Personality and motivational correlates of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems among excessive drinking university students.

OBJECTIVES: The study had three objectives: (1) to assess relationships between personality characteristics and alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems among university students who drink alcohol excessively; (2) to assess relationships between motivational structure and alcohol consumption and problems among students who consume excessive amounts of alcohol; and (3) to assess how personality characteristics and motivational structure are related to each other and how the two are jointly related to alcohol consumption and problems.
DESIGN: Personality, motivational structure, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems were assessed among 111 undergraduate students.
FINDINGS: Mediation analyses showed that both maladaptive motivational structure and novelty seeking predicted participants' alcohol-related problems beyond that predicted by alcohol consumption.
CONCLUSION: Future research should aim to reduce alcohol-related negative consequences by targeting students with a maladaptive motivational structure, while taking into account the role of personality characteristics. Screening and intervention programmes would benefit from addressing novelty seeking and maladaptive motivation.