# An Ecologically Valid Application of Self-Determination Theory to Understand Responsible Alcohol Use

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO · 2022 · $58,310

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Alcohol misuse among young adults in the U.S. is a significant public health concern. Protective behavioral
strategies (PBS) are cognitive-behavioral strategies used before, during, or immediately after drinking to
reduce alcohol use, intoxication, and/or alcohol-related harms. Using PBS appears to be an effective means of
harm-reduction, though PBS-based interventions are unlikely to have reached their full potential. While much is
known about motivation for drinking, surprisingly little is known about motivation for engaging in PBS. Better
understanding of motivation for PBS use can inform the development of novel interventions that motivate
young adults to use such behaviors. Self-determination theory (SDT) is a general theory of human motivation
that has been applied to understand a wide range of health-promoting behaviors, though its application to
alcohol research has been limited. SDT proposes that there are different types of motivation that vary in the
extent to which they are self-determined. For example, people may engage in a behavior because they feel
pressured to do so (i.e., controlled motivation) or because they value the behavior (i.e., autonomous
motivation). According to SDT, autonomous motivation is more likely to result in the initiation and maintenance
of health-promoting behaviors than controlled motivation. Autonomous motivation is posited to be facilitated by
environments that satisfy the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Our
objective in this proposal is to use an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design to comprehensively
investigate the tenets of SDT to better understand PBS use. Specifically, we will retain a racially/ethnically
diverse, sex-balanced sample of college student (n = 90) and non-college attending young adult drinkers (n =
90) who are self-determined (n = 30/30; highest in autonomous motivation, lowest in amotivation), highly
motivated (n = 30/30; high in both autonomous and controlled motivation), and low/amotivated (n = 30/30;
relatively high on amotivation and low on both autonomous and controlled motivation) to use PBS to complete
a 4-week EMA study. This innovative design will allow us to efficiently evaluate the tenets of SDT as applied to
using PBS at both the within-subjects (Aim 1) and between-subjects level (Aim 2), clarifying novel targets for
alcohol interventions that could result in sustained behavioral change. Each aspect of the research design was
chosen deliberately to enhance the applicant’s training. Potential moderators of the within-subjects
associations between SDT constructs and alcohol-related outcomes will be examined to help inform future
intervention tailoring (Exploratory Aim).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10460643
- **Project number:** 5F32AA028712-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
- **Principal Investigator:** Dylan K Richards
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $58,310
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10460643

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10460643, An Ecologically Valid Application of Self-Determination Theory to Understand Responsible Alcohol Use (5F32AA028712-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10460643. Licensed CC0.

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