Cross-cultural comparisons of drinking motives in 10 countries: Data from the DRINC Project

Introduction and Aims. This study tested the measurement invariance of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised Short Form (DMQ-R-SF) in undergraduates across 10 countries. We expected the four-factor structure to hold across countries, and for social motives to emerge as the most commonly endorsed motive, followed by enhancement, coping, and conformity motives. We also compared individualistic and collectivistic countries to examine potential differences in the endorsement of drinking motives when countries were divided according to this broad cultural value. 
Design and Methods.A sample of 8,478 undergraduate drinkers from collectivistic (Portugal, Mexico, Brazil, Spain; n = 1567) and individualistic (Switzerland, Hungary, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, and the United States; n = 6911) countries completed the DMQ-R-SF. Countries were classified as individualistic or collectivistic based on Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov [1].
Results.Using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, the 4-factor model of the DMQ-R-SF showed configural and metric invariance across all 10 countries. As predicted, the rank order of undergraduates’ drinking motive endorsement was identical across countries (social > enhancement > coping > conformity), although a mixed model ANOVA revealed a significant interaction where undergraduates from individualistic countries more strongly endorsed social and enhancement motives relative to undergraduates from collectivistic countries.
Discussion and Conclusions. There was broad cross-cultural consistency in the factor structure and mean patterns of drinking motives. Undergraduate students appear to drink mainly for positive reinforcement (i.e., for social and enhancement reasons), though this tendency is particularly pronounced among those from more individualistic countries.