Alcohol expectancies and adolescent drinking: Differential prediction of frequency, quantity, and intoxication

Although alcohol expectancies have been shown to be consistently related to drinking and problematic drinking among underage youth, some studies suggest that they are more predictive of quantity than of frequency of drinking. However, this hypothesis has not been formally tested. This study examines...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Addictive behaviors 1994-09, Vol.19 (5), p.521-529
Main Authors: Chen, Meng-Jinn, Grube, Joel W., Madden, Patricia A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictive behaviors
Adolescent
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology
Alcohol Drinking - psychology
Alcoholic Intoxication - epidemiology
Alcoholic Intoxication - psychology
Alcoholism
Biological and medical sciences
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Incidence
Individuality
Male
Medical sciences
Motivation
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
San Francisco - epidemiology
Set (Psychology)
Sex Factors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Although alcohol expectancies have been shown to be consistently related to drinking and problematic drinking among underage youth, some studies suggest that they are more predictive of quantity than of frequency of drinking. However, this hypothesis has not been formally tested. This study examines the differential prediction hypothesis using a sample of 1,781 high school students from the San Francisco Bay Area. Measures included yearly and monthly frequency of drinking and intoxication and usual quantity consumed per drinking occasion. Alcohol expectancies were measured with 11 items asking about the likelihood that having 2 or 3 whole drinks of alcohol would lead to specific personal consequences. Structural equations analyses indicated that expectancies were better predictors of quantity than of frequency or intoxication. The results also show that positive and negative expectancy subscales were differentially associated with the drinking measures and the patterns were somewhat different for males and females.
ISSN:0306-4603
1873-6327
DOI:10.1016/0306-4603(94)90007-8