Examining the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised Short Form among university students in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

INTRODUCTION: The Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised Short Form (DMQ-R-SF) is widely used among alcohol researchers studying adolescents and young adults. The psychometric properties of the DMQ-R-SF have been examined among university students in many countries, but to our knowledge, not in Australia, New Zealand or Argentina. We sought to examine the reliability and endorsement of the items on the DMQ-R-SF, and test the associations between the DMQ-R-SF subscales and alcohol use, and negative alcohol consequences between university students from Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. METHOD: University students (N = 820) in Australia (n = 315), New Zealand (n = 265) and Argentina (n = 240) completed a confidential online alcohol survey which included the DMQ-R-SF, the Daily Drinking Questionnaire and the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire. RESULTS: Using the alignment method, support for the four-factor model on the DMQ-R-SF emerged and the factor loadings for 11 of the 12 items were invariant across sites. Most items (8 out of 12) on the DMQ-R-SF were fully invariant across all sites, but some small differences in item reliability for one item, and endorsement for three items emerged between the sites. Across the three countries, coping motives were positively correlated with negative alcohol consequences. Enhancement motives were positively associated with both alcohol use and negative alcohol consequences among students from Australia and New Zealand. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Most items on the DMQ-R-SF were comparably reliable among the university students sampled from Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. Our preliminary findings suggest that the DMQ-R-SF can be reliably used with university students from these countries.

The Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire: A cross-country examination among university students in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Argentina, and the United States.

BACKGROUND: The Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ) was designed to measure alcohol consequences and identify at-risk students. It was developed and originally validated among university students in the United States (U.S.), yet it is widely used in both the U.S. and abroad. Using the alignment method, we tested whether the B-YAACQ measures alcohol consequences similarly across university students in several countries where heavy alcohol use and related outcomes are prevalent. METHODS: The sample consisted of 1473 university students (ages 18-30) from five university sites: Australia (n = 315), New Zealand (n = 270), Canada (n = 276), Argentina (n = 232), and the U.S. (n = 380). Participants completed a confidential, online alcohol use survey which included the B-YAACQ. RESULTS: Overall, 12 of the 24 B-YAACQ items had invariant factor loading and threshold parameters, suggesting that these items exhibited similar reliability and difficulty among university students across the five countries. Of the 24 B-YAACQ items, 21 exhibited comparable reliability across the five countries; the remaining 3 items were slightly less reliable indicators of alcohol consequences among U.S. students. Thus, several items on the B-YAACQ may be particularly informative for identifying students who are experiencing high levels of drinking harm across multiple countries. CONCLUSIONS: The present study is an important step toward (a) validating the B-YAACQ among university students in New Zealand and Canada, and (b) furthering our understanding of the psychometric properties of the B-YAACQ among university students in Australia, Argentina, and the U.S.

Participation in Drinking Games and Predrinking Among University Students in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

AIMS: The limited existing research on drinking games and predrinking among university students in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand suggests that participation in these risky drinking practices is relatively widespread among this population. Drinking norms and alcohol use can vary across countries and in different regions of the globe. The measurement of drinking games and predrinking participation between studies also differs, making cross-country comparisons difficult. The present study explored differences in past month participation in drinking games and predrinking among university students from a large public university in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. METHODS: The data analytic sample consisted of 1134 university students (ages 18-25, Mage = 20.2 years; 72.6% women) from Argentina (n = 349), Australia (n = 280), Canada (n = 262), and New Zealand (n = 243) who reported weekly alcohol consumption. Students completed a confidential survey on drinking attitudes and behaviors. RESULTS: Controlling for age, gender, and weekly drink consumption, there were no cross-country differences in past month participation in predrinking. In contrast, university students from Canada and New Zealand were more likely to have played a drinking game in the past month than students from Australia and Argentina. CONCLUSIONS: The present finding suggest that university students from Argentina, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are equally likely to participate in predrinking regardless of country; however, the likelihood of playing drinking games differs as a function of country site.