Negative Alcohol Outcome Expectancies Research Articles

The influence of negative urgency and mood inductions on alcohol cognitions.

Negative urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly during negative emotional states, is a robust risk factor for alcohol misuse that is posited to function in part through alcohol-related cognitions. Nonetheless, relatively little research has examined mood-based fluctuations in such cognitions, which could help to explain how the trait of NU translates to impulsive alcohol-related behaviors. We examined how NU impacted several alcohol cognitions (positive/negative alcohol expectancies, positive/negative alcohol valuations, and alcohol craving for positive/negative emotional reinforcement) before and after negative, neutral, or positive mood inductions. We hypothesized that NU would predict greater and more favorable endorsement of alcohol and its effects following negative (vs. positive or neutral) mood induction. Participants (N = 428) were southern-midwestern college students recruited for an online experiment. Following the provision of consent, participants rated NU and preinduction alcohol cognitions, and were then randomly assigned to one of three (negative, neutral, or positive) mood inductions; subsequently, postinduction alcohol-cognition ratings were immediately obtained. We conducted six robust multilevel linear models (one per DV) examining NU's influence on within-person changes in alcohol cognitions across each mood induction. No three-way interactions were identified and only one two-way interaction involving NU was identified. There were main effects across mood induction conditions and time points for NU predicting greater endorsement of positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies, and greater alcohol craving for positive and negative emotional reinforcement. Greater NU predicts greater perceived likelihood of alcohol's effects, alongside greater desire for mood improvement from alcohol. The absence of three-way interactive effects indicates NU's influence on mood-dependent fluctuations in alcohol cognitions may manifest over longer timescales (e.g., months and years), involve alternative cognitive processes (e.g., drinking motives and implicit alcohol cognitions), and apply more broadly to desires for mood improvement than purely negative emotional reinforcement.

Change in alcohol outcome expectancies from childhood to emerging adulthood: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.

Knowledge on the development of alcohol outcome expectancies (AOE) is relevant because AOE predict change in drinking behaviours. The present meta-analysis integrates results of longitudinal studies on change in AOE from childhood to emerging adulthood (age 23/24). A systematic search in electronic databases identified 64 studies that were analysed with three-level meta-analyses. AOE about positive and social consequences tended to increase, on average, from childhood to middle or late adolescence, respectively. In contrast, negative AOE declined over time. Change in positive, social and tension reduction AOE were described as an inverted u-shaped curve. The strongest increase of more than two standard deviation units was observed with regard to social AOE between the age of 7 and 16, followed by small decline in the transition to emerging adulthood. The meta-analysis found evidence for strong increases of positive AOE from childhood to middle or late adolescence. The results inform about reasonable age-ranges for expectancy-challenging interventions. To obtain a clearer picture of change in AOE beyond adolescence, longitudinal research is needed on younger children and beyond college age.

Alcohol-related cognitive mechanisms underlying adolescent alcohol use and alcohol problems: Outcome expectancy, self-schema, and self-efficacy

The objective of this study was to empirically test a theoretical model to determine the cognitive mechanisms that are associated with adolescent alcohol use and alcohol problems. We posited that alcohol outcome expectancies would affect alcohol-refusal self-efficacy through the drinker self-schema. We also posited that alcohol outcome expectancies and the drinker self-schema would affect alcohol use and problems through alcohol-refusal self-efficacy. A survey was administered to 225 adolescents in a public junior high school in Taiwan at two-time points, six months apart. Path analysis was used to determine the mechanisms underlying the alcohol-related cognitive constructs on the alcohol use and alcohol problems separately, controlling for appropriate alcohol-related personal and environmental factors. Indirect effects were estimated using the bootstrapping method. Higher positive alcohol outcome expectancies and lower negative alcohol outcome expectancies predicted higher drinker self-schema scores. Higher positive alcohol outcome expectancies and drinker self-schema scores predicted lower alcohol-refusal self-efficacy. Lower alcohol-refusal self-efficacy was associated with a history of drinking and alcohol problems in the past six months. Effects of alcohol outcome expectancies on alcohol use and alcohol problems were partially mediated through the drinker self-schema and alcohol-refusal self-efficacy. Findings support the proposed theoretical cognitive mechanisms underlying alcohol use and alcohol problems in a sample of Taiwanese adolescents. Given that alcohol-related cognitive constructs are modifiable, the findings also provide a foundation to suggest that interventions to reduce positive alcohol outcome expectations and prevent the formation of a drinker self-schema may facilitate alcohol-refusal self-efficacy and mitigate drinking behaviors in this adolescent population.

