Background: Binge drinking, characterized by alternations between intense alcohol intakes and
abstinence periods, is the most frequent alcohol-consumption pattern among adolescents and is
associated with cognitive impairments.
Objectives: It appears crucial to disentangle the psychological factors involved in the emergence
of binge drinking in adolescence, and centrally the role played by drinking motives, which are
related to binge drinking.
Methods: This longitudinal study explored the role of drinking motives (i.e., social order, conformity,
enhancement, coping) in the emergence of binge drinking among 144 adolescents
(56.3% girls) from the community, who were assessed for alcohol consumption and drinking
motives at two times (T1/T2), with a 1-year interval. After data checking, 101 adolescents (12–-
15 years old; 56.4% girls) constituted the final sample.
Results: Strong relationships were found between drinking motives and binge drinking.
Regression analyses were computed to determine how drinking motives at T1 predicted binge
drinking at T2, while controlling for global alcohol use. The statistical model explained 60% of the
binge-drinking variance. In particular, enhancement motivation (i.e., the search for the enjoyable
sensations felt when drinking) constituted the unique predictor of future binge drinking.
Conversely, social motives did not predict binge drinking.
Conclusion: These findings highlight the central role of enhancement motivation (e.g., focusing
on the positive expectancies towards alcohol) in youths’ alcohol consumption and call for the
development of preventive interventions. The previously reported relationship between social
motives and college drinking does not seem to play a key role in the early steps of binge drinking