Date Thesis Awarded
4-2023
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Science (BS)
Department
Psychology
Advisor
Adrian Bravo
Committee Members
Joshua Burk
Sarah Menefee
Abstract
The present study examined whether college alcohol/marijuana internalized norms moderated the indirect associations between college adjustment and alcohol/marijuana-related problems via alcohol/marijuana coping motives among first year college students. Participants were 713 students (65.1% females; mean age=18.59, SD=0.88) across three U.S. states who drank alcohol in the last month. Participants completed questionnaires assessing college adjustment and alcohol and marijuana use, coping motives, and consequences. To test study aims, we conducted moderated-mediation analyses using the PROCESS 4.0 macro for SPSS (Hayes, 2017). Within our alcohol moderated-mediation model, we found the association between college adjustment and alcohol coping motives was moderated by college alcohol internalized norms (interaction β=-.08, 95% CI [-.14, -.01]). Specifically, the association between poor college adjustment and alcohol coping motives was strongest among individuals who reported higher college alcohol internalized norms. Furthermore, we found a significant moderated-mediation effect such that the indirect effect coefficients for individuals high in college alcohol internalized norms were significantly stronger compared to individuals reporting average and low levels of college alcohol internalized norms. Within our marijuana moderated-mediation model, we found the association between college adjustment and marijuana coping motives wasn’t moderated by college alcohol internalized norms. However, within the marijuana mediation model, poor college adjustment was associated with more marijuana consequences via higher coping motives. Overall, our results suggest that alcohol and marijuana coping motives are a key mechanism through which poor college adjustment relates to alcohol and marijuana related problems, especially among individuals with high levels of college alcohol internalized norms.
Recommended Citation
Dunaief, Rebecca, "College Adjustment, Substance Use Beliefs, Coping Motivations, and Problematic Use: A Moderated-Mediation Model among First Year College Students" (2023). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1907.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1907
