Alcohol evaluations and acceptability: examining descriptive and injunctive norms among heavy drinkers

Normative Perceptions of Peer Drinking Distinguish High-Intensity Drinkers from Other Drinking Groups

Background: High-intensity drinking (HID), or drinking that doubles the binge threshold (i.e., 8+/10+ drinks for women/men), is associated with more negative consequences than binge-only drinking. However, research focusing on HID and factors that may delineate HID from other drinking behaviors is lacking. The present study evaluated if perceived norms for peer drinking behavior (i.e., descriptive norms for alcohol quantity and frequency and injunctive norms) differentiated high-intensity drinkers from other drinker statuses. Further, we evaluated the role of perceived norms on odds of HID engagement and HID frequency. Finally, college status, sex, and underage drinker status were evaluated as moderators of the association between perceived norms and HID status/frequency. Methods: Participants were 623 emerging adult drinkers recruited via Craigslist (68.7% male; 69.0% White). Participants completed an online survey on their drinking behaviors and related social factors. Results: Each domain of perceived norms positively associated with drinker status. Higher perceived norms were associated with greater odds of HID and predicted HID frequency. The association between quantity and frequency descriptive norms and HID engagement was stronger for nonstudents and was only significant for males. Underage drinker status did not moderate associations between perceived norms and HID engagement. Conclusions: Findings provided evidence that perceptions of peer drinking behaviors are strong indicators of HID risk and may be especially useful for identifying high-intensity drinking males and nonstudents. The utility of perceived peer norms to differentiate this group of particularly risky drinkers suggests that social-influence-focused intervention approaches, including norms correction, may be efficacious in targeting HID among emerging adults.

Harmful Drinking Phenotype in a Large Dutch Community Sample

AIMS

Harmful drinking patterns are shaped by a broad complex interaction of factors, societal and individual, psychological and behavioral. Although previous studies have focused on a few variables at a time, the current study simultaneously examines a large number of variables in order to create a comprehensive view (i.e. phenotype) of harmful drinking, and to rank the main predictors of harmful and non-harmful drinking by order of importance.

METHODS

We surveyed a large sample of Dutch adults about their habitual drinking characteristics and attitudes, perceptions and motives for drinking. We fed 45 variables into a random forest machine learning model to identify predictors for (1) drinking within and in excess of Dutch guideline recommendations and (2) harmful and non-harmful drinking.

RESULTS

In both models, respondents' subjective perceptions of 'responsible drinking', both per occasion and per week, showed the strongest predictive potential for different drinking phenotypes. The next strongest factors were respondents' reason for drinking, motives for drinking and age. Other variables, such as drinking location, knowledge about alcohol-related health risks and consumption of different beverage types, were not strong predictors of drinking phenotypes.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the direction of the relationship is unclear from the findings, they suggest that interventions and policy measures aimed at individuals and social norms around drinking may offer promise for reducing harmful drinking. Messaging and promotion of drinking guidelines should be tailored with this in mind.

Understanding alcohol-specific antecedents among Chinese vocational school adolescents

BACKGROUND

Alcohol use among Chinese vocational school students is widespread and associated with many negative consequences. However, alcohol-specific antecedents for this population are understudied.

OBJECTIVES

The current study explored: (a) which alcohol-specific antecedents are the most salient predictors for alcohol use intentions, (b) whether any mediational relationships exist among these alcohol-specific antecedents, and (c) whether gender-based differences exist among these relationships.

METHODS

This study analyzed data from 1,230 vocational school adolescents in three Chinese cities. Survey data were analyzed using dominance analysis and structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

Personal norms were the most salient antecedents for alcohol use intentions, followed by injunctive norms from friends and parents, descriptive norms from friends and classmates, and positive belief about drinking. We observed a statistically significant mediational chain from descriptive norms to injunctive norms, and in turn to personal norms and positive beliefs, and finally to alcohol use intentions. Gender moderated some of the paths.

