Alcohol-related expectancies versus demographic/background variables in the prediction of adolescent drinking

Do positive alcohol expectancies have a critical developmental period in pre-adolescents?

OBJECTIVE

Positive outcome expectancies have been shown to predict initiation of alcohol use in children and to mediate and moderate the relationship between dispositional variables and drinking behavior. Negative outcome expectancies for alcohol appear to weaken as children progress to middle adolescence, but positive expectancies tend to increase during this time. Positive alcohol expectancies have been found to increase in children in third and fourth grades, indicating what some investigators have termed a possible critical period for the development of positive expectancies.

METHOD

In the present study, we assessed alcohol expectancies at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months in 277 second-through sixth-grade students. Children completed the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire-Adolescent. Univariate analyses of covariance were conducted.

RESULTS

There were significant main effects for grade on positive alcohol-expectancy change for Global Positive Transformations at 12 and 18 months, Social Behavior Enhancement or Impediment at 6 and 12 months, and Relaxation/Tension Reduction at 6 and 18 months, whereby a consistent pattern emerged in that lower grades did not differ from each other, but they differed significantly from the higher grades.

CONCLUSIONS

Data support a critical developmental period for positive alcohol expectancies, with the greatest change observed between third and fourth grade and between fourth and fifth grade, and only in those expectancies clearly describing positive outcomes (e.g., Relaxation/Tension Reduction) via positive or negative reinforcement versus those with either combined or ambiguous outcomes (e.g., Social Behavior Enhancement or Impediment).

Preventing alcohol use with a universal school-based intervention: results from an effectiveness study

BACKGROUND

The effectiveness of the universal school-based alcohol prevention program "Unge & Rus" [Youth & Alcohol] was tested by an independent research group. The program aims to prevent alcohol use and to change adolescents' alcohol-related attitudes. The main outcome measure was frequency of monthly alcohol use, favorable alcohol attitudes, perceived behavioral control (PBC), positive alcohol expectancy and alcohol-related knowledge.

METHODS

Junior high school students (N = 2,020) with a mean age of 13.5 years participated in this longitudinal pre, post and one-year follow-up study with a quasi-experimental design, involving an intervention group and a comparison group recruited from 41 junior high schools in Norway. Multilevel analysis was used to account for the repeated observations (level 1) nested within students (level 2) who in turn were clustered within school classes (level 3).

RESULTS

Results showed an increased level of alcohol-related knowledge in the intervention group (p < .005) as compared to the comparison group at one-year follow-up. However, no significant difference in change was found between the intervention group and the comparison group in frequency of monthly alcohol use, alcohol-related attitudes, PBC or alcohol expectancy at one-year follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

This study offers adequate data on the effectiveness of a school-based alcohol prevention program widely implemented in Norway. Under its current method of implementation, use of the program cannot be supported over the use of standard alcohol curriculum within schools.

Caffeinated alcohol use and expectancies for caffeine versus alcohol

BACKGROUND

Caffeinated alcoholic beverage (CAB) use is related to alcohol-related risk. Limited research has examined outcome expectancies and CAB consumption.

OBJECTIVES

This study tested the predictive utility of caffeine and alcohol expectancies in CAB use outcomes (i.e. quantity, frequency, and alcohol-related harms).

METHODS

Participants were 419 (302 women) alcohol and caffeine users from a mid-sized urban university. Data collection occurred between August 2010 and December 2011. Participants completed measures of caffeine and alcohol expectancies, alcohol problems, alcohol use, and CAB use.

RESULTS

Caffeine and alcohol expectancies contributed uniquely to approximately 12% of the variability in quantity, 8% in frequency, and 16% in problems. When examined separately, alcohol expectancies explained approximately 10% to 11% of the variance, whereas caffeine expectancies accounted for 6% of the variance in CAB use quantity. For CAB use frequency, alcohol and caffeine expectancies accounted for about 8% and 4%, respectively. Alcohol expectancies accounted for 12% to 14% of variance, whereas caffeine expectancies accounted for 4% to 6% in alcohol-related harms. CONCLUSIONS/ IMPORTANCE: The present study sought to address a gap in the literature regarding the contributions of expectancies in the prediction of CAB use. Our findings provide support for the predictive utility of both caffeine and alcohol expectancies in accounting for individual variability in CAB use but alcohol expectancies may exert greater impact on use patterns. Inclusion of both types of expectancies in larger theoretical frameworks may be beneficial in gaining a more complete and deeper conceptualization of this risky behavior.

