Exploring Alcohol Use Motivations in Underage College Students: Contributions of a Person-Centered Analytic Approach

Abstract

The goal of this article is to illustrate how a person-centered analytic approach can inform our understanding of alcohol use motivations in underage college students and to build off of a related analysis with legal-aged students. Data come from 2,346 students who were under 21 years old and reported using alcohol in the past year in the 2013 Indiana College Substance Use Survey. Latent class analysis identified four underage drinking motivation subgroups and examined associations between subgroup membership and alcohol-related behavior and consequences. The groups varied in their combination of alcohol motivations and their alcohol-related behaviors and consequences. Results for the present study confirm the variability in motivations for alcohol use and provide valuable information about the characteristics of those groups at highest risk, which can inform content and intensity of prevention efforts targeted at underage college students.