Drinking Motives, Sensation Seeking, and Alcohol Use Among Thai High School Students

Abstract

We assessed drinking motives and sensation seeking in relation to alcohol use in a sample of 634 Thai high school students. Results indicate that 55.8% had never used alcohol, and of the lifetime users, 33.5% were current (past month) alcohol users and 26.5% drink until they get drunk. Coping and social motives were positive predictors for drinking frequency, and coping motives were a predictor for hazardous (drinking to get drunk) drinking. Sensation seeking was associated with drinking frequency and hazardous drinking. Within the different sensation seeking components, disinhibition was the strongest predictor for drinking frequency, followed by experience seeking and boredom susceptibility. Boredom susceptibility was the strongest predictor for hazardous drinking. Coping, social motives, and sensation seeking should be taken into account when designing alcohol use prevention strategies for Thai adolescents.