Reading Motivation, Alcohol and Drug Use in Future Teachers in Preschool and Primary School

Future teachers will have to develop the reading habit in their students, as this is an essential factor in schoolchildren. The lack of reading motivation among young people and the need to have it in order to transmit it has been evidenced. Young people often prefer to spend their leisure time using alcohol and other drugs rather than reading books for pleasure. The factors that influence reading motivation are varied, but the objective of this research work focuses on establishing the relationship between reading motivation and the problematic use of alcohol and other drugs in future teachers of Preschool and Primary Education. A total of 178 subjects among university students were recruited (56.6% girls). The ages ranged from 18 to 34 (M = 21.59, SD = 3.52). The first scale used was the MULTICAGE CAD-4 for behavioral addiction together with a Scale for Characterizing Motivation for Academic Reading (EMLA). The results of the study indicate that those young people who were more involved in the consumption of alcohol and drugs had a lower reading habit. Likewise, the study also reveals significant mean differences in reading motivation based on gender and age. This shows the need to enact healthy habits from the university related to increasing reading motivation and promoting the reading habit in future teachers.