Child maltreatment, alcohol use and drinking consequences among male and female college students: An examination of drinking motives as mediators

Although the relationship between child maltreatment and alcohol use and drinking problems is well established, the mechanisms involved in this relationship remain largely unknown and research has focused primarily on women. Using the Modified Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (M-DMQ-R; Grant, Stewart, O'Connor, Blackwell & Conrod, 2007), drinking motives were examined as mediators in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and alcohol consumption and consequences among male and female college student drinkers (N = 218, 60.6% women). Participants completed questionnaires assessing child maltreatment, drinking motives, alcohol consumption and alcohol consequences. Enhancement motives in particular mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and alcohol consequences for men, whereas coping-depression motives mediated this relationship for women. Implications of these findings for alcohol interventions and future research are discussed, along with limitations of the present study.