Abstract
Caffeine is the most popular psychoactive substance that is consumed worldwide. As motives influence behavior, investigation of the motivational background of caffeine consumption should help provide a better understanding of the popularity of caffeinated products. The present study aimed (i) to explore and operationalize the motives of caffeine consumption and (ii) to reveal possible differences in the motives regarding gender, age and the type of caffeinated products consumed. Motives for caffeine consumption were collected from regular caffeine consumers (N = 26) and were informed by a review of the relevant literature. Following this, a cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of Hungarian university students and working adults (N = 598). The participants completed the Motives for Caffeine Consumption Questionnaire and the Caffeine Consumption Questionnaire. Six motivational factors were identified: Alertness, Habit, Mood, Social, Taste and Symptom Management. Women had higher scores on Habit, Social, Taste and Symptom Management. Younger participants had higher scores on Alertness than the older group, and the older group had higher scores on Habit and Symptom Management. Five types of caffeine users were identified. Those who consumed (i) coffee, (ii) tea, (iii) energy drinks, (iv) coffee and tea and (v) mixed drinks. Several differences between the five groups were revealed across all motives except for Taste. The present study developed a robust psychometric instrument for assessing caffeine consumption motives. The factors varied in importance in relation to gender, age and caffeine consumption habits.
Highlights
Caffeine is the most popular psychoactive substance that is consumed worldwide
Investigation of the motivational background of caffeine consumption should help provide a better understanding of the popularity of caffeinated products
Motives for caffeine consumption were collected from regular caffeine consumers (N = 26) and were informed by a review of the relevant literature
Summary
Caffeine is the most popular psychoactive substance that is consumed worldwide. The present study aimed (i) to explore and operationalize the motives of caffeine consumption and (ii) to reveal possible differences in the motives regarding gender, age and the type of caffeinated products consumed. Six motivational factors were identified: Alertness, Habit, Mood, Social, Taste and Symptom Management. The factors varied in importance in relation to gender, age and caffeine consumption habits. Relatively few studies deal with the characteristics of caffeine use, and with the underlying motives for consumption. Caffeine dependence or—in more recent terms—‘caffeine use disorder’ is not included yet as a clinical diagnosis in the DSM-5, it is indicated as a condition for further study (American Psychiatric Association 2013; Meredith et al 2013). The role and the importance of such motives have already been investigated in the case of other substances such as alcohol (Kuntsche et al 2007) marijuana (Simons et al 2000), and nicotine (Vajer et al 2011)
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