Do Protective Behavioral Strategies Mediate the Relationship Between Drinking Motives and Alcohol Use in College Students?
Matthew P. Martens, Amanda G. Ferrier, M. Dolores Cimini Objective: Heavy alcohol use among college students represents a public health problem on American college campuses. Use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS) has been shown to be related to reduced alcohol use and fewer alcohol-related problems, but the relationship of PBS to other alcohol-related constructs is unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of PBS mediated the relationship between positively and negatively reinforcing drinking motives and both alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Method: Data were collected on 254 undergraduate students at a large, public university in the northeast region of the United States. Approximately one third (n = 90) of the participants were volunteers, whereas the remaining individuals enrolled in the study as an option for satisfying an alcohol-related campus judicial sanction. Results: Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that use of PBS part
