Understanding hazardous drinking: The role of anxiety sensitivity and mediating drinking motives

Anxiety sensitivity (AS)-the tendency to fear anxiety-related sensations-has been consistently associated with risky drinking, yet the motivational mechanisms underlying this link remain unclear. This study examined whether specific drinking motives (DMs) mediate the association between AS and hazardous drinking, and explored the moderating effects of age and gender.

A cross-sectional, survey-based design was used.

Data were collected through an anonymous online questionnaire completed by 372 adults (69 % women; mean age = 25.3 years), including the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3), and four single-item DMs assessing social, avoidance, pleasure, and need-related motives. Analyses were restricted to participants with AUDIT >0. Correlation and regression analyses examined associations among AS, age, gender, and alcohol use. Structural equation modelling (SEM) tested AS as a latent construct (ASI-3 subscales as indicators) and the four DMs as parallel mediators of the AS-AUDIT relationship.

Higher AS was associated with greater alcohol use, even after controlling for age and gender. SEM confirmed that AS formed a coherent latent factor and that motives operated in parallel. AS was positively linked to avoidance motives; however, this pathway did not mediate the AS-alcohol link. Only the social motive uniquely predicted higher AUDIT scores, while younger age-but not gender-was consistently associated with greater consumption.

Hazardous drinking was mainly explained by social motives and younger age. AS contributed indirectly through its influence on drinking motives rather than a direct effect.