Alcoholism and memory: broadening the scope of alcohol-expectancy research

Daily Positive Alcohol Expectancies and Alcohol Use Outcomes among College Students

Expectancy theory supports alcohol expectancies, or the expected effects of drinking, as an important factor in alcohol use behaviors. Recent research supports that alcohol expectancies fluctuate daily, but scant research has examined specific types of expectancies and their associations with alcohol use at the daily level. Consequently, the present study examined (1) the daily association between select expectancies (i.e., sociability, tension reduction, liquid courage) and likelihood of drinking, and (2) whether daily expectancies predict alcohol use outcomes (i.e., alcohol-related problems, heavy drinking) on drinking days. Participants (N = 221; 79.2% women) were primarily White (48.4%) and Black (29.7%) university students. Participants completed daily measures of expectancies, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems each day for 14 days. Results from multilevel models revealed daily sociability as the only expectancy subscale linked with increased odds of drinking. Daily expectancies did not predict heavy drinking or alcohol-related problems on drinking days. At the between-person level, average levels of sociability and tension reduction expectancies were associated with a greater likelihood of engaging in heavy drinking and experiencing a problem. Findings highlight that fluctuations in sociability expectancies may be proximally linked to likelihood of alcohol use, which may inform just-in-time intervention efforts targeting alcohol expectancies.

Assessing Alcohol Expectations in University Students: the APNE Scale

The increasing prevalence of alcohol consumption at early ages has led to major efforts to identify alcohol drinking habits within this highly vulnerable group, and individuals with hazardous patterns of alcohol consumption. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Alcohol Positive and Negative Expectations Scale (APNE; a new screening tool developed to identify expectations toward alcohol), and to examine the patterns of alcohol drinking in young adults. The sample included n = 1309 participants (college students) with age range 20 to 25 years. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) performed through Generalized Structural Equation Models (GSEM) verified the structure of the APNE, correlational models evaluated convergent-discriminant validity, and logistic regression assessed the discriminative ability to identify harmful drinking. The bifactor structure for the APNE was confirmed (positive and negative expectations toward alcohol drinking), with adequate goodness-of-fit (RMSEA = 0.052, CFI = 0.936, TLI = 0.914, and SRMR = 0.075). Multi-group modeling showed invariance by sex (p = .543) and age (p = .395) for the measurement coefficients. High correlations with external measures of alcohol use/abuse and discriminant capacity to identify harmful drinking were obtained. Compared to men, women reported higher mean scores in the negative expectations factor (p = .003). Polynomial linear trends showed that the likelihood of positive expectations toward alcohol decreased with age, while negative expectations increased. The APNE is a brief, reliable, valid, and accurate tool to assess positive and negative expectations toward alcohol consumption in college students. Tools like the APNE can support policymakers to make informed decisions about the implementation of prevention and treatment programs targeted at this segment of the population, the development of personalized alcohol programs, and the reappraisal of public campaigns.

Psychological Processes Underlying Effects of Alcohol Marketing on Youth Drinking

OBJECTIVE

Evidence increasingly suggests that alcohol marketing plays a significant role in facilitating underage drinking. This article presents a review of empirical studies and relevant theoretical models proposing plausible psychological mechanisms or processes responsible for associations between alcohol-related marketing and youth drinking.

METHOD

We review key psychological processes pertaining to cognitive mechanisms and social cognitive models that operate at the individual or intrapersonal level (attitude formation, expectancies) and the social or interpersonal level (personal identity, social identity, social norms). We use dominant psychological and media theories to support our statements of putative causal inferences, including the Message Interpretation Processing Model, Prototype Willingness Model, and Reinforcing Spirals Model.

RESULTS

Based on the evidence, we propose an integrated conceptual model that depicts relevant psychological processes as they work together in a complex chain of influence, and we highlight those constructs that have received the greatest support in the literature.

CONCLUSIONS

The evidence to date suggests that perceptions of others' behaviors and attitudes in relation to alcohol (social norms) may be a more potent driver of youth drinking than evaluations of drinking outcomes (expectancies). Considerably more research--especially experimental research--is needed to understand the extent to which theoretically relevant psychological processes have unique effects on adolescent and young adult drinking behavior, with the ultimate goal of identifying modifiable intervention targets to produce reductions in the initiation and maintenance of underage alcohol use.

A risk model for addictive behaviors in adolescents: interactions between personality and learning

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

To determine whether transdiagnostic risk, represented as elevations in one high-risk personality trait, interacts with behavior-specific risk, represented as elevated expectancies for reinforcement from either drinking or smoking, to account partly for early adolescent drinking and smoking behavior.

DESIGN

Multiple regression analysis.

SETTING

Twenty-three public schools in two school systems in the United States.

PARTICIPANTS

A sample of 1897 adolescents tested in the spring of 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grades.

MEASUREMENTS

Transdiagnostic risk was measured as negative urgency, the tendency to act rashly when distressed, using the UPPS-P child version. Drinking-specific and smoking-specific risk were measured as expectancies for reinforcement from drinking and smoking, using the Memory Model-Based Expectancy Questionnaire (alcohol) and the Adolescent Smoking Consequences Questionnaire (smoking).

FINDINGS

There was consistent concurrent prediction from the interactions of (a) negative urgency and alcohol reinforcement expectancies to early adolescent drinking and (b) negative urgency and smoking reinforcement expectancies to early adolescent smoking, above and beyond prediction from the main effects of those variables. In each case, expectancies were more predictive at higher levels of negative urgency. Incremental R2 values for main effects ranged from 0.07 to 0.26, and for interactions ranged from 0.01 to 0.03. Prospectively, the main effects predicted subsequent behavior but the interaction effects did not, except in one case.

CONCLUSIONS

Among elementary and high school students in the United States, the joint effects of negative urgency and behavior-specific expectancies help to explain drinking and smoking behavior. Joint elevations on the trait and the learning variable account for drinking and smoking behavior beyond the main effects of each predictor. However, there is reason to doubt whether the joint effects predict subsequent increases in drinking and smoking beyond the main effects of those variables.

