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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

The Motivation for Alcohol Reward: Predictors of Progressive-Ratio Intravenous Alcohol Self-Administration in Humans
Published on: April 28, 2022
Disregulated alcohol-related behavior among college drinkers: associations with protective behaviors, personality,
Matthew I Isaak1, David R Perkins, Tiffany R Labatut
1Department of Psychology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA. miisaak@yahoo.com
Objective:
This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Disregulated Alcohol-Related Behaviors Inventory (DARBI), a measure of harmful alcohol-related behavior, and the relationship between protective behavior use and scores on the DARBI and several other measures.
Participants:
Participants were 281 undergraduate volunteers (60% female) enrolled in introductory psychology sections in Summer and Fall 2007.
Methods:
Participants completed the DARBI along with paper-and-pencil self-report measures of broad personality domains, trait resilience, protective behavior use, and drinking motivations and consequences.
Results:
The DARBI's internal consistency was good (alpha = .85). DARBI scores correlated negatively with conscientiousness scores but positively with neuroticism, the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST), Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI), and positive-reinforcement motives scores. The self-reported use of protective behaviors related negatively to DARBI, MAST, RAPI, and enhancement motives scores. Protective behavior use was unrelated to broad personality domains.
Conclusions:
The DARBI may prove a useful tool in campus interventions. Further research should determine the dispositional and situational determinants of protective behavior use.
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