# Athlete’s Personal Values and the Likelihood of Alcohol Use and Heavy Drinking during Adolescence

## TL;DR

This study explores how personal values influence alcohol use in adolescent athletes, finding that openness to change increases alcohol consumption while conservation values reduce it.

## Contribution

The study validates the PVQ-21 for adolescent athletes and identifies personal values as predictors of alcohol use behaviors.

## Key findings

- Openness to change values predict high-frequency alcohol use and heavy drinking in adolescent athletes.
- Conservation values are negatively associated with heavy episodic drinking.
- The PVQ-21 has good psychometric properties for assessing personal values in this population.

## Abstract

Sport is considered an exceptional activity for promoting healthy lifestyles, but the relationship between sport and alcohol consumption is inconclusive. Research on personal values may shed light on this issue and thus make it possible to find effective ways to prevent alcohol misuse in adolescents. The main objectives of this study were to explore the relationships between personal values and alcohol consumption amongst adolescent athletes and to validate the Portrait Values Questionnaire-21 (PVQ-21) in this population. A total of 914 athletes (aged 11–19; 55.4% female) participated in this study. Confirmatory multidimensional scaling analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed. Logistic regression models were fitted to assess the predictive power of personal values on alcohol use. Openness to change values positively predicted high-frequency alcohol use and high-frequency heavy episodic drinking, whereas the opposite occured with athletes who held conservation values. Furthermore, the probability of presenting heavy episodic drinking was negatively associated with conservation values. Finally, the PVQ-21 presented adequate psychometric properties to assess personal values among adolescent athletes. It is crucial to consider the personal values of adolescent athletes when promoting healthy lifestyles through sport.