A dual process perspective on advances in cognitive science and alcohol use disorder

There is a tremendous global and national (US) burden associated with alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Further, of the mental health disorders, AUD has the widest treatment gap. Thus, there is a critical need for improved understanding of the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of AUD. The application of cognitive science to the study of AUD has a longstanding history of attempting to meet this need. In this selective review, we identified and focused on four domains of recent (i.e., in the last decade) applications of cognitive science to the study of AUD: implicit cognitive biases, executive function, behavioral economic approaches to alcohol decision making, and functional connectivity neuroimaging. We highlighted advances within these four domains and considered them in the context of dual process models of addiction, which focus on the contribution and interplay of two complementary neurocognitive systems (impulsive and control systems). Findings across the domains were generally consistent with dual process models. They also suggest the need for further model refinements, including integrating behavioral economic approaches and findings from functional connectivity neuroimaging studies. Research evaluating candidate interventions associated with these domains is emergent but promising, suggesting important directions for future research.

An integrative model of risk for high school disordered eating

Binge eating and purging behaviors are associated with significant harm and distress among adolescents. The process by which these behaviors develop (often in the high school years) is not fully understood. We tested the Acquired Preparedness (AP) model of risk involving transactions among biological, personality, and psychosocial factors to predict binge eating and purging behavior in a sample of 1,906 children assessed in the spring of 5th grade (the last year of elementary school), the fall of 6th grade (the first year of middle school), spring of 6th grade, and spring of 10th grade (second year of high school). Pubertal onset in spring of 5th grade predicted increases in negative urgency, but not negative affect, in the fall of 6th grade. Negative urgency in the fall of 6th grade predicted increases in expectancies for reinforcement from eating in the spring of 6th grade, which in turn predicted increases in binge eating behavior in the spring of 10th grade. Negative affect in the fall of 6th grade predicted increases in thinness expectancies in the spring of 6th grade, which in turn predicted increases in purging in the spring of 10th grade. Results demonstrate similarities and differences in the development of these two different bulimic behaviors. Intervention efforts targeting the risk factors evident in this model may prove fruitful in the treatment of eating disorders characterized by binge eating and purging. (PsycINFO Database Record

Validation of a contextualized assessment of smoking behaviour in students

AIMS

The aim of this study was to validate an audio simulation of culture-specific social contexts associated with smoking to provide a medium for researchers to investigate social-contextual influences on tobacco use in the laboratory.

METHODS

Eighty-one students (34.6% men; n = 28) listened to five audio simulations of peer social contexts where offers to smoke tobacco were made [Smoking Simulated Intoxication Digital Elicitation (S-SIDE)]. For each social scenario, participants answered questions about their willingness to accept the offer to smoke and completed measures of smoking cognitions and tobacco use. Thirty days later, participants completed online assessments of smoking behaviour.

RESULTS

Willingness to accept smoking offers in the S-SIDE procedure was related to smoking at both time-points (T1: r₍₈₁₎  = 0.37, P < 0.001;T2: r₍₈₁₎  = 0.36, P = 0.001). Performance on the simulation improved prediction of smoking at 1 month follow-up over and above smoking expectancies, F_(2,74)  = 4.27, P = 0.02; R²  = 0.21; ΔR²  = 0.09, as well as other indices of smoking willingness, F_(2,75)  = 4.22, P = 0.02; R²  = 0.22: ΔR²  = 0.09, while neither expectancies nor willingness was related to smoking above and beyond the simulation.

CONCLUSIONS

Social context plays an important role in smoking-related decision-making and simulated social contexts have potential for the study of context-related decision-making in addiction.

Race/Ethnicity, Smoking Status, and Self-Generated Expected Outcomes from Smoking among Adolescents

Racial/ethnic differences in adolescent smoking suggest that different factors may motivate smoking among various racial/ethnic groups. This study examined relations among race/ethnicity, self-generated smoking outcome expectancies, and smoking status. Our findings noted that current smoking was highest among Hispanics, whereas African Americans and Asians were least likely to ever smoke. African Americans were most likely to experiment but least likely to smoke currently. Five expectancies differed significantly by race/ethnicity: reduce tension, image, negative aesthetics, addiction, and cost. However, none were significant mediators or moderators. Racial/ethnic groups most susceptible to smoking initiation and with the highest rates of current smoking should be targeted for prevention and cessation. Research is needed to examine more thoroughly racial/ethnic differences in expectancies.

Development and initial validation of a marijuana cessation expectancies questionnaire

BACKGROUND

The present research examines anticipated consequences of ceasing or reducing marijuana use with initial development and psychometric validation of a measure of marijuana cessation expectancies.

METHODS

The 46-item Marijuana Cessation Expectancies Questionnaire (MCEQ) was initially developed from the content validity analysis of free responses about expected outcomes of stopping and decreasing marijuana use generated by 94 participants. The closed-ended MCEQ was subsequently administered to 151 non-treatment seeking regular marijuana users (used on M=64.7% of the prior 60days, SD=25.1%;M_age=21.4, SD=3.96; 38.4% female).

RESULTS

Exploratory factor analyses identified six MCEQ factors that accounted for 61% of variance, which were related to expected improvement in: 1) performance/motivation, 2) problems with authority, and 3) interpersonal functioning, and expected worsening of 4) mood states and 5) fun experiences, and 6) changes in appetite/weight from cessation/reduction of marijuana use. Internal consistency of full scale items was good (α=0.86) and moderate to high for all factors (α's=0.60-0.89). The MCEQ items showed good concurrent validity with key measures and incremental associations with change indices (prior history of cessation/reduction attempt, benefits of reduction, importance of change), beyond the effects of marijuana use expectancies.

CONCLUSIONS

These data provide initial support for the MCEQ and suggest it is closely linked to reduction/cessation decisions in marijuana users. MCEQ may be used clinically to enhance existing behavioral treatments and motivational interventions for problem marijuana use.

Sex and Drugs and Starting School: Differences in Precollege Alcohol-Related Sexual Risk Taking by Gender and Recent Blackout Activity

Research has demonstrated a link between alcohol use and multiple forms of risky sexual behavior, particularly among college-age individuals. Studies have also linked heavy alcohol use to other problems, such as impaired consciousness resulting from an alcohol-induced blackout, which may impact sexual decision making. However, research has rarely examined sexual risk taking (SRT) in relation to blackouts, nor has it examined this construct during the precollege transition (i.e., the interval of time between high school graduation and college matriculation). This study examined the intersection between alcohol-involved SRT, blackouts, and gender in a sample of precollege individuals with prior alcohol use (N = 229; 54% male, 63% White). Results indicated that, despite drinking less per occasion, women reporting recent blackouts were at increased risk for experiencing unwanted, unsafe, and regretted sexual behaviors compared to men with recent blackouts and their peers with no recent blackouts. Women with recent blackouts also reported differences in alcohol expectancies that may increase their risk for experiencing negative consequences while drinking, including higher social expectancies and lower negative expectancies of danger. Future directions for research and implications for precollege interventions are discussed.

