a predictable re- lationship between alcohol useand a specific event(Gold- manet al., 1987),whereas motives suggest thatindividuals engage in a behavior specifically for the purpose of obtain- ing a desired outcome (Cox andKlinger, 1988).Jessor et al. (1968a) were among thefirstinvestigators to link reasons for Received: September 29, 1997.Revision: December 29, 1997. *This research wassupported by National Institute onAlcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grants AA-06925 and AA-09425 awarded to Grace M. Barnes. *AlanReifman is nowwith theDepartment of Human Development and FamilyStudies, Texas TechUniversity, Lubbock, TX. 491 drinking with alcohol use, among adolescents. Jessor's con- ceptualization of thepositive reasons for adolescent drinking led to the development of four scales: positive social func- tions, status transformation, personal effects and conformity reasons (Jessor et al., 1968b; Rachal et al., 1975). The present consideration of social and coping functions of drinking is based onthisearlywork of Jessor and colleagues aswell asour own earlierstudies (Barnes,1981). Socialrea- sons for drinking or the "perceived positive social functions of drinking" are the motives that"link drinking to activities of a pleasant, festive, sociable nature" (Rachal et al., 1975, p. 104).Regarding thesecond factor, described here as"cop- ing,"theearlyconceptualization waslabeled by Jessor et al. (1968b) asthe "personal effects functions of drinking." This factor was described as "functions which linkdrinking to the resolution of personal problems or inadequacies of a psy- chological nature; drinking is used asan escape fromor re- lief for such problems" (Rachal et al., 1975,p. 108). Similarly, recent motivationalmodels of alcohol con- sumption suggest a relationship between motives(or rea- sons) for drinking and amount of alcohol consumed. Cox and Klinger (1988) haveproposed a framework for understand- ingtherelationship between motives and drinking behavior; it assumes that individuals drink in order to achieve certain desired outcomes. Cooper (1994) used this conceptual framework to develop a four-factor modelof drinking mo- tives. She proposed thatadolescent drinking is influenced by enhancement, conformity, social, and coping motives. En- hancement motives involve drinkingto heighten positive