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. 2026 Sep 23;24:100751. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2026.100751

Basic psychological need satisfaction and drinking motives: The protective role of autonomy and competence needs among college students of Mexican descent

Aitiana I Sanchez-Garciaguirre 1,1,⁎, Mariany A Gainza Perez 1,2, Ashley M Lindquist 1, Rebeca F Perez-Martinez 1, Craig A Field 1
PMCID: PMC13635638  PMID: 42835329

Abstract

Objective

Research on basic psychological needs satisfaction (BPN) and heavy episodic drinking (HED) has produced mixed findings, highlighting the need to clarify how BPN relates to drinking motives, which are direct predictors of alcohol use. Cultural factors, including ethnic identity, may also shape drinking motives among Hispanic young adults. This study examined associations among BPN satisfaction, ethnic identity, drinking motives, HED, and alcohol related consequences in undergraduates of Mexican descent.

Methods

Undergraduate students (n = 443; Mage = 22.6, SD = 5.09; 67.9% female; 83.7% Mexican American) at a Hispanic Serving Institution completed measures of BPN satisfaction, ethnic identity, drinking motives, typical drinking quantity, and alcohol related consequences. Path analysis assessed direct and indirect associations between basic psychological need satisfaction and ethnic identity, drinking motives, HED, and alcohol-related consequences.

Results

Greater satisfaction of autonomy predicted lower enhancement (β = −0.19), coping (β = −0.21), and conformity motives (β = −0.21), whereas greater competence predicted lower coping (β = −0.21), conformity (β = −0.13), and social motives (β = −0.17). Relatedness predicted higher enhancement motives (β = 0.12). Direct effects indicated that relatedness (β = −0.12) and ethnic identity centrality (β = −0.13) were associated with lower HED. Social motives predicted greater HED (β = 0.22), whereas coping motives predicted greater alcohol-related consequences (β = 0.28).

Conclusion

Integrating psychological need satisfaction and cultural identity within a motivational model of drinking may enhance understanding of HED among college students of Mexican descent.

Keywords: Self-determination theory, Basic psychological needs, Drinking motives, Ethnic identity, Mexican descent, College students

Highlights

  • •

    Satisfaction of autonomy and competence needs predicted decreased coping and conformity drinking motives.

  • •

    Relatedness need satisfaction positively predicted enhancement motives but negatively predicted alcohol use.

  • •

    Ethnic identity centrality was negatively associated with alcohol use.

  • •

    Coping drinking motives positively predicted alcohol-related consequences.

  • •

    Social drinking motives positively predicted alcohol use.

1. Introduction

1.1. Self-determination theory and alcohol use

Mexicans comprise 60% of Hispanic origin groups in the U.S., with the largest communities found along the U.S.-Mexico border (Moslimani et al., 2023). Students of Mexican descent attending universities in theborderlands often navigate social environments in which HED plays a prominent role in socialization and belonging (Lui et al., 2020). Although many students report moderate alcohol consumption, Hispanic college students at the U.S.–Mexico border are at greater risk for alcohol use and negative drinking consequences than their counterparts in non-border areas (Lui et al., 2020). Examining motivational processes associated with alcohol use may broaden our understanding of this disparity. Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Ryan and Deci, 2000, Ryan and Deci, 2017) differentiates between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and the quality of motivation that regulates behavior. SDT proposes three universal basic psychological needs for autonomy (volition and self-direction), competence (mastery and effectiveness), and relatedness (warmth and connectedness with others; Chen et al., 2015; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Satisfaction of these needs is theorized to facilitate more autonomous and adaptive regulation. Along the SDT continuum (Ryan & Deci, 2000), motivation ranges from amotivation (no motivation), through controlled forms of regulation (external or internal pressure), to autonomous forms of regulation (personal endorsement or interest).