Black First-Year College Students’ Alcohol Outcome Expectancies

ABSTRACTBackground: Alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs) are associated with college students’ varied alcohol consumption. Existing research on AOEs focuses primarily on heterosexual White students. Thus, it is important to explore how the intersection of multiple identities such as race, gender, and sexual orientation influence the endorsement of specific AOEs. Purpose: This paper examines AOEs among Black first-year college students, with specific attention to the influence of gender and sexual orientation. Methods: Participants were 307 Black students from four universities in the United States. We conducted bivariate analyses using the 2-factor and 4-factor B-CEOA scale. Results: Most students did not hold positive AOEs such as tension reduction and sexual enhancement. Students were more likely to endorse negative AOEs such as behavioral and cognitive impairment and social risk. Discussion: Black first-year college students reported more negative expectations associated with alcohol use, including those related to negative social risks and consequences. Thus, AOEs may serve as a protective factor against alcohol use among Black college students. Translation to Health Education Practice: Alcohol interventions should be tailored to focus on the intersection of race, gender, and sexual orientation. Culturally relevant alcohol interventions have the potential to reduce the immediate and long-term consequences of alcohol use.

Peer norms and susceptibility mediate the effect of movie alcohol exposure on alcohol initiation in adolescents.

Movie alcohol exposure is a known and consistent predictor of adolescent alcohol use initiation and escalation. Nearly 90% of the top U.S. movies contain alcohol content. Social-cognitive theory posits reciprocal links among environmental influences (e.g., movie alcohol exposure), social-cognitive processes (e.g., perceived norms, susceptibility, alcohol outcome expectancies), and behavior (alcohol use), but these links have been tested in only 1 direction. In the current study, we assessed movie alcohol exposure, alcohol cognitions, and alcohol initiation among adolescents (N = 1,023; 52% female, mean age = 13.7 years) in 4 annual survey waves. Cross-lagged panel models tested bidirectional relations between cognitions and movie alcohol exposure. Finally, we tested bidirectional mediation effects in the prospective prediction of alcohol initiation. Movie alcohol exposure prospectively predicted increases in descriptive norms, injunctive norms, and susceptibility but not positive or negative alcohol outcome expectancies. All factors predicted subsequent alcohol initiation. Close friend injunctive and descriptive norms, peer descriptive norms, and susceptibility mediated the effect of earlier movie alcohol exposure on subsequent alcohol initiation. Movie alcohol exposure mediated the effect of earlier close friend descriptive norms on subsequent alcohol initiation. Movie alcohol exposure and social-cognitive processes are interrelated facets that impact alcohol initiation. Permissive cognitions infrequently predicted higher subsequent exposure to movie alcohol. Clinical and preventative implications of this work are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Developmental relations between alcohol expectancies and social norms in predicting alcohol onset.

Expectations about alcohol's effects and perceptions of peers' behaviors and beliefs related to alcohol use are each shown to strongly influence the timing of drinking onset during adolescence. The present study builds on prior work by examining the conjoint effects of within-person changes in these social-cognitive factors on age of adolescent drinking onset. We related youths' alcohol status (i.e., alcohol-naive, initiation during study, prior initiation) to increases in positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs), as well as increases in perceived peer/close friend alcohol use and acceptance, during adolescence. We also investigated whether changes in AOEs and perceived social norms prospectively predicted alcohol onset in alcohol-naïve adolescents. Participants were 1,023 adolescents aged 12.2 years on average at enrollment (SD = 0.98), 52% female, participating in an ongoing longitudinal survey on substance use and health behaviors. Positive AOEs, close friends' norms, and same-age peer norms increased linearly, whereas negative AOEs decreased linearly. Changes were attenuated for participants who remained alcohol-naïve and increased for participants who experienced initiation during the study. Furthermore, we found associations between individual changes in AOEs and perceived social norms. Finally, survival models revealed that onset of alcohol use was prospectively predicted by stronger initial positive AOEs, as well as increases in close friends' norms and decreases in negative AOEs over time. These findings emphasize codevelopment of AOEs and perceived social norms, coinciding with, and predictive of, onset of alcohol use, and point toward a unique role for within-individual changes in identifying youth at risk for early onset of alcohol use. (PsycINFO Database Record

Alcohol Outcome Expectancies Mediate the Relationship Between Social Anxiety and Alcohol Drinking in University Students: The Role of Gender

