Poster #197 - Drinking Motives, Sleep, Procrastination, Impulsivity, and Mental Health in University: Assessing Directionality

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Emerging adulthood ushers a plethora of new life experiences, which interplay with pre-existing behavioral patterns, such as impulsivity and procrastination, to determine one’s psychosocial functioning. Alcohol use and sleep behaviors are critical factors that are implicated in university adjustment. While previous research has examined several psychosocial correlates of alcohol use, less is known about the role of drinking motives in relation to sleep and psychosocial functioning within the university context. Furthermore, there is a dearth of research that specifically examines directionality between various drinking motives and a comprehensive set of personality and psychosocial variables. The purpose of the present study, therefore, was to examine the direction of effects among drinking motives, sleep, procrastination, impulsivity, and mental health among a sample of emerging adults at university.

Participants were 154 university students (67.8% female; Mean age = 20.02, SD = 1.71) from a small, liberal arts university, who completed an online survey twice: spring semester 2017 (February-March) at Time 1 and fall semester 2017 (October-November) at Time 2. Key study variables were: i) drinking motives (9 items; Drinking Motives Questionnaire; Cooper, 1994); ii) procrastination (6 items; Procrastination Scale; Lay, 1986); iii) impulsivity (10 items; Barratt Impulsivity Scale; Patton, Stanford, & Barrat, 1995); iv) mental health (21 items; Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995); and v) sleep behaviors (week sleep duration, weekend sleep duration, and perceived poor sleep quality; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Buysse et al., 1989). Data were analyzed using an autoregressive cross-lagged model in AMOS (version 25). Covariates were: age, gender, family income, parent education, chronotype, diagnosis of mental illness, and alcohol use. The model had good fit: χ2(72) = 98.762, p = .020, Comparative fit index = .967, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = .049.

Results showed that the conformity drinking motive predicted both increased procrastination (β = .150, p = .049) and increased depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress (β = .260, p = .002). The coping drinking motive predicted subsequent increases in impulsivity (β = .242, p = .009). Procrastination predicted decreased week sleep duration (β = -.321, p = .002), whereas shorter weekend sleep duration predicted increased poor sleep quality (β = -.223, p = .017). Furthermore, poor sleep quality predicted increased social drinking motivations (β = .231, p = .005) but decreased conformity drinking motives (β = -.239, p = .013) over time. An unexpected finding was that social drinking motive was not associated with subsequent changes in sleep, procrastination, impulsivity, or mental health.

Findings confirmed significant unidirectional effects, such that conformity drinking motive had negative implications for both procrastination and mental health one semester later – even after controlling for alcohol use. Furthermore, poor perceived sleep quality (but not duration) had mixed effects for conformity and social drinking motives. These findings indicate the importance of assessing directionality of effects among a comprehensive set of psychosocial indices to better inform intervention programs that aim to promote positive sleep and university adjustment among emerging adults. Overall, not all social drinking motives are created equal.

Authors

• Royette Tavernier, Wesleyan University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Grant C Hill, Wesleyan University
  Presenting Author