Early SDT research linked lower autonomy and higher controlled orientation with perceived peer pressure, social approval, and heavier drinking (Knee & Neighbors, 2002; Neighbors et al., 2003). More recently, Richards, Pearson and Witkiewitz, 2021, Richards, Grubbs, Garcia, Pearson and Field, 2026 focused on SDT-based motivations for responsible drinking, such as the use of protective behavior strategies. Across studies, greater psychological need satisfaction and dispositional autonomy were associated with more self-determined motivation to drink responsibly, which was associated with greater use of protective behavioral strategies (Richards et al., 2020; Richards et al., 2021). Subsequent studies found motivations for drinking responsibly to be strongly associated with protective behavioral strategies, whereas drinking motives were more linked with alcohol consumption and negative consequences (Richards, Pearson and Field, 2022, Richards, Schwebel, Joseph and Pearson, 2023). A complementary line of research by Courtney et al. (2025) assessed the different motivations for consuming alcohol using the SDT continuum. Their results show identified regulation (i.e., somewhat internally based) was associated with more frequent but lower-intensity drinking, positive introjected regulation (i.e., internally pressured) was associated with greater drinking intensity, and amotivation was linked to more negative consequences. Additionally, person-centered analyses indicated that externally controlled drinking was linked to greater drinking intensity and more negative consequences (Courtney et al., 2025). These findings suggest that autonomous motivation for protective behavior may promote harm reduction, whereas externally-driven motives may contribute to alcohol consumption and related consequences.

However, fewer studies have directly examined basic psychological need satisfaction in relation to alcohol outcomes. Burt et al. (2016) found that greater competence need satisfaction (i.e., feeling capable) was associated with fewer weekly drinks and lower endorsement of alcohol-related problems, whereas autonomy need satisfaction (i.e., feeling self-directed) showed a small but nonsignificant inverse association with weekly drinking. Satisfaction of the third basic psychological need, relatedness (i.e., feeling connected), was negatively associated with alcohol-related legal consequences (Burt et al., 2016). Conigrave et al., 2021, Conigrave, Bradshaw, Lavoie, Lee and Ryan, 2026 found that perceived need satisfaction through drinking was associated with greater consumption and alcohol use disorder symptoms, suggesting that alcohol may be experienced as need satisfying. Collectively, these findings suggest that psychological needs are relevant to alcohol-related behavior, but the direction and pathways of these associations depend on whether need satisfaction is assessed generally or the extent to which alcohol is perceived as satisfying psychological needs. Despite these advances, little research has examined whether general basic psychological need satisfaction is indirectly associated with HED and alcohol-related consequences through specific drinking motives, particularly among Hispanic students. Because drinking motives are among the most proximal predictors of alcohol use and related consequences, the motivational model of alcohol use may provide a complementary framework for examining these potential pathways (Cooper, 1994). Integrating SDT with the drinking-motives framework can clarify whether drinking motives serve as the mechanism through which satisfaction of basic psychological needs influences student drinking, which may ultimately determine their level of risk.

1.2. Drinking motives

The motivational model of alcohol use proposes that drinking is guided by affective and social outcomes individuals expect alcohol to produce (Cooper, 1994). Drinking motives are categorized by their source (internal vs. external) and type of reinforcement (positive vs. negative), Enhancement motives (internal, positive), or drinking to increase positive affect or excitement, are consistently associated with heavier drinking and binge episodes (Kuntsche et al., 2008; Sanchez et al., 2022). Coping motives (internal, negative), or drinking to reduce distress or negative affect, are strongly associated with alcohol-related problems but not necessarily greater consumption (Lui et al., 2020; Stevenson et al., 2019). Social motives (external, positive), or drinking to facilitate social interaction, are typically linked with drinking frequency, whereas conformity motives (external, negative), which reflect drinking to avoid rejection, show inconsistent relationships with both HED and related consequences across studies (King et al., 2023; Sjödin et al., 2021).

The motivational model and SDT describe different but potentially complementary aspects of motivation. Cooper's framework classifies the affective or social functions that alcohol is expected to serve, while SDT classifies the extent to which regulation of a behavior is autonomous, controlled, or amotivated. Previous studies show that drinking motives and SDT-based motivations for drinking responsibly or consuming alcohol account for distinct variance in alcohol-related behavior (Courtney et al., 2025; Richards, Pearson and Field, 2022, Richards, Schwebel, Joseph and Pearson, 2023). However, these studies did not directly test whether the four drinking motives statistically account for associations between general basic psychological need satisfaction and HED or alcohol-related consequences. SDT suggests that differences in basic psychological need satisfaction may be associated with individuals' reasons for drinking, providing a basis for examining drinking motives as potential pathways to alcohol outcomes. Thus, examining drinking motives as potential mediators may clarify how psychological need fulfillment is associated with either adaptive or maladaptive drinking behaviors.