College alcohol drinking is a public health concern worldwide. A line of research indicates that higher social anxiety is associated with more severe college drinking. However, other studies reveal a protective role of social anxiety against alcohol drinking in college students. Attempting to reconcile contradictory findings, we examined the hypothesis that there are multiple antagonistic pathways that could explain the social anxiety-college drinking relationship. In addition, there may be individual difference variables that moderate these processes. Furthermore, it was expected that the processes could vary as a function of the alcohol drinking outcomes examined. Expectancy theory emphasizes the role of alcohol outcome expectancies in alcohol drinking. Thus, in the present study we tested whether global positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies partially mediate the relationship between social anxiety, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related problems in a sample of 245 university students. We also examined the moderating role of gender in these mediating processes. Results revealed parallel but oppositional processes. Higher social anxiety was associated with heavier alcohol drinking and more serious alcohol-related problems via stronger positive alcohol outcome expectancies. However, the mediating role of positive alcohol outcome expectancies varied as a function of gender. It appears that in female students the mediating effect of positive alcohol outcome expectancies was stronger than in male students. On the other hand, higher social anxiety had a protective role against alcohol consumption but not against alcohol-related problems via stronger negative alcohol outcome expectancies. Finally, there was an inverse direct relationship between social anxiety and alcohol consumption.

Drinking motives and alcohol outcome expectancies as mediators of the association between negative urgency and alcohol consumption

ObjectiveTo determine whether the effects of negative urgency, a unique facet of impulsivity marked by engaging in potentially unhealthy and rash behaviors in order to cope with anxiety or negative moods, on drinking behavior can be explained by positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies and specific drinking motives (i.e., coping and enhancement). MethodsCollege students (N=194) completed web-based surveys in exchange for course credit. Students completed measures of negative urgency, comprehensive effects of alcohol, drinking motives, and alcohol use behaviors. ResultsResults of path analysis indicated significant indirect effects of negative urgency and alcohol use through both alcohol outcome expectancies and enhancement motives. The effects of enhancement motives on drinking were mediated by positive alcohol outcome expectancies. The effects of coping motives on drinking were not attributable to negative expectancies. ConclusionsIndividuals high on negative urgency may consume alcohol in order to ameliorate their emotional distress due to strong desires to increase positive and decrease negative experiences associated with drinking. Emotion-focused impulsivity's influence on drinking outcomes can be ascribed to enhancement motives for drinking as well as positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies. Prevention efforts should target drinking motives and alcohol outcome expectancies among those higher in negative urgency.

Cognitive appraisals of alcohol use in early adolescence: Psychosocial predictors and reciprocal associations with alcohol use.

Early adolescence is a dynamic period for the development of alcohol appraisals (expected outcomes of drinking and subjective evaluations of expected outcomes), yet the literature provides a limited understanding of psychosocial factors that shape these appraisals during this period. This study took a comprehensive view of alcohol appraisals and considered positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies, as well as subjective evaluations of expected outcomes. Developmental-ecological theory guided examination of individual, peer, family, and neighborhood predictors of cognitive appraisals of alcohol and use. A community sample of 378 adolescents (mean age 11.5 years at Wave 1, 52% female) was assessed annually for 4 years. Longitudinal path analysis suggested that the most robust predictors of alcohol appraisals were peer norms. Furthermore, perceived likelihood of positive and negative alcohol outcomes prospectively predicted increases in drinking. There was limited support for appraisals operating as mediators of psychosocial risk and protective factors.

The Prospective Joint Effects of Self-Regulation and Impulsive Processes on Early Adolescence Alcohol Use.

Dual-process models propose that behavior is influenced by the interactive effect of impulsive (automatic) and self-regulatory (controlled) processes. Elaborations of this model posit that the effect of impulsive processes on alcohol use is influenced by capacity and motivation to self-regulate. The interactive effect of these three processes on drinking has not previously been tested. The goal of this study was to provide a developmental extension of this model to early adolescent alcohol use and to test the three-way interaction between impulsive processes (implicit alcohol cognition), self-regulatory capacity (inhibitory and activation control), and self-regulatory motivation (negative alcohol outcome expectancies [AOE]) in a 1-year prospective prediction of adolescent alcohol use. Adolescents (N = 325; 54% girls, mean age = 13.6 years at baseline) completed the Single Category Implicit Association Test and self-reports of alcohol expectancies and use. Inhibitory and activation control were based on parental report. Negative AOE and inhibitory/activation control were supported as moderators of the effect of implicit alcohol cognition on 1-year prospective alcohol use. As expected, weak implicit negative alcohol cognition was associated with elevated alcohol use when both negative AOE and inhibitory control were low. Contrary to hypothesis, when activation control was high, weak implicit negative alcohol cognition was unrelated to alcohol use if negative AOE were high (p = .72) (vs. low, p <.01). Activation control may reflect the ability to plan ahead and act pro-socially. Our study supports current theory suggesting alcohol use is influenced by a complex interplay of impulsive and self-regulatory processes.

