Short Communication Mediation–moderation analysis of problematic alcohol use: The roles of urgency, drinking motives, and risk/benefit perception Ayca Coskunpinar ⁎, Melissa A. Cyders Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, USA abstract article info Keywords: Risk Benefit Urgency Alcohol Drinking motives Objective: The goal of the current study is to examine how urgency, drinking motives, and risk/benefit perception concurrently influence problematic alcohol consumption in young adults. Method: Participants were 281 young adults enrolled in large, public US mid-western university. The mean age of the sample was 19.81 (SD = 1.82) and 79.7% of the sample was female and 84.7% of the sample was Caucasian. Results: A series of moderated-mediation analyses indicated the following: The relationship between nega- tive urgency and alcohol use was mediated through coping motives, and this relationship between coping motives and alcohol use was moderated by benefit perception. The relationship between positive urgency and alcohol use was mediated through enhancement motives, and this relationship between enhancement motives and alcohol use was moderated by benefit perception. Conclusions: This study suggests that modifying perceptions about the benefits of alcohol and drinking motives could be viable prevention and/or treatment strategy in this population, especially among those who exhibit urgent behaviors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Alcohol use and abuse among college students is a frequent and often dangerous problem (Hingson, Heeren, Winter, & Wechsler, 2005; Wechsler et al., 2002), leading the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to release an initiative on understand- ing risks associated with college student drinking, as well as develop- ing attempts to prevent and treat heavy drinking in this age group (http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.org/). Research indicates that emotion-based dispositions toward rash action, known as positive (PUR) and negative urgency (NUR), are the unique aspects of impulsivity that are associated with alcohol quantity and problems (Cyders & Smith, 2007; Cyders et al., 2007, 2009; Fischer & Smith, 2008; Gonzalez, Reynolds, & Skewes, 2011; King, Karyadi, Luk, & Patock-Peckham, 2011; Smith et al., 2007), through, in part, enhancement and coping drinking motives (Cooper, 1994; Settles, Cyders, & Smith, 2010). A recent review also found that enhancement and coping motives predict moderate to heavy drinking; however, Knutsche, Knibbe, Gmel, and Engels (2005) found much vari- ability in the relationship between drinking motives and alcohol out- comes, which is, as of yet, unexplained in the literature. One potentially important moderator of this relationship is the individuals' perception of how beneficial or risky alcohol use is. Perception of benefit vs. risk is a strong proximal predictor of alcohol-related risk-taking that is affected by personality and other individual difference variables (Hampson, Severson, Burns, Slovic, & Fisher, 2001). Beliefs about potential benefits are related to engage- ment in risky behaviors, whereas perceptions of risk have a mixed relationship with alcohol use (see Fromme, Katz, & Rivet, 1997; Johnson & Fromme, 1994). Studies have found perception of risk to be negatively related to acute alcohol intoxication in young women (e.g., Maisto, Carey, Carey, & Gordon, 2002), and others suggest that perception of risk is lower in young adults who engage in risk- taking due to the view that they are “invulnerable” to negative outcomes from these behaviors (see Weinstein, 1984). Additionally, perceptions of benefit are a strong predictor of alcohol use over and above perceptions of risk among youths (Goldberg, Halpern-Felsher, & Millstein, 2002) and young adults (see Fromme et al., 1997; Johnson & Fromme, 1994). 1.1. The Current Study To date, no models have empirically tested all of the above factors to concurrently influence problematic alcohol use: That is the goal of the current study. Given the above reviewed literature, we examined the following hypotheses: (1) The relationship between NUR and problematic alcohol use is mediated by coping motives, and this rela- tionship between coping motives and problematic alcohol use is moderated by perception of risk; (2) The relationship between NUR and problematic alcohol use is mediated by coping motives, and this Addictive Behaviors 37 (2012) 880–883 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St., LD 124, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Tel.: + 1 8122920738. E-mail address: coskunpinara@gmail.com (A. Coskunpinar). 0306-4603/$ – see front matter. Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.03.014 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Addictive Behaviors