Not all drinking events are the same: Exploring 21st birthday and typical alcohol expectancies as a risk factor for high-risk drinking and alcohol problems

Alcohol expectancies are a central construct in understanding college student typical alcohol use. However, to our knowledge, there is no research addressing how alcohol expectancies for specific events (i.e. 21st birthday) are different from expectancies regarding typical drinking. We examine the extent to which 21st birthday alcohol expectancies differ from general alcohol expectancies and how 21st birthday expectancies are associated with actual alcohol use and consequences experienced on 21st birthdays, above and beyond expectancies for typical drinking. Participants were college students (N=585; 54% women) who were turning 21 within a week, and intended to drink 4/5 (female/male) drinks on their birthday. All negative expectancies (impairment, risk and aggression, negative self-perception) and positive expectancies (social, liquid courage, sex) except tension reduction were significantly greater for 21st birthday drinking than for typical drinking. While 21st birthday expectancies were not uniquely related to actual birthday drinking, several positive and negative 21st birthday expectancy subscales were associated with 21st birthday drinking-related consequences, even when controlling for typical drinking expectancies. Expectancy challenge interventions aimed specifically at these subscales may be effective at attenuating alcohol-related consequences that result from 21st birthday drinking.

Developmental Trajectories of Boys' Driven Exercise and Fasting During the Middle School Years

Boys appear to engage in eating disorder behavior, particularly nonpurging compensatory behaviors such as driven exercise and fasting, at higher rates than previously thought. Little is known about the development of these behaviors in adolescent boys. In a sample of 631 non-binge eating and non-purging boys studied once in 5th grade and 6 times over the 3 years of middle school (grades 6 through 8), we found that (a) for some youth, driven exercise and fasting were present from grade 6; (b) different boys progressed along different trajectories of engagement in driven exercise and fasting, with some boys engaging in no driven exercise or fasting (65.8 % and 83.5 %, respectively), some boys engaging in driven exercise and fasting throughout middle school (25.2 % and 16.5 %, respectively), and other boys discontinuing engagement in driven exercise (9 %); (c) 5th grade depression, eating expectancies, and thinness expectancies predicted subsequent trajectory group membership; and (d) boys engaging in driven exercise and fasting in 8th grade remained distressed. Boys' engagement in driven exercise and fasting behavior merits the attention of researchers and clinicians.

Perspectives on fronto-fugal circuitry from human imaging of alcohol use disorders

Descriptions of the cognitive functions affected by alcohol use disorders (AUD) often highlight dysfunction of executive processes such attention, inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Such complex cognitive functions have historically been ascribed to the prefrontal cortex. AUD, however, disrupts extensive areas of the brain. Structural and functional MRI studies suggest a central role for degradation of circuitry originating in the prefrontal cortex including nodes in widespread brain regions. This review features fronto-fugal circuits affected by AUD including frontocerebellar, frontolimbic, and frontostriatal networks and their relations to the salient, enduring, and debilitating cognitive and motor deficits reported in AUD. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled "Alcoholism".

Sexual Risk Behavior and Heavy Drinking Among Weekly Marijuana Users

OBJECTIVE

Sexual behavior that incurs increased risk for sexually transmitted infections and HIV incidence is associated with both heavy alcohol and marijuana use. Whereas detrimental effects of alcohol on increased sexual risk have been documented in event-level and laboratory studies, less is known about the combined use of alcohol and marijuana and their relative impact on sexual risk behavior. We examined the degree to which both heavy drinking and marijuana use were associated with condomless sexual intercourse with casual versus main partners in a sample of weekly marijuana smokers.

METHOD

Participants reported substance use and sexual activity using a 60-day Timeline Followback interview method (n = 112).

RESULTS

Results of generalized estimating equations indicated that both alcohol and marijuana use were independently associated with greater odds of having sexual intercourse but were not associated with greater odds of unprotected sex with a casual partner. Heavy drinking on a given day was associated with increased odds of having casual protected sex. Using both substances synergistically increased the likelihood of unprotected sex with a main partner.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that behaviors posing higher sexual risk (condomless intercourse or sex with casual partners) occur on days when alcohol use exceeds moderate drinking guidelines. Interventions designed to reduce sexual risk behaviors may need to specifically target heavy drinking alone or when used with marijuana.

Developmental trajectories of compensatory exercise and fasting behavior across the middle school years

Compensatory exercise and fasting behavior, in the absence of binge eating and purging, appear to be important eating disorder behaviors that are associated with dysfunction, but little is known about these behaviors in youth. We studied the trajectories of their development in non-binge eating and non-purging girls during early adolescence. Using a longitudinal design, we assessed 564 girls six times over the three years of middle school (grades 6 through 8) and developed trajectories specifying different developmental patterns in relation to the behaviors. Prior to this period, when the girls were in 5th grade (elementary school), we assessed risk factors to predict girls' subsequent trajectory group membership. Compensatory exercise trajectory groups included a non-engagement group, a group that increased in the behavior, and a group that decreased in the behavior. There were two fasting trajectory groups, one consistently engaging in the behavior and the other consistently not. Elementary school levels of depression, eating expectancies, and thinness expectancies predicted subsequent trajectory group membership. Risk for compensatory exercise and fasting should be evaluated as early as in 5th grade. Targeted interventions should focus on girls in late elementary school or middle school, as this appears to be a critical developmental and maintenance period for compensatory exercise and fasting behavior.

Moderation of the Expectancy-Alcohol Use Relation by Private Self-Consciousness: Data from a Longitudinal Study

This study investigated whether the relation between alcohol outcome expectancies and alcohol use may be moderated by individual differences in private self-consciousness (PSC). Quantity/frequency of alcohol use, expectancies, and PSC in a sample of young adults were assessed annually over 4 years. Regression equations were used to predict alcohol use from expectancies, PSC, and their interaction while controlling for sex and family history of alcoholism. High PSC was associated with a stronger association between expectancies and alcohol use than was low PSC, although only in participants of legal drinking age. Also, PSC was negatively associated with alcohol use for underage participants when expectancies were statistically controlled, consistent with previous work linking PSC to adherence to legal proscriptions. Findings are discussed in relation to a model of expectancy accessibility.