1.3. Ethnic identity

Ethnic identity is another key factor that may shape drinking motives and outcomes among college students of Mexican descent. Ethnic identity centrality refers to the degree to which one's Hispanic/Latino ethnic identity is central to one's self-concept and has been identified as a meaningful cultural construct (Arbona & Jimenez, 2014; Phinney & Ong, 2007). Past research (Scheier et al., 1997) has demonstrated an inverse relationship between alcohol use and ethnic identity of ethno-racial minority students, suggesting that ethnic identity may be a significant protective factor against HED among Hispanic college students. However, Zamboanga et al. (2006) found that Mexican American college students who identified more closely with their ethnic group reported frequent heavy alcohol use. Further, Marsiglia et al. (2004) also suggested that ethnic identity may not function as a protective factor in the Southwest, where those of Mexican descent tend to be the numerical majority. These findings highlight the contextual nature of ethnic identity and suggest that its association with alcohol-related outcomes may differ depending on the broader social environment. Although individuals of Mexican descent share a common cultural heritage, Mexican American and Mexican national students may differ in their exposure to U.S. sociocultural contexts, which can shape ethnic identity development (Matsunaga et al., 2010). Therefore, national origin group was included as a demographic covariate in the present study to account for these potential contextual differences.

Additionally, a strong ethnic identity may enhance belonging and social connectedness, but it can also influence the context in which drinking occurs and the meanings attached to it (Buckner et al., 2022; Skewes & Blume, 2015). In one study of Hispanic college students near the U.S.–Mexico border, U.S. orientation was associated with lower alcohol consumption, while enhancement motives predicted alcohol consumption and coping and conformity motives predicted negative drinking-related consequences (Lui et al., 2020). These findings highlight the need to further examine how cultural and environmental contexts, together with ethnic identity, shape drinking behaviors among Hispanic college students living in majority-minority communities. Given that both SDT and cultural frameworks emphasize belonging and value-based behavior, integrating ethnic identity centrality into models of basic psychological need satisfaction and drinking motives may illuminate how ethnic identity among Hispanic students interacts with alcohol outcomes. In this context, ethnic identity is conceptualized as an individual-level characteristic that may be associated with drinking motives and alcohol use. Given mixed findings in prior research, ethnic identity was examined as a predictor of these outcomes rather than assumed to function solely as a risk or protective factor.

1.4. Present study

The present study sought to integrate SDT and drinking motives to examine how satisfaction of basic psychological needs and ethnic identity centrality relate to drinking motives, HED, and alcohol-related consequences among college students of Mexican descent attending a university on the U.S.–Mexico border. In the present study, HED was operationalized using participants' reported typical number of standard drinks consumed on a drinking day during the previous three months, as described further in the Methods. Although the present study focuses on college students of Mexican descent, much of the existing literature has examined Hispanic populations more broadly. Past national surveys have stated that within the United States, Mexicans comprise 60% of the Hispanic population (Moslimani et al., 2023). Based on prior theory and research, we hypothesized that greater satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy and competence would be associated with lower coping and conformity motives, reflecting reduced reliance on alcohol for emotional or social regulation. Greater satisfaction of the need for relatedness was expected to be associated with higher social and enhancement motives, reflecting the influence of belonging and positive affect on drinking for enjoyment or connection. We also hypothesized that coping motives would be positively related to alcohol-related consequences, whereas social and enhancement motives would be positively related to HED. Accordingly, we expected drinking motives to mediate the associations between basic psychological need satisfaction and alcohol outcomes, such that satisfaction of basic psychological needs would be indirectly associated with HED and alcohol-related consequences through drinking motives. Finally, we expected higher ethnic identity centrality to be positively associated with social motives and negatively associated with conformity motives, with indirect effects on alcohol outcomes through these motivational pathways. By situating basic psychological needs and ethnic identity within a culturally informed motivational model, this study aimed to extend the theoretical and empirical understanding of HED among college students of Mexican descent in the borderland region.

