Drinking motives and problematic alcohol use among Chinese and Filipino university students

Abstract

Background This study aimed to (1) validate the factor structure of the Chinese version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT: Saunders, et al., 1993) and the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ: Cooper, 1994); (2) determine the equivalence of the Chinese and original English versions; (3) determine which among the drinking motives are associated with alcohol outcomes and whether the associations between the motives and alcohol outcomes vary between Chinese and Filipinos. Method The Chinese version of AUDIT and DMQ were administered to Chinese university students studying in Macau (n=272, female=101). The English measures were administered to Filipino university students (n=200, female=96). Both groups self-reported to have consumed alcohol in the past year. Findings Using multiple group CFA, we tested the factor structure and measurement equivalence of both measures. The two-factor structure of the AUDIT (consumption, and alcohol problems) was equivalent between Chinese and Filipinos on the configural, metric, and scalar levels. The four-factor structure of the DMQ (social, coping, enhancement, and conformity) was only equivalent at the configural and metric levels. Using multiple group latent variable SEM we examined the associations between drinking motives and alcohol outcomes controlling for age and gender. Discussion The study provides preliminary evidence of the usefulness of the AUDIT and DMQ instruments to measure alcohol motives and outcomes among Chinese university students. The differences in the association of drinking motives and alcohol outcomes between Chinese and Filipino university students reveal cultural differences and potential influence of these differences to health outcomes.