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

Abstract

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.