2. Methods

2.1. Participants and procedure

Upon study approval by the Institutional Review Board at The University of Texas at El Paso, 2500 undergraduate students were randomly sampled from a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) on the U.S.-Mexico border and were recruited through email to participate in an online survey, as previously described in other studies (Richards et al., 2020; Sanchez et al., 2022). Participants were recruited via messages sent between October 2018 and May 2019. Participants electronically signed an informed consent form prior to beginning the survey and received compensation with a $5 gift card and entry into a raffle to win one of five $100 gift cards (Sanchez et al., 2022). The overall response rate was 42% (n = 1045), which is consistent with past studies using similar methodologies among college students (Geisner et al., 2016). In this analysis, 602 participants were excluded because they were either non-drinkers or not of Mexican descent. The resulting sample for the present study included 443 students who were over the age of 18, reported alcohol consumption in the past three months, and self-identified as being of Mexican descent, a subgroup of the Hispanic population.

2.2. Measures

2.2.1. Sociodemographics

This questionnaire collected self-reported demographic information such as age and national origin group. Biological sex assigned at birth (male = 1, female = 2), student classification (Freshman = 1, Sophomore = 2, Junior = 3, Senior = 4), and national origin group (Mexican National = 1, Mexican American = 2) were used as control variables in subsequent analyses. National origin group was included as a demographic covariate to account for potential differences between these groups when examining associations between ethnic identity and alcohol-related outcomes.

2.2.2. Heavy episodic drinking

Heavy episodic drinking (HED) was operationalized using a single alcohol-consumption item derived from the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test–Consumption (AUDIT-C; Higgins-Biddle & Babor, 2018), asking participants to report the typical number of standard drinks they consumed on a drinking day during the previous three months. It is important to note that HED was examined given that it is a key indicator of risky alcohol consumption associated with alcohol-related problems. Participants were presented with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's (2022) definition of a standard drink, and a corresponding visual aid depicting standard drinks across various types of alcohol (e.g., beer, wine, distilled). Responses were provided on a 9-point Likert scale (1 = 1 drink per day to 9 = 24 or more drinks per day) and were subsequently recoded to approximate drink quantities (e.g., 6–7 drinks = 6.5; 12–15 drinks = 13.5). Response categories representing ranges of drinks were recoded using their approximate midpoints to provide a continuous estimate of the typical number of drinks consumed on drinking days for analysis. Higher scores reflected a greater typical quantity of alcohol consumed on drinking days.

2.2.3. Drinking consequences

The 24-item Brief-Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ; Kahler et al., 2005) was developed to assess an individual's alcohol-related consequences using different drinking conflict scenarios (e.g., “While drinking, I have said or done embarrassing things”). Participants were asked to reflect on the past three months and respond to each statement using a dichotomous scale (0 = no to 1 = yes). Items are summed, with higher scores indicating the participant experienced more consequences due to their drinking. The B-YAACQ exhibits adequate reliability within the current study (α = 0.89).

2.2.4. Drinking motives

The 12-item Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised Short Form (DMQ-R SF; Kuntsche & Kuntsche, 2009) measures annual frequency of alcohol consumed for coping (e.g., “to forget about your problems”; α = 0.89), conformity (e.g., “to be liked”; α = 0.87), enhancement (e.g., “because it makes me feel good”; α = 0.74), and social (e.g., “as a way to celebrate”; α = 0.94) reasons. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = never/almost never to 5 = almost always/always). Each subscale is composed of three items and is scored by averaging those items.

2.2.5. Basic psychological needs satisfaction

The 21-item General Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Scale (Gagné, 2003) measures participants' general satisfaction of the three psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness; Deci & Ryan, 2000). The measure is composed of three subscales measuring current satisfaction of the need for autonomy (7 items; α = 0.59), competence (6 items; α =. 62), and relatedness (7 items; α =. 63). Items were rated on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = not true at all to 7 = very true), and those within each subscale were averaged to create mean scores. Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction of the respective basic psychological need.