College Student Dating Partner Drinking Profiles: Differences in Relationship Functioning and Relationship-Specific Alcohol Expectancies

BACKGROUND

Although the majority of research on partner drinking styles has examined married couples, dating partners may influence one another's problem behaviors including alcohol use.

OBJECTIVES

This study identified patterns of at-risk alcohol use in college women and their dating partners using a person-centered statistical approach (i.e., latent profile analysis).

METHODS

Participants were 286 college student women in dating relationships. They completed questionnaires regarding their own and their partners' drinking, alcohol use severity, intimate partner violence (IPV), relationship satisfaction, and relationship-specific alcohol expectancies. Data were collected in 2012 through 2013.

RESULTS

Results revealed three distinct, latent classes based on both partners' alcohol outcomes. The "Low-Risk" group (58%) consisted of non-heavy drinking partners. In the "High-Risk - Higher Men" class (27%), men drank more than women; however, both men and women were high-risk drinkers. The "High-Risk - Higher Women" group (15%) consisted of high-risk drinking partners but women consumed more alcohol than men. Both high-risk couple groups were more dissatisfied in their relationships and experienced more IPV, but held stronger beliefs about how alcohol influenced their relationship.

CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE

Findings indicate that there are several distinct classes of dating couples that differ in relationship problems and beliefs about alcohol's impact on their relationship. Riskier couples differ in behaviors and alcohol-related beliefs from low-risk couples. These findings may inform the development of more efficacious alcohol interventions tailored toward high-risk drinking dating couples.

Risk for Substance Abuse: Memory as a Common Etiological Pathway

Memory processes may be part of the causal chain by which known antecedents of alcohol and drug abuse influence drinking. Recent findings on alcohol expectancies are consistent with a memory model and help articulate how consumption may be influenced by memory representations of biological and environmental characteristics. This line of research suggests novel prevention and intervention strategies.

Drugs as instruments: a new framework for non-addictive psychoactive drug use

Most people who are regular consumers of psychoactive drugs are not drug addicts, nor will they ever become addicts. In neurobiological theories, non-addictive drug consumption is acknowledged only as a "necessary" prerequisite for addiction, but not as a stable and widespread behavior in its own right. This target article proposes a new neurobiological framework theory for non-addictive psychoactive drug consumption, introducing the concept of "drug instrumentalization." Psychoactive drugs are consumed for their effects on mental states. Humans are able to learn that mental states can be changed on purpose by drugs, in order to facilitate other, non-drug-related behaviors. We discuss specific "instrumentalization goals" and outline neurobiological mechanisms of how major classes of psychoactive drugs change mental states and serve non-drug-related behaviors. We argue that drug instrumentalization behavior may provide a functional adaptation to modern environments based on a historical selection for learning mechanisms that allow the dynamic modification of consummatory behavior. It is assumed that in order to effectively instrumentalize psychoactive drugs, the establishment of and retrieval from a drug memory is required. Here, we propose a new classification of different drug memory subtypes and discuss how they interact during drug instrumentalization learning and retrieval. Understanding the everyday utility and the learning mechanisms of non-addictive psychotropic drug use may help to prevent abuse and the transition to drug addiction in the future.

Differences in weekday versus weekend drinking among nonstudent emerging adults

In the current investigation, we sought to examine "day-of-the-week" drinking of an at-risk sample of nonstudent emerging adults and whether specific factors are associated with differential drinking patterns. Our study aims were to (a) identify differences in weekday versus weekend drinking, and (b) examine specific expectancies (i.e., sociability, tension reduction) and demographic factors (e.g., age, sex) relating to weekend versus weekday drinking after controlling for harmful drinking and holiday drinking. Participants were heavy-drinking noncollege attenders recruited from the community (N = 238; 63.4% men, 35.7% women; M age = 21.92 years). They reported daily drinking for the previous 30 days and completed measures of harmful drinking, alcohol expectancies, and demographic information. Results showed that more drinks were consumed on the weekends (i.e., Thursday to Saturday) than weekdays, with 63% of drinks consumed on weekends. Multilevel modeling analyses indicated that weekday drinking was associated with tension-reduction expectancies, social expectancies, sex, and age. Weekend-drinking increases were related to social expectancies, but not tension-reduction expectancies. Our final model indicated that, after controlling for the effect of holiday drinking, the within-person weekday-weekend distinction explained 18% of the total variance. In general, our findings highlight the importance of alcohol expectancies and drinking contexts in understanding the drinking behaviors of nonstudents. The differential role of tension-reduction and social-facilitation expectancies on drinking throughout the week imply that different cognitive pathways are involved in weekday versus weekend drinking, and both types of expected alcohol effects should be targets of risk-reduction efforts with nonstudent drinkers.

Alcohol Expectancies Mediate the Relationship Between Age of First Intoxication and Drinking Outcomes in College Binge Drinkers

BACKGROUND

While prior research has shown that age of first intoxication (AI) is associated with negative alcohol outcomes, limited research has examined factors accounting for this relationship. Alcohol expectancies, or beliefs about the effects of alcohol, may explain such associations as both positive and negative expectancies have been shown to be key predictors of drinking outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

The present study examined expectancies as mediators between early AI and alcohol-related outcomes.

METHOD

Data collection occurred in 2012 and 2013. Participants were college students (N = 562, 65.8% women) who completed an online survey including measures of alcohol use history, alcohol expectancies, typical alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related problems. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized model.

RESULTS

Our findings support a model whereby AI is associated with drinking through its influence on both positive and negative expectancies. Specifically, an earlier AI was associated with stronger alcohol expectancies, which in turn, was associated with heavier alcohol use and alcohol-related problems.

CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE

These findings are consistent with expectancy theory and previous research suggesting that more experienced drinkers hold stronger drinking-related beliefs, be it positive or negative, and these expectancies ultimately explain variability in alcohol use and problems. Our findings further support that expectancies play an important role in the initiation of drinking behavior.

