Pre-partying amongst students in the UK: Measuring motivations and consumption levels across different educational contexts

We sought to explore the motivations for pre-partying amongst UK student drinkers who reported pre-partying at least once per month. Two distinct educational settings were included: colleges, where the majority of students are below the legal age for drinking, and university, where all students would be legally allowed to drink. A cross-sectional correlational design was adopted. Ninety-four college (16-18yrs) and 138 university students (18-28yrs) from the UK completed an online survey, of whom 54.7% and 86.9% reported pre-partying at least once per month, respectively. Alcohol use was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test – Consumption (AUDIT-C) and pre-partying motivations were assessed using the Pre-partying Motivations Inventory (PMI). Frequency of pre-partying behaviour and the number of units consumed was also recorded. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that, for college students, AUDIT-C positively predicted pre-partying frequency, while gender and AUDIT-C positively predicted the units of alcohol consumed but Barriers to Consumption (BC) negatively predicted units consumed. Among university students AUDIT-C and Interpersonal Enhancement predicted pre-partying frequency, and AUDIT-C predicted the amount of pre-partying units consumed. Different motives for pre-partying motives were identified across two distinct educational settings. The finding that BC negatively correlated with the amount of alcohol consumed amongst younger college students requires further study, as it contradicts previous work in this area, but is consistent with findings that availability predicts alcohol intake. Understanding differences in drinking behaviour between age groups is a key finding, which will allow future research to track developmental influences on the effectiveness of interventions. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an to be article published by Taylor & Francis in Substance Use and Misuse. Available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10826084.2019.1590414