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Typology of Alcohol Mixed with Energy Drink Consumers: Motivations for Use
Author(s) -
Peacock Amy,
Droste Nicolas,
Pennay Amy,
Miller Peter,
Lubman Dan I.,
Bruno Raimondo
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/acer.12729
Subject(s) - typology , taste , latent class model , psychology , feeling , sample (material) , sensation seeking , social psychology , pleasure , harm , clinical psychology , personality , sociology , statistics , chemistry , mathematics , chromatography , neuroscience , anthropology
Background Previous research on alcohol mixed with energy drinks (Am ED ) has shown that use is typically driven by hedonistic, social, functional, and intoxication‐related motives, with differential associations with alcohol‐related harm across these constructs. There has been no research looking at whether there are subgroups of consumers based on patterns of motivations. Consequently, the aims were to determine the typology of motivations for Am ED use among a community sample and to identify correlates of subgroup membership. In addition, we aimed to determine whether this structure of motivations applied to a university student sample. Methods Data were used from an Australian community sample ( n = 731) and an Australian university student sample ( n = 594) who were identified as Am ED consumers when completing an online survey about their alcohol and ED use. Participants reported their level of agreement with 14 motivations for Am ED use; latent classes of Am ED consumers were identified based on patterns of motivation endorsement using latent class analysis. Results A 4‐class model was selected using data from the community sample: (i) taste consumers (31%): endorsed pleasurable taste; (ii) energy‐seeking consumers (24%): endorsed functional and taste motives; (iii) hedonistic consumers (33%): endorse pleasure and sensation‐seeking motives, as well as functional and taste motives; and (iv) intoxication‐related consumers (12%): endorsed motives related to feeling in control of intoxication, as well as hedonistic, functional, and taste motives. The consumer subgroups typically did not differ on demographics, other drug use, alcohol and ED use, and Am ED risk taking. The patterns of motivations for the 4‐class model were similar for the university student sample. Conclusions This study indicated the existence of 4 subgroups of Am ED consumers based on their patterns of motivations for Am ED use consistently structured across the community and university student sample. These findings lend support to the growing conceptualization of Am ED consumers as a heterogeneous group in regard to motivations for use, with a hierarchical and cumulative class order in regard to the number of types of motivation for Am ED use. Prospective research may endeavor to link session‐specific motives and outcomes, as it is apparent that primary consumption motives may be fluid between sessions.