Impulsivity and emotion dysregulation as predictors of food addiction

Food addiction is the clinical occurrence in which individuals develop physical and psychological dependencies on high fat, high sugar, and highly palatable foods. Past research has demonstrated a number of similarities between food addiction and drug use disorders including the activation of specific brain regions and neurotransmitters, disrupted neuronal circuitry, and behavioral indicators of addiction such as continued use despite negative consequences. The present study examined the role of impulsivity and emotion dysregulation in food addiction as both play salient roles in drug use disorders. Poisson regression analyses using data from 878 undergraduate students revealed negative urgency, the tendency to act impulsively when under distress, and emotion dysregulation positively predicted symptom count on the Yale Food Addiction Scale (Gearhardt, Corbin, & Brownell, 2009) whereas a lack of premeditation negatively predicted symptom count (all ps<0.05). Future research is needed to confirm precursors to eating episodes in food addiction, elucidate causal mechanisms, and support an explanatory model of food addiction.

A risk and maintenance model for bulimia nervosa: From impulsive action to compulsive behavior

This article offers a new model for bulimia nervosa (BN) that explains both the initial impulsive nature of binge eating and purging, as well as the compulsive quality of the fully developed disorder. The model is based on a review of advances in research on BN and advances in relevant basic psychological science. It integrates transdiagnostic personality risk, eating-disorder-specific risk, reinforcement theory, cognitive neuroscience, and theory drawn from the drug addiction literature. We identify both a state-based and a trait-based risk pathway, and we then propose possible state-by-trait interaction risk processes. The state-based pathway emphasizes depletion of self-control. The trait-based pathway emphasizes transactions between the trait of negative urgency (the tendency to act rashly when distressed) and high-risk psychosocial learning. We then describe a process by which initially impulsive BN behaviors become compulsive over time, and we consider the clinical implications of our model. (PsycINFO Database Record

Longitudinal test of a developmental model of the transition to early drinking

This article reports on a longitudinal test of a developmental model of early drinking that specifies transactions among personality, learning, and behavior in the risk process. The model was tested on 1,906 children making the transition from elementary school to middle school across 3 time points: the spring of 5th grade, the fall of 6th grade, and the spring of 6th grade. In a transaction that has been referred to as acquired preparedness, individual differences in the trait positive urgency at the end of 5th grade were associated with increases in expectancies for social facilitation from alcohol at the start of 6th grade, which then predicted drinker status at the end of 6th grade. In addition, the alcohol expectancy and drinker status predicted each other reciprocally across time. Multiple factors appear to transact to predict early drinking behavior.

Drinking experience uncovers genetic influences on alcohol expectancies across adolescence

AIMS

To test whether drinking onset moderates genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in the etiology of alcohol expectancies across adolescence.

DESIGN

Longitudinal twin design.

SETTING

Community sample from Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 1292 male and female twins, aged 11–18years, were assessed at 1 (n = 440), 2 (n = 587) or 3 (n = 265) occasions as part of the risk factors for the Antisocial Behavior Twin Study.

MEASUREMENTS

Social behavioral (SB) alcohol expectancies were measured using an abbreviated version of the Social Behavioral subscale from the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire for adolescents (AEQ-A). Drinking onset was defined as >1 full drink of alcohol.

FINDINGS

Alcohol expectancies increased over age and the increase became more rapid following onset of drinking. The importance of genetic and environmental influences on SB scores varied with age and drinking status, such that variation prior to drinking onset was attributed solely to environmental influences, whereas all post-onset variation was attributed to genetic influences. Results did not differ significantly by sex.

CONCLUSION

Only environmental factors explain beliefs about the social and behavioral consequences of alcohol use prior to drinking onset,whereas genetic factors explain an increasing proportion of the variance in these beliefs after drinking onset.

Personality and Alcohol Expectancies Discriminate Alcohol Consumption Patterns in Female College Students

AIMS

To characterize patterns of alcohol use in a sample of Argentinean female college students according to personality traits and alcohol expectancies.

METHODS

Data from 298 female college students (M age = 18.27 years; SD = 1.37 years) from the city of Cordoba, Argentina were analysed using multinomial regression.

RESULTS

Three drinking categories were identified, abstainers, moderate drinkers and regular drinkers with heavy episodic drinking, and these were differentiated by three personality traits [extraversion, disinhibition (DIS) and experience seeking (ES)] and three alcohol expectancies dimensions (sociability, risk/aggression and negative mood). Regular drinkers with heavy episodic drinking and moderate drinkers had, compared to abstainers, higher scores in extroversion and alcohol expectancies for social facilitation, and lower scores in alcohol expectancies for risk and aggression. Regular drinkers with heavy episodic drinking exhibited, compared to moderate drinkers, higher scores in ES, DIS, extroversion, alcohol expectancies for social facilitation and negative mood alcohol expectancies; as well as lower scores in risk and aggression alcohol expectancies.

CONCLUSION

College women in Argentina with problematic alcohol drinking can be distinguished from those drinking moderately.

Associations among Trauma, Posttraumatic Stress, and Hazardous Drinking in College Students: Considerations for Intervention

Students with trauma and posttraumatic stress are disproportionately at risk for heavy drinking and for alcohol-related consequences. Brief motivational interventions (BMIs) have been shown to reduce hazardous drinking in college students, and could serve as a first-line approach to reduce heavy drinking in students with trauma and posttraumatic stress (PTS). Yet the standard BMI format may not adequately address the factors that lead to hazardous drinking in these students. Here, we review the literature on PTS and hazardous drinking in college students, and highlight cognitive (self-efficacy, alcohol expectancies) and behavioral (coping strategies, emotion regulation skills, protective behaviors) factors that may link trauma and PTS to drinking risk. Incorporating these factors into standard BMIs in a collaborative way that enhances their personal relevance may enhance intervention efficacy and acceptability for these at-risk students.

Promoting responsible drinking? A mass media campaign affects implicit but not explicit alcohol-related cognitions and attitudes

OBJECTIVES

Rigorous tests are not usually applied to determine whether mass media campaigns that promote responsible drinking are useful, that is whether they lead to responsible drinking or not. In two experiments, we investigated the effectiveness of a mass media campaign that runs in Germany since 2009. This campaign used posters, which emphasized negative alcohol-related outcome expectancies and challenged the positive expectancies. Based on models of alcohol use, we investigated the influence of the campaign on alcohol-related outcome expectancies, implicit and explicit attitudes, and drinking intentions.

DESIGN

In Experiment 1, we investigated alcohol-related outcome expectancies via ratings and response latencies among 81 young adult light drinkers. Employing an affective priming task, Experiment 2 was designed to assess implicit attitudes before and after mass media campaign exposure among 83 young adult light drinkers. In both experiments, the effects of the posters were investigated before and after poster exposure as well as compared to a control group.

