Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

McAllister, Carolyn

Abstract

Drinking alcohol for young adults is a major public health problem that affects young people’s families, college campuses, and communities. The latest statistics show that 49.3% of college students ages 18 to 22 consumed alcohol over the past month, with 27.4% participating in binge drinking. This quantitative study proposes to discover the motives behind emerging adults’ decisions to drink alcohol and find out which of those motives most lead to problematic alcohol use. There are four categories of motives: enhancement, coping, social, and conformity motives. This study would use a convenience sample of college students aged 18 to 24. Participants would be solicited through social media and given a Qualtrics Survey to complete. The findings from this project would aid social workers who work with young adult drinkers to identify their motives to drink and if they will lead to problems with alcohol, and to what degree. In addition, social work practitioners would become familiar with various drinking motives, identify problematic drinking, and thus be equipped to implement the best treatment interventions.

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