NARCISSISM AND ALCOHOL OUTCOMES: THE ROLE OF DRINKING MOTIVES

Purpose: With rising subclinical narcissistic personality traits amongst college populations (Dingfelder, 2011) it is important to understand risk factors associated with student emotional well-being. Given that young adults have the highest prevalence rates of excessive drinking and associated adverse outcomes (CDC, 2019), it is important to examine factors that contribute to this health risk behavior. Previous research suggests that subclinical grandiose narcissistic traits as well as all four drinking motives (Cooper et al., 1994) are independently related to alcohol use and associated outcomes (Kuntsche et al., 2005; Kramer et al., 2019). However, it is unclear how these personality and motivational factors work together to contribute to student alcohol use and problems. Therefore, this study examined the moderating role of drinking motives on the relationship between subclinical grandiose narcissistic traits and past-month alcohol use, of heavy episodic drinking (HED), and negative alcohol-related outcomes. Methods: Participants were undergraduate and graduate college students from a large, Midwestern university (N=406; 81% female; Mage=20.13, SD=1.69; 10% Hispanic, 85% White). Using a cross-sectional design, participants responded to surveys about their past-month alcohol use and HED frequency. The Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (α=.93; Kahler et al., 2005) was used to assess negative alcohol-related outcomes. The Five Factor Narcissism Inventory–Short Form; was used to assess narcissism subtype personality traits, including grandiose narcissism (α=.87; Lynam et al., 2014). Finally, the 20-item Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised was used to assess drinking motives (α = .81-.94; Cooper, 1994). Controls included gender, age, and ethnicity. Results: Poisson regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between grandiose narcissism, drinking motives, and alcohol outcomes. After controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, enhancement, conformity, and social motives independently moderated the relationships between subclinical grandiose traits with past-month use (b=.20,