RESULTS

Experiment 1 revealed that the campaign affected only the implicit associations of young adult drinkers, whereas explicit outcome expectancies remained unaffected. Experiment 2 showed that implicit attitudes towards alcohol were turned into more negative ones, but explicit attitudes as well as drinking intentions were not influenced.

CONCLUSIONS

The mass media campaign was deemed effective even though its influence occurred on an implicit level. This research highlights the need for experimental investigations of mass media campaigns. Reasons that the findings were obtained on an implicit but not on an explicit level are discussed.

Bicultural stress, identity formation, and alcohol expectancies and misuse in Hispanic adolescents: a developmental approach

Hispanic immigrant youth engage in increased health risk behaviors, such as alcohol misuse, due in part to being confronted with acculturative stress in addition to facing major normative developmental challenges, such as identity consolidation (Berry et al. in Appl Psychol 55:303-332, 2006). Using a developmental psychopathology framework, in the present study we examined the effect of bicultural stress on alcohol misuse among immigrated Hispanic adolescents, indirectly through trajectories of identity formation and alcohol expectancies. Our sample consisted of 302 recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents (53 % male; Mage = 14.5 at baseline) who were interviewed every 6 months for 3 years. Bivariate growth curve modeling was used to examine the influence of initial early bicultural stress on later alcohol misuse via change in identity development (i.e., coherence and confusion) and subsequent growth in cognitive alcohol expectancies. Findings revealed that initial levels and growth of identity coherence were not significantly associated with either bicultural stress or tension reduction (TR) alcohol expectancies. Multiple mediation analyses indicated that the effect of bicultural stress at time 1 on the frequency of being drunk at time 6 was mediated via high initial levels of identity confusion, followed by growth in risky TR expectancies (T4-T6). A developmental approach to the genesis of alcohol use problems in immigrant youth is discussed.

Protective behavioral strategies, alcohol expectancies, and drinking motives in a model of college student drinking

An extensive body of research asserts alcohol expectancies, or beliefs regarding the effects of alcohol, as an important influence on drinking. However, the extent to which expectancies are related to drinking motives and protective behavioral strategies (PBS) has yet to be examined. Existing alcohol mediational models suggest associations between expectancies and drinking motives as well as positive drinking motives and PBS use. Thus, it is possible that drinking motives and PBS use act as intervening factors in the relationship between expectancies and alcohol outcomes. Consequently, the cross-sectional study presented here aimed to test the indirect effect of expectancies (i.e., social facilitation) on alcohol outcomes through drinking motives and PBS use. Participants were 520 (358 female) college student drinkers with a mean age of 20.80 (SD = 4.61) years. Students completed measures of expectancies, drinking motives, PBS use, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that drinking motives and PBS mediated the relationship between social expectancies and alcohol use. In particular, expectancies were associated with greater positive drinking motives, drinking motives were associated with less PBS use, and PBS was associated with less alcohol use and fewer alcohol-related problems. Given the key role of PBS in explaining drinking outcomes in our model, active efforts to incorporate PBS in alcohol interventions may be particularly beneficial for college students. Further, our findings support the consideration of PBS use as a part of the motivational model of alcohol use in future work.

Understanding the relationship between religiousness, spirituality, and underage drinking: the role of positive alcohol expectancies

Research has consistently found that religiousness and spirituality are negatively associated with underage drinking. However, there is a paucity of research exploring the mechanisms by which these variables influence this important outcome. With 344 underage young adults (ages 18-20; 61 % women), we investigated positive alcohol expectancies as a mediator between religiousness and spirituality (measured separately) and underage alcohol use. Participants completed the Religious Commitment Inventory-10, Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale, Alcohol Expectancies Questionnaire, and Drinking Styles Questionnaire. Results indicate less positive alcohol expectancies partially mediate the relationship between both religiousness and spirituality and underage alcohol use. This suggests religiousness and spirituality's protective influence on underage drinking is partly due to their influence on expectations about alcohol's positive effects. Since underage drinking predicts problem drinking later in life and places one at risk for serious physical and mental health problems, it is important to identify specific points of intervention, including expectations about alcohol that rise from religious and spiritual factors.

Less drinking, yet more problems: understanding African American drinking and related problems

Researchers have found that, compared to European Americans, African Americans report later initiation of drinking, lower rates of use, and lower levels of use across almost all age groups. Nevertheless, African Americans also have higher levels of alcohol problems than European Americans. After reviewing current data regarding these trends, we provide a theory to understand this apparent paradox as well as to understand variability in risk among African Americans. Certain factors appear to operate as both protective factors against heavy use and risk factors for negative consequences from use. For example, African American culture is characterized by norms against heavy alcohol use or intoxication, which protects against heavy use but also provides within-group social disapproval when use does occur. African Americans are more likely to encounter legal problems from drinking than European Americans, even at the same levels of consumption, perhaps thus resulting in reduced consumption but more problems from consumption. There appears to be one particular group of African Americans, low-income African American men, who are at the highest risk for alcoholism and related problems. We theorize that this effect is due to the complex interaction of residential discrimination, racism, age of drinking, and lack of available standard life reinforcers (e.g., stable employment and financial stability). Further empirical research will be needed to test our theories and otherwise move this important field forward. A focus on within-group variation in drinking patterns and problems is necessary. We suggest several new avenues of inquiry.

Risky cognitions associated with adolescent alcohol misuse: moral disengagement, alcohol expectancies and perceived self-regulatory efficacy

AIM

To examine the longitudinal associations between moral disengagement, alcohol related expectancies, perceived self-regulatory efficacy and alcohol use amongst adolescents.

DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS

A total of 367 students (mean age=13.1, SD=0.51; 65% male) from five schools across Sydney, Australia took part in this longitudinal study. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire at four time points across an 18 month period which assessed their alcohol use, levels of moral disengagement, alcohol related expectancies and perceived self-regulatory efficacy to resist peer pressure to engage in transgressive behaviours.

RESULTS

Over time, rates of binge drinking in the past three months significantly increased, but rates of drinking any alcohol in the past three months remained stable. As hypothesised, all three cognitions were independently and consistently associated with adolescent alcohol use and binge drinking over time, with the exception of perceived self-regulatory efficacy which was not associated with an increased risk of drinking any alcohol in the past three months when controlling for moral disengagement, alcohol expectancies, gender and age.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study is the first study to longitudinally map three distinct cognitive factors associated with adolescent alcohol use. Considering the alarming number of adolescents drinking at levels that place them at risk of significant harm, this study has provided important implications about cognitive factors that can be targeted to increase the accuracy of assessment and efficacy of prevention for alcohol misuse amongst adolescents.

