Abstract

AIM: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Drinking Motive Questionnaire Revised (DMQ-R SF), an instrument with international evidence that measures enhancement, social, coping, and conformity motives. METHODS: A non-probabilistic sample of 376 participants (67.6% women; age average 30.8 years) completed the DMQ-R SF, the short version of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21) and self-reported measures of alcohol use. RESULTS: The tetra-factorial structure of the DMQ-R SF showed adequate reliability. However, it was not invariant between young people and adults. Associations with emotional distress in young people were limited to the coping motives. In addition, the social motives were longitudinally associated with binge drinking among young people, whereas in adults, the enhancement motives were related to weekly quantity of drinks. CONCLUSIONS: the DMQ-R SF presented evidence of structural validity and reliability, it is not invariant between young people and adults, showed concurrent associations with emotional distress in young people, and presented evidence of predictive validity with alcohol use in young people and adults. Information provided by the DMQ-R SF about drinking motives in young people and adults may contribute to the design of prevention and treatment strategies related to alcohol use.