Predictors of alcohol use and consequences among college women reporting adult sexual violence: Posttraumatic stress symptoms, urgency, and drinking motives

<b>Objective:</b> To examine associations between post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), impulsivity, drinking motives, and alcohol outcomes among college women who experienced adult sexual violence. <b>Participants:</b> 122 college women from a large southeastern university, predominantly White (90.2%), ages 18-24, reporting adult sexual violence and weekly alcohol consumption. <b>Methods:</b> Participants completed validated measures assessing PTSS, positive and negative urgency, coping and enhancement drinking motives, alcohol use, and alcohol consequences. Path analysis tested direct and indirect associations among these variables. <b>Results:</b> PTSS had significant direct effects on negative urgency and coping motives, and indirect effects on alcohol consequences <i>via</i> these variables. Positive urgency had a significant effect on enhancement motives, which subsequently was significantly associated with alcohol outcomes. Standardized coefficients ranged from β = .22 to .47 across significant pathways, indicating moderate effect sizes. Coping motives, unexpectedly, correlated negatively with alcohol use but positively with consequences. <b>Conclusions:</b> Findings underscore the distinct roles of negative and positive urgency and drinking motives in influencing alcohol outcomes among college women survivors of sexual violence, highlighting implications for targeted interventions.