The relationship between drinking motives and interpretation bias in problematic drinkers with mild to borderline intellectual disability

Background The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between drinking motives and interpretation bias (interpreting ambiguous stimuli in an alcohol-related way) in problematic drinkers with and without mild to borderline intellectual disability (MBID). Method Participants (N = 178) were divided into 4 groups based on severity of alcohol use–related problems and full-scale IQ. They completed a word-association task and the Drinking Motives Questionnaire Revised (DMQ-R). Results Problematic drinkers showed an interpretation bias towards alcohol. Participants with MBID had a relatively strong interpretation bias. The DMQ-R coping motive predicted the strength of the bias in negative scenarios, whereas the DMQ-R coping and social motives predicted the strength of the bias in positive scenarios. Conclusions The activation of this bias might depend on individual differences in drinking motives, which provides implications for the assessment and treatment of problematic alcohol use in individuals with and without MBID.