Patterns of substance use among Argentinean adolescents and analysis of the effect of age at first alcohol use on substance use behaviors

OBJECTIVE

The present study used an empirically based method to characterize substance use in a sample of Argentinean adolescents and analyzed the association between age at drinking onset and substance use behaviors. Differences in alcohol expectancies and personality traits as a function of different patterns of substance use were also explored.

METHOD

Data were obtained from 583 adolescents aged 13-18years (M=15.01years; SD=1.5years; 59.5% female) from the city of Cordoba, Argentina. Alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and age at first alcohol use were measured. Personality traits, including extroversion, conscientiousness, impulsivity, and aggression, and positive and negative alcohol expectancies were assessed. Latent Class Analysis was applied to examine the structure of five co-occurring substance use behaviors: frequency of alcohol use, quantity of alcohol use, prevalence of drunkenness episodes, tobacco use, and drug use.

RESULTS

Latent Class Analysis revealed five distinct patterns of substance use. The classes differed in substance use behaviors, personality traits, and alcohol expectancies. Adolescents with early drinking onset were more likely to show heavier alcohol use, more drunkenness episodes, and more drug use than adolescents with late drinking onset.

CONCLUSIONS

Latent Class Analysis allowed the detection of groups of adolescents with distinct patterns of substance use. These groups exhibited significantly different personality and alcohol expectancy profiles, likely representing subgroups who are at greater risk for developing alcohol-related problems.

Chapter 10. Perspectives on treatment, alliance and narratives concerning substance use-related dependency

This article considers different perspectives on the treatment of substance use-related dependency, focusing on the importance of a therapeutic relationship, working alliance, counseling, and the use of narrative methods. The article also discusses some unresolved critical issues concerning the possibilities and limitations of acquiring necessary knowledge about substance use-related dependency when using narrative research methods. The main conclusion is that the therapeutic relationship between the therapist and the client is of crucial importance for a positive outcome of treatment and that narrative methods provide a detailed empirical database for analyses of substance use-related dependency.

Challenging expectancies to prevent nonmedical prescription stimulant use: a randomized, controlled trial

BACKGROUND

College students continue to report nonmedical prescription stimulant use to enhance alertness and concentration. Despite increasing prevalence of this behavior, techniques for preventing or treating it are lacking. An intervention that focuses on challenging positive consequence-oriented beliefs about prescription stimulants may be efficacious in preventing use.

METHODS

The current study examined the efficacy of a randomized controlled expectancy challenge intervention to prevent nonmedical prescription stimulant use among 96 at-risk, stimulant-naïve college students (i.e., low grade point average, Greek involvement, binge drinking, cannabis use). Forty-seven participants completed a brief expectancy challenge intervention aimed at modifying positive expectancies for prescription stimulants, to consequently deter initiation of use. The remaining participants received no intervention.

RESULTS

The expectancy challenge successfully modified expectancies related to prescription stimulant effects. Nevertheless, this intervention group and a control group showed comparable rates of nonmedical prescription use at 6-month follow-up. However, negative expectancies were significant predictors of reduced odds of future use.

CONCLUSIONS

A challenge session appears to modify stimulant-related expectancies, which are related to nonmedical prescription stimulant use. Nevertheless, a more potent challenge or booster sessions might be essential for longer-term changes.

Underage drinking: prevalence and risk factors associated with drinking experiences among Argentinean children

The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and predictors of alcohol drinking behavior in children. Data were obtained from 367 children, aged 8-12 years (M = 10.44 years, SD = 1.21 years; 61.9% female) from the city of Córdoba, Argentina. Several scales were used to assess risk factors, including personality traits, alcohol expectancy (i.e., beliefs about the consequences of using alcohol), and perceived peer alcohol use, for alcohol drinking and alcohol drinking experiences. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine the contribution of multiple risk factors to the quantity of alcohol consumed. The results showed that 58% of the children had tasted alcohol, and approximately one-third drank alcohol again after the first drinking experience. Twelve-year-old children had a significantly higher prevalence of tasting and drinking alcohol and a significantly greater frequency and quantity of alcohol consumed than younger children. Eighty percent of the children who liked alcohol during their first drinking experience reported that they drank alcohol again. Among the children who did not like alcohol during their first drinking experience, only 31% drank alcohol again. Underage drinking usually occurred under adult supervision in family settings when parents or other relatives allowed them to drink or were aware of their children's drinking. The hierarchical regression analysis showed that being older and male, having more peers that drink alcohol, having higher levels of extroversion, and having alcohol expectancy for social facilitation increased the risk for greater alcohol use. The final model explained 33% of the total variance.

Episodic memories and their relevance for psychoactive drug use and addiction

The majority of adult people in western societies regularly consume psychoactive drugs. While this consumption is integrated in everyday life activities and controlled in most consumers, it may escalate and result in drug addiction. Non-addicted drug use requires the systematic establishment of highly organized behaviors, such as drug-seeking and -taking. While a significant role for classical and instrumental learning processes is well established in drug use and abuse, declarative drug memories have largely been neglected in research. Episodic memories are an important part of the declarative memories. Here a role of episodic drug memories in the establishment of non-addicted drug use and its transition to addiction is suggested. In relation to psychoactive drug consumption, episodic drug memories are formed when a person prepares for consumption, when the drug is consumed and, most important, when acute effects, withdrawal, craving, and relapse are experienced. Episodic drug memories are one-trial memories with emotional components that can be much stronger than "normal" episodic memories. Their establishment coincides with drug-induced neuronal activation and plasticity. These memories may be highly extinction resistant and influence psychoactive drug consumption, in particular during initial establishment and at the transition to "drug instrumentalization." In that, understanding how addictive drugs interact with episodic memory circuits in the brain may provide crucial information for how drug use and addiction are established.