2.2.6. Ethnic identity

The 51-item Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI; Sellers et al., 1997) was constructed based on the Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI; Sellers et al., 1997; Sellers & Shelton, 2003). The MIBI consists of seven subscales, one of which was utilized in the present study: centrality (8 items; α = 0.77). This subscale was modified by substituting all instances of “Black” with “Hispanic/Latino,” similar to a modification made in a primarily Hispanic sample from an HSI (Patrick et al., 2023). The adapted measure assessed ethnic identity centrality, defined as the extent to which participants considered their Hispanic/Latino ethnic identity to be an important part of their self-concept (e.g., “In general, being Hispanic is an important part of my self-image”). This construct is conceptually distinct from national origin group (Mexican national vs. Mexican American), which was assessed separately as a demographic covariate. Acculturation was not assessed in the present study. Participants responded on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Items were averaged to create a mean composite. Higher scores in centrality indicated ethnic identity as more important to how participants defined themselves.

2.3. Approach to analyses

Descriptive analyses were conducted to assess participants' characteristics. Bivariate analyses assessed the relationships between basic psychological needs, drinking motives, and ethnic identity. Lastly, path analyses were conducted using Mplus 8 statistical software (Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2017). Models were estimated using maximum likelihood (ML) estimation without robust standard errors. Cases with missing data on exogenous predictor variables were excluded from the analysis. Autonomy, competence, and relatedness were allowed to covary, and ethnic identity centrality was allowed to covary with each basic psychological need satisfaction variable. Residual covariances were specified among the four drinking-motive variables. The structural model specified direct pathways from basic psychological need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and ethnic identity centrality to each of the four drinking motives (social, enhancement, coping, and conformity). Drinking motives were modeled as predictors of HED, which in turn predicted alcohol-related consequences. Direct pathways from basic psychological need satisfaction and ethnic identity centrality to HED were also estimated. Consistent with prior research indicating that coping motives are particularly associated with alcohol-related consequences independent of alcohol consumption, a direct pathway from coping motives to alcohol-related consequences was specified a priori (Lui et al., 2020; Stevenson et al., 2019). Indirect effects were then evaluated using 10,000 bootstrapped samples to generate 95% confidence intervals. Model goodness of fit was evaluated using the more stringent fit criteria proposed by Hu and Bentler (1999): RMSEA < 0.06, CFI > 0.95, and SRMR < 0.08. All models controlled for biological sex assigned at birth, student classification, and national origin.

The data used in the present study were collected as part of a larger research project examining HED and related psychosocial factors among Hispanic college students. Portions of this dataset have been used in prior publications addressing different research questions. The present study is the first to examine basic psychological need satisfaction and ethnic identity centrality within an integrated motivational model of HED.

3. Results

The sample consisted primarily of participants who identified as Mexican American (83.7%) and who were female (67.9%). The average age was 22.6 (SD = 5.1) and ranged from 18 to 51. The average alcohol consumption on a typical day was 4.5 standard drinks (SD = 4.4), and participants reported drinking an average of 3.1 days per week (SD = 2.3). An average of 4.3 alcohol-related consequences (SD = 4.4) were reported over the past three months.. Bivariate analyses indicated that autonomy and competence demonstrated moderate negative associations with coping and conformity motives. Relatedness demonstrated small-to-moderate negative associations with coping motives, conformity motives, HED, and alcohol-related consequences. Associations involving ethnic identity were small in magnitude. Full correlations are presented in Table 1. [Table 1 near here].

Table 1.

Descriptive Statistics and Bivariate Correlations.

Variable 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Psych. Needs
1. Autonomy –
2. Competence 0.60* –
3. Relatedness 0.57* 0.53* –
Drinking Motives
4. Coping −0.34* −0.35* −0.25* –
5. Conformity −0.34* −0.29* −0.28* 0.30* –
6. Social −0.14* −0.18* −0.05 0.38* 0.25* –
7. Enhancement −0.18* −0.17* −0.04 0.42* 0.14* 0.68* –
8. Ethnic Identity 0.11* 0.04 0.11* −0.03 −0.05 0.03 −0.04 –
9. Alcohol Use −0.17* −0.12* −0.16* 0.16* 0.11 0.27* 0.23* −0.06 –
10. Alc. Conseq. −0.29* −0.30* −0.22* 0.42* 0.33* 0.39* 0.37* −0.03 0.37* –
M 4.96 4.99 5.14 1.95 1.59 2.98 2.56 4.42 4.54 4.27
SD 0.87 0.98 0.77 1.09 0.92 1.24 1.04 1.20 4.38 4.38
Range 1.6–6.6 2–6.7 2.6–6.5 1–5 1–5 1–5 1–5 1–7 0–24 0–24
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Note: “Alc. Conseq.” refers to alcohol consequences. N = 443. Statistical significance was evaluated using the Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate procedure to account for multiple comparisons. *p < .05.

