Dimech, Riley, and Kaur, Divjyot (2026) To brew or not to brew: caffeine consumption motivations and psychological outcomes among young adults. Cogent Psychology, 13 (1). 2634420.

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Abstract

Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance globally, with both beneficial and adverse psychological effects reported at different levels of consumption. This study investigates the role of motivations in moderating the relationship between caffeine intake and psychological outcomes, specifically stress, anxiety, and depression, among young adults (N = 176, Mage = 22.66) utilising a cross-sectional design. Moderation analysis revealed that hedonic motivations, including emotional symptom reduction and enjoyment, moderate the relationship between caffeine intake and stress, as well as anxiety at low levels of motivation. Conversely, motivation for emotional symptom reduction moderated the relationship between caffeine intake and depression at high levels of consumption. These findings provide preliminary insights into how motivations influence the psychological impacts of caffeine and suggest potential directions for future research with implications for intervention. Further research is recommended to explore these findings across different populations and to validate motivation-based strategies for improving individual and public health outcomes.

Item ID:	90989
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2331-1908
Keywords:	Caffeine; stress; depression; anxiety; well-being; consumption motivations
Copyright Information:	This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Date Deposited:	17 Mar 2026 02:29
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology @ 50% 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520302 Clinical psychology @ 50%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 40% 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200401 Behaviour and health @ 30% 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200409 Mental health @ 30%
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