Predictors of alcohol use and consequences among college women reporting adult sexual violence: Posttraumatic stress symptoms, urgency, and drinking motives.

Objective

To examine associations between post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), impulsivity, drinking motives, and alcohol outcomes among college women who experienced adult sexual violence.

Participants

122 college women from a large southeastern university, predominantly White (90.2%), ages 18-24, reporting adult sexual violence and weekly alcohol consumption.

Methods

Participants completed validated measures assessing PTSS, positive and negative urgency, coping and enhancement drinking motives, alcohol use, and alcohol consequences. Path analysis tested direct and indirect associations among these variables.

Results

PTSS had significant direct effects on negative urgency and coping motives, and indirect effects on alcohol consequences via these variables. Positive urgency had a significant effect on enhancement motives, which subsequently was significantly associated with alcohol outcomes. Standardized coefficients ranged from β = .22 to .47 across significant pathways, indicating moderate effect sizes. Coping motives, unexpectedly, correlated negatively with alcohol use but positively with consequences.

Conclusions

Findings underscore the distinct roles of negative and positive urgency and drinking motives in influencing alcohol outcomes among college women survivors of sexual violence, highlighting implications for targeted interventions.