Relationship of drinking motives with alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems identified in a representative community-based study from Ningxia, China

- Relationship of drinking motives and drinking-related outcomes is different in China.
- Chinese males who drink to conform have higher levels of alcohol dependence.
- Chinese males who drink to conform have higher levels of adverse consequences.
- Chinese males who drink to enhance have higher alcohol consumption levels.
- Drinking to cope was not associated with any drinking-related outcomes studied.

BackgroundDrinking motives have been linked to alcohol consumption and drinking-related problems in western countries, but evidence about this relationship is largely lacking for Asian countries. We aim to assess the relationship between drinking motives and drinking-related outcomes in China, where alcohol use disorders are an increasingly important contributor to the overall burden of illness.MethodsValidated Chinese versions of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R) and the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) were used to assess drinking motives and drinking-related outcomes among 612 current drinkers identified from a cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of 2425 adults living in Ningxia Province in 2013. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the relationships linking specific drinking motives ('enhancement', 'conformity', 'social' and 'coping') to drinking-related outcomes ('level of alcohol consumption', 'alcohol dependence' and 'adverse consequences').FindingsThe enhancement motive is significantly associated with the level of alcohol consumption (β = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.27, 0.78). The conformity motive is associated with higher levels of alcohol dependence (β = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.50, 0.98) and adverse consequences of drinking (β = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.04, 0.81). The social motive and drinking to cope motive are not significantly associated with any of the three drinking outcomes.InterpretationThe relationships between drinking motives and drinking-related outcomes in China are quite different from those reported in western countries. This study highlights the need to consider local context when adapting prevention or intervention strategies developed in western countries to address the problem of the harmful use of alcohol in China.