CONCLUSIONS

Alcohol use norms and beliefs among Chinese vocational school students have distinct predictive relationships with alcohol use intentions. Alcohol use prevention programs designed for this population need to address normative beliefs (descriptive, injunctive, and personal norms) and the perceived benefit of alcohol use.

Perceptions of alcohol misuse among Alaska native health care system stakeholders: A qualitative exploration

Although alcohol misuse is a priority for health care systems serving Alaska Native and American Indian (ANAI) people, stakeholders' perceptions of misuse are understudied. Patients (n = 34), providers (n = 20), and leaders (n = 16) at a Tribally owned and operated health care system reported that alcohol misuse results from the interaction of factors, including colonization, structural factors, social alienation, social norms about overdrinking introduced at the time of colonizing contact, coping with emotions, and beliefs about ANAI people and alcohol. Childhood exposure to alcohol misuse leads some ANAI people to avoid alcohol altogether, shedding light on the high levels of abstinence observed in ANAI communities.

Influence of Norm-Based Messages on College Students' Binge Drinking Intentions: Considering Norm Type, Regulatory Mode, and Level of Alcohol Consumption

This study examined the influence of norm-based messages on U.S. college students' binge drinking intentions, focusing on norm type, locomotion and assessment regulatory modes, and level of alcohol consumption as possible moderators. Results of an online experiment (N = 519) revealed significant three-way interactions among regulatory mode (assessment/locomotion), level of alcohol consumption, and norm type (i.e., descriptive vs. injunctive norms) on binge drinking intentions. The relative persuasiveness of descriptive vs. injunctive norm-based messages was contingent upon an individual's locomotion/assessment regulatory mode and overall alcohol consumption level. Findings from this study extend research on social norms and regulatory mode and provide useful suggestions for the norm-based college drinking intervention.

The Role of Social Media Content on Solitary Drinking Among Korean Adults

This study aims to provide explanations for how exposure to social media content on solitary drinking influences the frequency and quantity of solitary drinking, and posting about solitary drinking on social networking sites (SNS). An online survey was conducted with 506 Korean adults who had consumed alcohol at least once while alone in the previous year. The study showed the following results: First, exposure to social media content related to solitary drinking was positively associated with both descriptive norms and negative alcohol expectancies, both of which increased solitary drinking and posting on SNS. Second, although social media content influenced injunctive norm perceptions, injunctive norms did not influence solitary drinking or posting on SNS. Findings suggest that correcting descriptive norms on solitary drinking may be an appropriate intervention for solitary alcohol users in Korea.

TV, Social Media, and College Students' Binge Drinking Intentions: Moderated Mediation Models

Many studies to date have examined how media influence health-related behavior through social norms. However, most studies focused on traditional media. In the era of traditional and social media integration, our study advances health and mass communication scholarship by examining the influence of both traditional and social media mediated through social norms. Also, we examined a boundary condition for the norms-mediated media influence process. Namely, in the context of college binge drinking, we predict that exposure to TV and social media prodrinking messages can influence college students' binge drinking intentions through perceived peer descriptive and injunctive norms. We also predict that group identification will moderate this indirect effect. Our moderated mediation models were tested via structural equation modeling (N = 609). We found that college students' exposure to social media prodrinking messages indirectly influenced their binge drinking intentions via perceived injunctive norms, and students' identification with their peers moderated this indirect effect. However, neither descriptive nor injunctive norms mediated the influence of students' exposure to TV prodrinking messages on their binge drinking intentions. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

The associations among prior drinking consequences, subjective evaluations, and subsequent alcohol outcomes

