Drinking Patterns of Young Males in the U.S. Military: A Structural Equation Model of Stress, Drinking Motives, Impulsivity, Alcohol Use and Job Performance

Background and Purpose: Approximately 87 percent of new U.S. active duty military recruits are young adults aged 18 to 24, with a steady increase in young adults who enter the military at age 18. These young military personnel are reported to drink much more than any other young populations, and alcohol use remains a considerable issue in the military. Male military personnel, in particular, who comprise the majority of the military population, are twice as likely as male civilians to be heavy drinkers and four times more likely to be heavy drinkers than their female counterparts. Also, heavy alcohol use increased between 2002 and 2005, while it decreased in the civilian population during the same time period. Given the high prevalence rates of young drinkers in the military, particularly males, a solid increase in the young adult population in all armed forces will likely predict substantial alcohol use. This study integrated both developmental and psychological factors in understanding young male military personnel's alcohol use and the effect of drinking on job performance. The goals of this study were (1) to examine how stress and impulsivity affect young male military personnel's alcohol use and job performance and (2) to determine mediating effects of drinking motives on alcohol use. Design: A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to develop and test a multivariate model of 2,643 young (aged 18-25) males' alcohol use patterns. Data are from the Department of Defense (DOD) Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Military Personnel. Prior to model testing with AMOS (7.0), model structure and variable constructs were validated based on the preliminary data analyses findings for the appropriateness and usefulness. The mediating effects of drinking motives were determined by bootstrapping results. Findings: The model showed good fit characteristics [(Model ÷² (267) =796.198, p<.01, CMIN/DF=2.982, CFI=.974, RMSEA=.027)]. The SEM explained 25 percent of the variance in alcohol use and 26 percent in job performance. Results indicated a full mediation model of family stress and alcohol use and a partial mediation model of impulsivity and alcohol use via drinking motives. Greater alcohol use predicted poorer job performance. Conclusions: Study findings emphasize the role of drinking motives in understanding the pathway to alcohol use and support the life-stress paradigm, which suggest the occurrences of substantial cognitive processes prior to alcohol using behavior. Implications are that recognizing the role of drinking motives and impulsive personality traits is vital to successful prevention and early treatment of stress and impulsivity-induced alcohol use in young male military personnel.