Table 2 correlations among scales p 01 p 05 drinking

Table 2 Correlations among
scales
** p \ .01; * p \ .05
Drinking motives
1 2 3 4 5
1. Ingroup identification
2. Life satisfaction .18**
Drinking motives
3. Enhancement .03 - .08
4. Social .07 - .07 .70**
5. Coping - .08 - .25** .38** .37**
6. Conformity - .11* - .12** .25** .32** .33**
2028 S. Tartaglia et al.
123

Fig. 1 Estimated parameters on male group: standardized regression weights and variances. Errors of the
indicators and latent variables and correlations among drinking motives were omitted from the figure in
order to make it easier to view
Fig. 2 Estimated parameters on female group: standardized regression weights and variances. Errors of the
indicators and latent variables and correlations among drinking motives were omitted from the figure in
order to make it easier to view
Life Satisfaction and Alcohol Consumption Among Young Adults … 2029
123

females b = .24), whereas involvement in an intimate relationship was positively related
with Life satisfaction for women only ( b = .19); (b) Life satisfaction was negatively
linked to the Coping drinking motive (males b = - .21; females b = - .29); (c) Ingroup
identification was negatively associated to the Conformity drinking motive for men only
( b = - .22); and (d) The Enhancement drinking motive was positively related to alcohol
consumption in both men and women (males b = .57; females b = .50), whereas the
Coping drinking motive was negatively related to alcohol consumption in women only
( b = .19). The drinking motives were correlated with each other. The model explained 29
and 36% of the variance in alcohol consumption in men and women, respectively.
5 Discussion
The results confirmed the direct link between drinking motives and alcohol use and showed
the relation between life satisfaction and participants’ expectations regarding drinking
alcohol. Moreover, we found significant gender differences. The following paragraphs
present the main implications of the results and the limitations of the study.
5.1 Social Relationships, Life Satisfaction, and Drinking Expectations
As expected, social relations are linked to young adults’ life satisfaction, highlighting not
only the key role played by the social relationship in this phase one’s life (Haslam et al.
2009 ; Meirer and Allen 2008 ), but also some gender related peculiarities. Specifically,
identification with their group of friends related positively with life satisfaction for both
males and females, whereas being engaged in an intimate relationship had a positive
relation only for females. This result is consistent with previous results of Simon and
Barrett ( 2010 ), which indicated that a current involvement affects women’s mental health
more than men’s mental health. Gender stereotypes prescribe relational roles as congruent
with women identity (Tartaglia and Rollero 2015 ). This cultural pressure may explain the
different importance of intimate relationships for young women and men. Life satisfaction
showed a negative relation with the coping drinking motive, i.e. the expectation that
drinking alcohol aids in coping with unsatisfactory life conditions. For young men only,
Ingroup identification was related to the Conformity drinking motive. The less they