Explaining socioeconomic inequalities in alcohol use disorder symptoms: the role of social capital and drinking motives

Abstract

Introduction: Empirical evidence of the buffering effect of social capital and its underlying psychosocial mechanisms on socio-economic inequalities in alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms is limited. As socio-economic disadvantages often go together with deficits in resources and considering social capital's beneficial effects on health, we hypothesized a stronger buffering (at high scores) and a cumulative disadvantaged effect (at low scores) of social capital on AUD symptoms among people reporting higher socio-economic disadvantage compared with their more advantaged counterparts. Additionally, we investigated whether this moderation effect was associated with drinking motives. Method: Three-hundred and sixty-five young adults participated in a cross-sectional online questionnaire measuring all model variables. First, we tested a moderation model, including AUD symptoms (DV), perceived socio-economic disadvantage (IV), and social capital (moderator). Secondly, we tested a moderated mediation model, additionally including drinking motives as mediators of the moderation effect tested in the first model. Results: In the case of high social capital, young adults reporting higher socio-economic disadvantage reported fewer AUD symptoms than their advantaged counterparts, which was associated with their lower endorsement of coping, enhancement, and social motives. When social capital was low, those reporting higher socio-economic disadvantages showed higher AUD symptoms than their advantaged counterparts, which was associated with their higher endorsement of coping motives only. Conclusion: Social capital can buffer (at high levels) or aggravate (at low levels) socio-economic inequalities in AUD symptoms, and drinking for coping, enhancement, and social motives may explain why this happens.