Although the many positive and negative psychosocial consequences of alcohol use are well documented, evidence of the association between prior drinking consequences and subsequent alcohol-related outcomes is mixed. Social learning theory highlights that cognitive appraisals of prior drinking consequences play a crucial intermediate role in the relation of prior drinking consequences with subsequent alcohol-related outcomes. This prospective study was designed to test the mediating effects of subjective evaluations (i.e., perceived valence and controllability) in the association of prior drinking consequences with change in binge drinking and drinking consequences over time. Participants were 171 college students (69% female, 74% White, M age = 18.95 years, SD = 1.35) who completed 2 online surveys, with an average interval of 68 days (SD = 10.22) between assessments. Path analyses of the data did not support mediational effects of perceived valence or controllability of prior drinking consequences on subsequent alcohol-related outcomes. Specifically, greater frequency of negative consequences was associated with lower perceived valence and controllability, and greater frequency of positive consequences was associated with lower perceived controllability of the experienced consequences. However, perceptions of valence and controllability were not in turn associated with subsequent binge drinking and drinking consequences. Instead, greater frequency of positive consequences was directly associated with greater subsequent frequency of binge drinking. Findings highlight the importance of prior positive consequences in the escalation of binge drinking over a short period of time, although this relation may not be accounted for by perceptions of valence and controllability of the prior drinking consequences. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Effect of Descriptive Norms on Pregaming Frequency: Tests of Five Moderators

BACKGROUND

Pregaming is highly prevalent on college campuses and associated with heightened levels of intoxication and risk of alcohol consequences. However, research examining the correlates of pregaming behavior is limited. Descriptive norms (i.e., perceptions about the prevalence or frequency of a behavior) are reliable and comparatively strong predictors of general drinking behavior, with recent evidence indicating that they are also associated with pregaming.

OBJECTIVES

We tested the hypothesis that higher descriptive norms for pregaming frequency would be associated with personal pregaming frequency. We also tested whether this effect would be stronger in the context of several theory-based moderators: female gender, higher injunctive norms (i.e., perceptions of others' attitudes toward a particular behavior), a more positive attitude toward pregaming, a stronger sense of identification with the drinking habits of other students, and stronger social comparison tendencies.

METHODS

College student drinkers (N = 198, 63% female) participated in an online survey assessing frequency of pregaming, descriptive norms, and hypothesized moderators.

RESULTS

A multiple regression model revealed that higher descriptive norms, a more positive attitude toward pregaming, and stronger peer identification were significantly associated with greater pregaming frequency among drinkers. However, no moderators of the association between descriptive norms and pregaming frequency were observed.

CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE

Descriptive norms are robust predictors of pregaming behavior, for both genders and across levels of several potential moderators. Future research seeking to understand pregaming behavior should consider descriptive norms, as well as personal attitudes and identification with student peers, as targets of interventions designed to reduce pregaming.

Social Anxiety and Cannabis-Related Impairment: The Synergistic Influences of Peer and Parent Descriptive and Injunctive Normative Perceptions

OBJECTIVES

Cannabis users, especially socially anxious cannabis users, are influenced by perceptions of other's use. The present study tested whether social anxiety interacted with perceptions about peer and parent beliefs to predict cannabis-related problems.

METHODS

Participants were 148 (36.5% female, 60.1% non-Hispanic Caucasian) current cannabis users aged 18-36 (M = 21.01, SD = 3.09) who completed measures of perceived descriptive and injunctive norms, social anxiety, and cannabis use behaviors. Hierarchical multiple regressions were employed to investigate the predictive value of the social anxiety X parent injunctive norms X peer norms interaction terms on cannabis use behaviors.

RESULTS

Higher social anxiety was associated with more cannabis problems. A three-way interaction emerged between social anxiety, parent injunctive norms, and peer descriptive norms, with respect to cannabis problems. Social anxiety was positively related to more cannabis problems when parent injunctive norms were high (i.e., perceived approval) and peer descriptive norms were low. Results further showed that social anxiety was positively related to more cannabis problems regardless of parent injunctive norms.

CONCLUSIONS

The present work suggests that it may be important to account for parent influences when addressing normative perceptions among young adult cannabis users. Additional research is needed to determine whether interventions incorporating feedback regarding parent norms impacts cannabis use frequency and problems.