Overall, model fit indices provided mixed evidence of fit, SBχ2 (23, N = 443) = 82.74, p < .001, RMSEA = 0.08, 90% CI [0.06, 0.09], CFI = 0.91, and SRMR = 0.04. The SRMR met the prespecified criterion, whereas the RMSEA and CFI did not meet the more stringent prespecified criteria. Accordingly, individual parameter estimates were interpreted with caution (Fig. 1). The model explained 12.4% of the variance in coping motives, 12.7% of the variance in conformity motives, 6.0% of the variance in social motives, 4.9% of the variance in enhancement motives, 13.0% of the variance in HED, and 14.7% of the variance in alcohol-related consequences. Autonomy demonstrated significant negative direct effects on coping, conformity, and enhancement drinking motives. Competence demonstrated significant negative direct effects on coping, conformity, and social drinking motives, but was not significantly associated with enhancement motives. Relatedness demonstrated a positive direct association with enhancement motives, but not social motives, and negative direct associations with HED. Ethnic identity demonstrated a significant negative association with HED, whereas social drinking motives demonstrated a positive association with HED. Typical drinking quantity and coping motives were positively associated with alcohol-related consequences. A summary of the standardized path coefficients for statistically significant pathways is presented in Table 2.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

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Structural model of basic psychological needs satisfaction, ethnic identity centrality, drinking motives, heavy episodic drinking, and alcohol-related consequences. Solid lines indicate statistically significant pathways and dotted lines indicate non-significant pathways. Standardized path coefficients for statistically significant pathways are presented in Table 2. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

Table 2.

Standardized path.

Coefficients for significant pathways predictors Outcomes β SE p
Competence Social Motives −0.17 0.06 0.005
Autonomy Enhancement Motives −0.17 0.07 0.011
Relatedness Enhancement Motives 0.12 0.06 0.047
Autonomy Coping Motives −0.17 0.07 0.007
Competence Coping Motives −0.21 0.06 0.001
Autonomy Conformity Motives −0.19 0.06 0.002
Competence Conformity Motives −0.13 0.05 0.018
Relatedness Heavy Episodic Drinking −0.12 0.06 0.040
Social Motives Heavy Episodic Drinking 0.22 0.07 0.002
Ethnic Identity Centrality Heavy Episodic Drinking −0.13 0.05 0.004
Heavy Episodic Drinking Alcohol-Related Consequences 0.23 0.07 0.001
Coping Motives Alcohol-Related Consequences 0.28 0.07 <0.001
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Note: Values represent standardized path coefficients (β). Only statistically significant paths are shown.

With respect to indirect effects, greater competence was indirectly associated with less HED via social drinking motives (β = −0.04, 95% CI [−0.08, −0.01], p = .022). Additionally, greater autonomy (β = −0.07, 95% CI [−0.14, −0.02], p = .037) and competence (β = −0.06, 95% CI [−0.13, −0.02], p = .034) were indirectly associated with fewer alcohol-related consequences, primarily through coping drinking motives. No other indirect effects were statistically significant.

4. Discussion

While SDT has been used to examine both motivations for drinking responsibly (Richards, Pearson and Field, 2020, Richards, Pearson and Field, 2022) and motivations for alcohol consumption (Courtney et al., 2025), few studies have directly investigated basic psychological need satisfaction in relation to alcohol use. In particular, studies exploring these direct pathways among Hispanic students are scarce (Burt et al., 2016). While some research has applied SDT to broader samples of Hispanic college students (Richards, Pearson and Field, 2020, Richards, Pearson and Field, 2022), no study has explicitly focused on college students of Mexican descent, despite the higher levels of HED observed in community samples of adults from this Hispanic subgroup (Castañeda et al., 2019; Vaughan et al., 2013). The present study addressed this gap by examining how basic psychological need satisfaction and ethnic identity centrality relate to drinking motives, HED, and alcohol-related consequences among students of Mexican descent attending a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in the borderland region. This model identified potential motivational pathways that seemed associated with drinking behavior within this context.

