Personality: reasons for drinking and alcohol consumption & abuse patterns among youth

• Main Author: Burrows, Sharon Alexis
• Other Authors: Barnes, Gordon E.
• Language: English; en
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: youth; alcohol use; Vancouver; British Columbia; personality; UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2067

Some youth are engaging in alcohol consumption patterns putting themselves and others at risk. This behaviour places them at high risk for self-harm, and has the potential for developing into adult alcoholic behaviour dependency. A secondary analysis utilizing the Vancouver Family Survey data was conducted to increase our understanding and awareness regarding youth alcohol consumption patterns and related problems. Youth alcohol use and abuse is examined within domains of socio-demographics, personality, cognition, and alcohol consumption patterns and related problems. With regard to personality, an addiction prone personality is found to be a predictor for enhancement and coping motivators in both the male and female youth population. Cognition, such as drinking to feel good and drinking to forget worries was found to mediate the relationship between an addiction prone personality and alcohol consumption patterns and related problems. Traits such as agreeableness and conscientiousness were found to be protective factors.