Drinking motives, alcohol expectancies and alexithymia in young adult social drinkers

The present study examined alexithymia, drinking motives and alcohol expectancies in a non-clinical sample of 100 young adults aged 18-30 years. Those with alexithymia scored higher on measures of coping motives for drinking and affective change expectancies than those without alexithymia. The findings suggest that people with alexithymia are more likely not only to drink to cope, but also to experience feelings of intensified negative mood after drinking, compared to people without alexithymia even when both groups show similar levels of drinking.