Consistent with expectations, satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy and competence demonstrated inverse associations with most drinking motives. Although previous studies found greater autonomy and competence satisfaction to be associated with lower weekly drinking (Burt et al., 2016), autonomy and competence needs did not demonstrate direct effects with HED. Specifically, greater satisfaction of these needs was associated with weaker coping motives, which in turn, were associated with fewer alcohol-related consequences. These findings suggest that students of Mexican descent who experience greater volition and perceived effectiveness may be less likely to use alcohol to cope, potentially reducing their risk of alcohol-related consequences. This interpretation aligns with SDT research linking autonomy and competence need satisfaction with more adaptive emotion regulation strategies (Benita et al., 2020; Zaidman & Benita, 2026), and extends work showing that traditional drinking motives and SDT-based motivations capture distinct information about college students' alcohol-related behavior (Courtney et al., 2025; Richards, Pearson and Field, 2022, Richards, Schwebel, Joseph and Pearson, 2023). It is also consistent with the motivational model of alcohol use, which conceptualizes coping motives as proximal reasons for drinking to reduce negative affect (Cooper, 1994), and with evidence linking coping motives more strongly to alcohol-related consequences than to consumption (Chavez et al., 2024; Stevenson et al., 2019).

Relatedness satisfaction showed a complex pattern of associations. It positively predicted enhancement motives, suggesting that students with greater relatedness satisfaction may be more likely to endorse drinking to intensify positive affect and enjoyment with others. However, relatedness satisfaction was also directly associated with reduced HED, indicating a potentially protective association. This mixed pattern may reflect the context-dependent role of social connection, which can provide support that discourages higher-risk drinking while also relating to social environments in which drinking for enjoyment is more salient. This interpretation is consistent with research showing that associations between belonging, ethnic identity, and alcohol use vary across populations and context (Gopalan et al., 2024; Marsiglia et al., 2004; Zamboanga et al., 2006). From an SDT perspective, satisfaction of relatedness needs may support more autonomous self-regulation, potentially contributing to lower HED (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Taken together, these findings suggest that relatedness may operate differently than autonomy and competence in the context of alcohol use, contributing to greater endorsement of enhancement motives while simultaneously serving a potentially protective role with respect to HED. Future studies should examine whether specific social contexts, such as parties or group events, interact with relatedness to shape drinking behavior among ethnic subgroups of Hispanic students.

Contrary to our hypothesis, ethnic identity centrality did not predict drinking motives or demonstrate indirect associations with alcohol outcomes through drinking motives but did demonstrate a direct negative association with HED. Prior research among individuals of Mexican descent has demonstrated mixed associations between ethnic identity and drinking outcomes (Marsiglia et al., 2004; Scheier et al., 1997; Zamboanga et al., 2006), suggesting that the role of ethnic identity may depend on contextual factors. In the present sample, which reflects a majority-minority context in the Southwest, stronger ethnic identity may be less tied to social differentiation and instead reflect stable cultural values and norms that discourage heavier alcohol use. One possible explanation is that familismo, a culture value emphasizing strong family ties and obligations, may discourage heavier alcohol use (Strunin et al., 2015). Thus, this pattern may help explain why ethnic identity was directly associated with lower HED but was not related to drinking motives, suggesting that cultural values may influence alcohol use through mechanisms other than the drinking motives examined in the present study. Taken together, these findings suggest that in majority-minority contexts, ethnic identity may influence overall patterns of HED without necessarily shaping the underlying motivational processes, highlighting a distinction between behavioral outcomes and drinking motives.

Consistent with prior studies (Lui et al., 2020; Stevenson et al., 2019), coping motives positively predicted alcohol-related consequences yet demonstrated no association with HED. As hypothesized, social motives predicted greater HED but did not demonstrate a relationship with consequences; this finding aligned with the overall literature (e.g., King et al., 2023) but is mixed compared to studies among other Hispanic undergraduates (Chavez et al., 2024; Lui et al., 2020). Additionally, despite often being linked with heavier drinking (Bresin & Mekawi, 2021), enhancement motives were not associated with HED or consequences. These mixed findings suggest that associations between drinking motives and alcohol outcomes may differ across cultural contexts. Together these findings suggest that motivational pathways linking to psychological need satisfaction, ethnic identity, and alcohol-related outcomes may operate differently among students of Mexican descent attending an HSI university inthe borderlands and that coping motives may be a higher risk factor for alcohol-related problems compared to social and enhancement motives. These patterns also indicate that alcohol-related outreach and interventions aimed towards this student population may benefit from adapting their conceptualizations to reflect such culturally distinct patterns.

