| Summary: | Binge drinking (BD) is a pressing social and public health concern in the United Kingdom, especially among university students. Several psychological constructs have been associated with BD behaviour in student populations, including adult attachment style, dispositional mindfulness (DM), alcohol expectancies, and approach motivations. However, as yet, there has been little attempt to study these constructs together in a theoretically-coherent model, which the current study aimed to do. Three hundred and twenty-two students at a UK university in north-west England completed an online questionnaire to assess their drinking behaviour and the psychological constructs of interest. Structural equation modelling results supported a model whereby preoccupied and fearful insecure adult attachment styles predicted an affect-regulation strategy characterised by an inability to be ‘non-judgmental’ towards, and to ‘act with awareness’ in relation to internal and external experiences (elements of DM), and lower levels of these DM variables in turn were associated with positive expectancies about the consequences of alcohol use. Strong positive expectancies about drinking alcohol were related to the presence of strong approach motivations towards drinking, which in turn predicted increased BD behaviour. The results are supportive of the proposed integrated model of BD behaviour in students. The model helps to highlights areas where harm-reduction and intervention strategies aimed at reducing BD in students can be targeted.
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