Alienation and drinking motivations among adolescent females

The present study examined a hypothesized relation between alienation and stated motivations for alcohol use. It was predicted that such a relation would emerge more clearly among adolescent females than among adolescent males, and this prediction was confirmed. Among females, problem-related drinking motivations correlated positively with alienation, whereas social-convivial motivations correlated negatively with this attribute. No comparable correlations were found among the male subjects. It was concluded that important sex differences in the dynamics of problem drinking in our society are worthy of additional study.