Several limitations should be noted. Although basic psychological need satisfaction was examined, need frustration was not assessed. Future research should examine both constructs, as need frustration has been associated with problematic HED and other maladaptive outcomes (Tabiś et al., 2021; Tabiś & Poprawa, 2023). Although the adapted version of the MIBI demonstrated acceptable reliability in the present sample and another of primarily Hispanic student sample (Patrick et al., 2023), the measure was originally developed for Black populations and would benefit from evaluation of its construct validity in this other population. While the measure's purpose of assessing the centrality dimension of ethnic identity is applicable across different ethnic groups, it may not fully capture important cultural influences among individuals of Mexican descent (i.e., familismo values). Additionally, internal consistency estimates for the autonomy, competence, and relatedness subscales were modest and lower than those reported in prior research. The reason for the lower internal consistency in the present sample is unclear. As a result, associations involving these constructs should be interpreted with some caution, as lower reliability may have attenuated observed relationships and contributed to conservative estimates of effect sizes. The cross-sectional design limits any conclusions about causality or temporal ordering of variables, although survey-based studies of this type are useful for establishing initial theoretical pathways (Wang & Cheng, 2020). Participants' HED was self-reported which may introduce recall bias as participants may under- or over-report their use within the three-month timeframe. HED data were derived from a single item, introducing the possibility the item may measure typical drinking quantity rather than frequency of heavy drinking. Additionally, survey responses were collected between October 2018 and May 2019. This timeframe includes major holidays and academic milestones may have affected participants' drinking behavior and the number of drinks reported. The sample included only students of Mexican descent attending a single HSI along the border, which may limit generalizability to other Hispanic subgroups or institutional contexts. Although participants were provided with a standard drink chart for reference, it is possible they may have incorrectly estimated their alcohol use due to the use of retrospective recall for this measure. Finally, the null findings for enhancement motives should be interpreted cautiously, as motivational patterns may differ by context.

Future research could examine whether other SDT-related emotion regulation processes (Benita et al., 2020; Ryan & Deci, 2017) help explain the links between psychological need experiences and alcohol outcomes. For example, integrative emotion regulation may clarify how need satisfaction is associated with lower HED, whereas suppressive emotion regulation may help determine if need frustration is associated with maladaptive alcohol use. Additionally, longitudinal studies (Benita et al., 2020; Ryan & Deci, 2017; Zaidman & Benita, 2026) could clarify the temporal ordering of these associations. Specifically, researchers could examine whether psychological need satisfaction prospectively predicts greater integrative emotion regulation and, in turn, lower HED over time, whereas psychological need frustration may predict suppressive emotion regulation and, in turn, greater HED and alcohol-related problems. Examining ethnic identity alongside complementary cultural constructs such as familismo, collectivistic values, and collectivistic coping may provide further clarity to the mixed evidence on social drinking motives among Hispanic college students of Mexican descent (Chavez et al., 2024; Lui et al., 2020).

In conclusion, this study provides evidence that satisfaction of basic psychological needs and ethnic identity centrality is associated with drinking motives and alcohol outcomes among Hispanic college students of Mexican descent. Greater autonomy and competence need satisfaction were associated with lower endorsement of maladaptive drinking motives, with autonomy demonstrating an indirect inverse association with fewer alcohol consequences through reduced coping motives. Relatedness needs and ethnic identity centrality highlighted the importance of social context in their direct associations with lower HED, which was, in turn, directly associated with alcohol consequences. These findings point to several avenues for intervention development, including approaches that strengthen autonomous functioning, reduce coping-based drinking, and acknowledge the cultural and social environments in which HED occurs.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Aitiana I. Sanchez-Garciaguirre: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Visualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Mariany A. Gainza Perez: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Investigation, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Ashley M. Lindquist: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. Rebeca F. Perez-Martinez: Writing – original draft. Craig A. Field: Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Conceptualization.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge all past and current members of the Latino Alcohol and Health Disparities Research and Training center for their assistance with this study.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

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