A randomized clinical trial comparing the efficacy of two active conditions of a brief intervention for heavy college drinkers

Brief interventions for college heavy drinkers have shown promise in reducing drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. However, intervention duration, content, method of delivery, and follow-up length vary across studies. It therefore remains unclear whether intervention length significantly influences the interventions' efficacy. The present study is a randomized clinical trial systematically evaluating the efficacy of two brief interventions aimed at reducing alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences among college student drinkers. Treatment mediators were also evaluated. Participants (N=278) were, on average, 20.1 years old (SD=2.4), mostly Caucasian (87%) and female (71%). They were randomly assigned to a 10-minute brief intervention, a 50-minute brief intervention, or an attention-control group. Both active interventions were provided by clinical graduate students trained in Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS). As hypothesized, participants in both active conditions significantly reduced their alcohol consumption, as compared to the control group participants F(2,264)=9.84, p=.00, η(2)=.07. There were no significant differences in alcohol-related negative consequences F(2,264)=3.08, p=.06, η(2)=.02. The hypothesized mediators, alcohol drinking norms and coping behavioral strategies, explained significant variance in intervention efficacy, but neither self-efficacy nor alcohol expectancies were significant mediators. Given the preliminary nature of our investigation, more research is warranted to determine parameters of the critical mechanisms of change within brief alcohol interventions with college student drinkers.

The mediating role of alcohol-related memory associations on the relation between perceived parental drinking and the onset of adolescents' alcohol use

AIMS

The aim of the current study was to examine the mediating role of alcohol-related memory associations in the relation between perceived parental drinking and the onset of adolescents' alcohol use. Gender and grade were also included in the analyses.

DESIGN

We tested a mediation model within a structural path modelling framework using longitudinal data (two waves).

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

The sample consisted of 608 Canadian adolescents (42.9% boys), who did not have any alcohol experiences at the first measurement. The adolescents were recruited from all grades 7-9 classes in a large school district in western Canada.

MEASUREMENTS

Alcohol-related memory associations were tested with the Word Association Test. We used adolescent self-reports of alcohol use and parental drinking.

FINDINGS

Results clearly showed a mediation effect of alcohol-related memory associations [estimate = 0.023, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.002-0.044). That is, parental drinking as perceived by the adolescent was related positively to alcohol-related memory associations, which in turn predicted adolescents' alcohol use a year later. Gender and grade were related to alcohol-related memory associations. That is, boys and adolescents of higher grades had more memory associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Children appear to form memory associations related to alcohol before they ever drink alcohol themselves, and these associations appear to mediate the link between their perceptions of their parents' drinking and their own initial alcohol use.

Evaluating the acquired preparedness model for bulimic symptoms and problem drinking in male and female college students

Individuals who act impulsively under stress show increased risk for both problematic alcohol use and problems with food. These two issues evidence significant comorbidity; many models have explored the relation between these conditions. The current study examines the relation of trait urgency and disorder-specific expectancies to alcohol problems and eating. Previous studies have examined these variables together in females, and this investigation evaluates this model in a combined sample of men and women. The findings from this study are consistent with an acquired preparedness model, indicating that trait urgency and expectancies enhance risk for both alcohol and eating problems. Furthermore, expectancies moderate the relationship between urgency and bulimic symptoms. The relationship between urgency, expectancies, and drinking depends on gender.

Do angry women choose alcohol?

Women's alcohol treatment usually includes anger management, predicated on the hypothesis that anger increases their drinking. Studies show strong association between anger and drinking but to date there is no laboratory support for this hypothesis. We examined effects of a "female-specific" anger provocation on young adult women's drinking behavior by randomly assigning 30 women (age 21-30) to one of two conditions: Provocation (n=15) or Non-Provocation (n=15). In the Provocation condition, a female confederate was both annoying and condescending to the participant for 8min. A manipulation check showed heightened anger and hostility (but not anxiety or depression) in the Provocation participants. In a subsequent taste-task, all participants could drink placebo "beer" and ginger ale. When the data analysis controlled for participants' baseline negative emotions, Provocation participants consumed more "beer" (M=172.33ml, SD=78.90) than did Non-Provocation participants (M=118.60ml, SD=75.74) (p<.04), with no differences in ginger ale consumption. Results support a causal relationship between young women's anger and their specific choice to drink alcohol.

Depressive symptoms and the implicit evaluation of alcohol: the moderating role of coping motives

BACKGROUND

Depressive symptoms in college students have been associated with a number of indices of hazardous drinking. Investigators have utilized a variety of experimental paradigms to better understand the cognitive-motivational mechanisms that may underlie this association. Implicit cognition studies have provided increasing support for the view that coping motives may moderate the association between negative affect and the incentive value of alcohol. However, less is known about how symptoms of depression may be linked with implicit evaluative responses to alcohol. The current research sought to investigate the association between depressive symptoms and implicit evaluations of alcohol stimuli as measured by an evaluative priming task.

METHODS

Eighty-two current drinkers completed assessments of depressive symptoms, alcohol use, and drinking motives before engaging in a computerized alcohol evaluative priming task.

RESULTS

Analyses showed that the association between depressive symptoms and the positive implicit evaluation of alcohol was moderated by drinking motives, such that the positive association between depression and alcohol evaluation was stronger for students who had higher coping motives.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings add to our understanding of how depressive symptoms may influence responses to alcohol and provide further support for the view that individual differences in coping motives may be a critical moderator of the association between depressive symptoms and alcohol-related cognitive motivational processes.

The dimensionality and measurement properties of alcohol outcome expectancies across Hispanic national groups

This study examines the psychometric properties of alcohol expectancies among Hispanic subgroups. Face-to-face interviews were conducted as part of the 2006 Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey (HABLAS), which employed a multistage cluster sample design. A total of 5224 individuals (18+ years of age) representing four Hispanic national groups (Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans, and South/Central Americans) were selected at random from the household population in five metropolitan areas (Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Houston, and Los Angeles). Alcohol expectancies included 18 items covering positive (e.g., laugh more, become more talkative) and negative dimensions (e.g., become aggressive, lose control) when alcohol is consumed. Confirmatory factor models replicated a previously proposed three-factor dimensional structure with a substantial majority of items exhibiting measurement invariance across Hispanic national group and gender. Items covering social extroversion were an exception, showing a lack of invariance for female Cuban and South/Central Americans. Latent mean differences across groups were detected for expectancies concerning emotional fluidity, and the pattern of differences largely mirrored known differences in alcohol consumption patterns. Results suggest that caution should be exercised in interpreting differences in expectancies concerning social extroversion across Hispanic groups, and additional work is needed to identify indices of this construct with invariant measurement properties. However, measures of emotional/behavioral impairment and emotional fluidity expectancies can be validly compared across gender and Hispanic national groups.