Caffeinated alcohol consumption profiles and associations with use severity and outcome expectancies

Growing evidence suggests that the consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages (CAB) may be riskier than alcohol alone. Efforts to identify patterns of CAB use and the correlates of such drinking patterns could further our conceptualization of and intervention for this health issue. Consequently, the current study aimed to (1) identify distinct classes of CAB users, (2) examine differences between classes on measures of alcohol and caffeine problems, and (3) compare distinct classes of CAB users on caffeine and alcohol outcome expectancies. Participants were 583 (31% men) undergraduate students from a psychology research pool. Latent profile analysis models were derived using four indicators: CAB use quantity, CAB use frequency, alcohol use quantity, and alcohol use frequency. Finding revealed four classes of drinkers: High Alcohol/High CAB (6.00%), High Alcohol/Moderate CAB (5.15%), High Alcohol/Low CAB (22.99%), and Low Alcohol/Low CAB (65.87%). The Low Alcohol/Low CAB class reported the lowest relative levels of caffeine dependence symptoms, caffeine withdrawal, alcohol use problems, and heavy episodic drinking frequency. Further, results indicated differential expectancy endorsement based on use profiles. CAB users in the High Alcohol/Low CAB class endorsed more positive alcohol expectancies than the Low Alcohol/Low CAB group. Those in the High Alcohol/High CAB class endorsed stronger withdrawal symptom caffeine expectancies than all other classes. Inclusion of substance-specific expectancies into larger theoretical frameworks in future work of CAB use may be beneficial. Findings may inform intervention efforts for those at greatest risk related to CAB consumption.

Peer deviance, alcohol expectancies, and adolescent alcohol use: explaining shared and nonshared environmental effects using an adoptive sibling pair design

Previous research suggests adolescent alcohol use is largely influenced by environmental factors, yet little is known about the specific nature of this influence. We hypothesized that peer deviance and alcohol expectancies would be sources of environmental influence because both have been consistently and strongly correlated with adolescent alcohol use. The sample included 206 genetically related and 407 genetically unrelated sibling pairs assessed in mid-to-late adolescence. The heritability of adolescent alcohol use (e.g., frequency, quantity last 12 months) was minimal and not significantly different from zero. The associations among peer deviance, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol use were primarily due to shared environmental factors. Of special note, alcohol expectancies also significantly explained nonshared environmental influence on alcohol use. This study is one of few that have identified specific environmental variants of adolescent alcohol use while controlling for genetic influence.

Affect-regulation expectancies among Gamblers

Factor scores on a gambling expectancy questionnaire (GEQ) were used to subtype 132 university students who gamble regularly (37.9% male; M age = 22.6 years, SD = 6.04) as: Reward Expectancy Gamblers (Reward EGs)-have strong expectations that gambling augments positive mood, Relief Expectancy Gamblers (Relief EGs)-have strong expectations that gambling relieves negative affect, and Non-Expectancy Gamblers (Non-EGs)-have neither strong expectation. Gambling on a high-low card game was compared across subtypes following priming for either "relief" or "reward" affect-regulation expectancies with the Scrambled Sentence Test (SST). The hypothesized Prime type x GEQ subtype interaction was not significant. When a more stringent set of criteria for GEQ subtyping was imposed, the "purified" sub-sample (n = 54) resulted in the hypothesized statistically significant Prime type x GEQ subtype interaction. Relief EGs gambled more after being primed with the construct "relief of negative emotions" compared to after being primed with the construct "augmentation of positive emotion." Planned orthogonal contrasts showed a significant linear increase in number of bets made across GEQ subtypes when prime type corresponded to GEQ subtype. The results suggest a need for components in gambling treatment programs that address clients' expectancies that gambling can provide a specific desirable emotional outcome.

