Imposter syndrome and alcohol use among graduate students: An exploratory study

Imposter syndrome, characterized by persistent self-doubt and difficulty in internalizing accomplishments, is associated with psychological distress and maladaptive coping. Graduate students may be particularly vulnerable given academic demands and transitional life phases. This study explored whether coping-related drinking motives account for the association between imposter syndrome and alcohol consumption, and whether gender moderates these associations.

Participants were 1158 graduate students enrolled at a large Midwestern university in 2024. Self-report measures assessed imposter syndrome, coping-related drinking motives, drinking quantity, and drinking frequency. Structural equation modeling tested associations, with drinking quantity and frequency modeled as observed indicators of a latent alcohol consumption construct. Interaction terms and bootstrapped differences in conditional indirect effects tested gender as a moderator.

Imposter syndrome was significantly associated with coping-related drinking motives (β = 1.007, p < 0.001), which was associated with alcohol consumption (β = 16.352, p < 0.001). The indirect path from imposter syndrome to alcohol consumption was significant (p < 0.001), but the direct path was non-significant (p = 0.121). Gender moderated the indirect effect of imposter syndrome on alcohol consumption via coping-related drinking (p < 0.001), with a stronger pathway among women.

Findings reveal a gender-moderated indirect pathway in which coping-related drinking motives connect imposter syndrome and alcohol consumption among graduate students. They also highlight a plausible pathway warranting longitudinal testing to determine whether coping motives function as a mediating mechanism. Results emphasize the importance of addressing high stress and maladaptive coping in graduate training environments, with future interventions promoting cognitive strategies to reframe self-doubt and behavioral strategies that support adaptive coping.