Psychometric Properties of a Revised Form of the Drug-Taking Confidence Questionnaire for Use with Adolescents

Self-efficacy is an important cognitive predictor of substance abuse treatment outcome. While measures of coping self-efficacy are related to substance use relapse in adults, their properties are not well known in adolescent populations. The present study examined 223 adolescents while in treatment for substance abuse and comorbid psychiatric disorders. Responses on the Drug-Taking Confidence Questionnaire (DTCQ; Sklar et al., 1997) were used to construct a 37-item, 5-factor version for use with adolescents. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis identified the following factors: 1) Negative Situations, 2) Social/Drugs, 3) Pleasant Emotions, 4) Testing Personal Control, and 5) Physical/Intimate. Data preliminarily support the construct, concurrent, and predictive validity of the revised instrument.

"...you would probably want to do it. Cause that's what made them popular": Exploring perceptions of inhalant utility among young adolescent nonusers and occasional users

With an eye toward future primary prevention efforts, this study explores perceptions of inhalant utility among young adolescents in the United States. The study makes use of data gathered via nine focus groups conducted in Tucson, Arizona in 2004 (N = 47, mean age = 13.2 years). Three main themes emerged concerning the perceived utility of inhalant use: (1) Inhalant use as a means of mental escape, (2) Inhalant use as a social tool, and (3) Inhalant use as a parental relations tool. Additionally, participants discussed an interaction hypothesis regarding inhalant use and popularity. Implications for future research are suggested and limitations described.

Adaptation of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ-A): a short version for use among 13-year-olds in Norway

An adaptation of a Norwegian modified short version of Christiansen & Goldman's Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire for Adolescents (AEQ-A) was examined in this survey. Subjects were 924 Norwegian seventh graders, with an average age of 13.3 years. From the original 90 items, 27 items representing all seven original scales were used in this study. Factor analysis did not create any preferred new factor solution compared to Christiansen & Goldman's original factors. Internal consistency of the seven AEQ-A scales ranged from 0.37 to 0.72 on Cronbach's alpha. All seven AEQ-A scales correlated significantly with self-reported alcohol use as was expected, and this study also replicated the relative importance of the social enhancement scale. This was the first study using AEQ-A in a non-English-speaking culture. The generalizability of alcohol outcome expectancies was strongly supported. The present study indicates that the Norwegian version of AEQ-A possesses a level of concurrent validity and internal reliability that is acceptable compared to the original scales, and can serve as a useful instrument in behavioral research on alcohol use among Norwegian adolescents in the years to come.

The development of alcohol-related expectancies from the age of 12 to the age of 15 for two Swedish adolescent samples

Two hundred seventy-four Swedish students from grades six through nine participated in the first study. The purpose was to explore whether 12-year-old Swedish students (grade six) have formed alcohol-related expectancies prior to any own extensive drinking experience and whether alcohol-related expectancies change from the age of 12 to the age of 15 (grade nine). Results indicated that expectancies are formed at the age of 12 and that most of the expected effects are positive in nature. From the age of 12 to the age of 15 expectancies develop further in a positive direction. Background variables did not affect the results to any major degree. The results from a second, more heterogeneous sample of 146 students from grade six and grade nine, confirmed the general picture. It was concluded that adolescents do hold positive alcohol-related expectancies and that these expectancies become more positive with increasing age.

Classical conditioning and cognitive determinants of subjective craving for opiates: an investigation of their relative contributions

Subjective craving for drugs is frequently reported by detoxified addicts. Explanatory models emphasizing classical conditioning (CC) and cognitive mechanisms have been proposed, and the mechanisms postulated by the two approaches are discussed here. There are three major variants of the CC model, arguing that craving is associated with conditioned changes which are respectively drug-agonistic, opponent-process, or withdrawal reactions. The cognitive model highlights the role of 'outcome expectancies' as determinants of both appetitive and avoidant motivations. The present investigation has identified correlates of craving predicted by the above models, and tested them empirically. Detoxified opiate addicts participated in in a Craving Test requiring them to rate their craving, physical state, and emotions during exposures to both neutral and drug-related material. Other measures, including personality and outcome expectancies for drug use, were also taken, and interrelationships among the variables were explored statistically. Whilst some of the predictions of the CC formulations were borne out, the cognitive model received more consistent support. The theoretical and treatment implications of these data are considered.