Social anxiety and alcohol use: The role of alcohol expectancies about social outcomes

Though social anxiety disorder and alcohol use disorders commonly co-occur, the mechanisms involved in social anxiety and hazardous drinking among college students are not well understood. The current study contributes to the emerging literature on social anxiety and college drinking as the first known study to test how positive (e.g. “I would feel at ease in social situations”) and negative (e.g. “I would make a fool out of myself”) alcohol outcome expectancies (AOE) specific to social situations (social AOE) impact the association between social anxiety and hazardous alcohol use among 718 undergraduates (61% women; Mage = 19.50, SD = 1.45; 85% White). Results supported the mediation, but not the moderation models. There were positive indirect effects of social anxiety through positive social AOE and negative indirect effects of social anxiety through negative social AOE on both hazardous drinking outcomes (i.e. alcohol consumption and alcohol problems). Findings suggest that there could be competing pathways for increasing (positive social AOE) and decreasing (negative AOE) risk for hazardous alcohol use in socially anxious college students.

The Association between Scholastic Measures, Alcohol Outcome Expectancies and Alcohol Use: A Cross-sectional Study in Northern Ireland

Alcohol use among adolescents is associated with both short-term (truancy, illness, trouble with police) and long-term (dependence, unemployment) negative consequences. Moreover, because of its developmental nature, adolescent drinking behaviour is difficult to accurately assess. Individual-level scholastic variables and alcohol outcome expectancies have been found to be associated with drinking behaviours. This study used a cross-sectional design to investigate: the relationship between alcohol use and individual-level scholastic variables, namely academic motivation and academic self-efficacy; and the relationship between alcohol use and alcohol outcome expectancies, while controlling for a wide range of other variables. Participants were post-primary (high) school pupils in the greater Belfast area of Northern Ireland. They completed a range of questionnaires including measures assessing academic self-efficacy, academic motivation, alcohol outcome expectancies, and a composite measure of alcohol use. Results showed that, controlling for the hierarchical nature of the data, socio-demographic variables and other possible confounders, lower reported scores on the individual-level scholastic measures, higher reported scores on positive alcohol outcome expectancies, and lower reported scores on negative alcohol outcome expectancies remained significantly associated with more problematic drinking. Results are discussed in the context of contemporaneous school-related research.

Alcohol dependent patients have weak negative rather than strong positive implicit alcohol associations

RationaleAlcohol dependence is characterised by motivational conflict (or ambivalence) in controlled cognitive processes, but it is unclear if ambivalence also exists within automatic cognitive processes, and if ambivalence operates between controlled and automatic processes.ObjectiveTo investigate ambivalence operating within and between controlled and automatic processes in alcohol dependence.MethodAlcohol-dependent patients who had recently completed inpatient alcohol detoxification (N = 47) and social drinking controls (N = 40) completed unipolar implicit association tests and self-report measures of alcohol approach and avoidance motivation and alcohol outcome expectancies.ResultsAs predicted, both positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies were stronger in alcohol-dependent patients compared to controls, indicative of ambivalence. Groups did not differ on implicit alcohol-positive associations, but alcohol-dependent participants had significantly weaker alcohol-negative associations than controls. Regression analyses revealed that implicit negative associations accounted for unique variance in group membership after controlling for alcohol outcome expectancies.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate that alcohol dependent patients possess weak automatic alcohol-negative associations but not strong automatic alcohol-positive associations, and they suggest the presence of conflict between controlled and automatic processes with regard to negative alcohol cognitions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00213-013-3066-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Different associations of alcohol cue reactivity with negative alcohol expectancies in mandated and inpatient samples of young adults

Alcohol cue reactivity, operationalized as a classically conditioned response to an alcohol related stimulus, can be assessed by changes in physiological functions such as heart rate variability (HRV), which reflect real time regulation of emotional and cognitive processes. Although ample evidence links drinking histories to cue reactivity, it is unclear whether in-the-moment cue reactivity becomes coupled to a set of consolidated beliefs about the effects of alcohol (i.e., expectancies) and whether treatment helps dissociate the relation of positive versus negative expectancies to cue reactivity. This study examined the relationship between reactivity to alcohol picture cues and alcohol expectancies in two groups of emerging adults: an inpatient sample with alcohol use disorders (n=28) and a college student sample who previously were mandated to a brief intervention for violating university policies about alcohol use in residence halls (n=43). Sequential regression analysis was conducted using several HRV indices and self-report arousal ratings as cue reactivity measures. Results indicated that the relationship between cue reactivity and negative alcohol outcome expectancies differed for the two groups. Greater cue reactivity, assessed using HRV indices, was associated with more negative expectancies in the inpatient sample but with less negative expectancies in the mandated student sample, while an opposite trend was found for subjective arousal. The present findings highlight the importance of characterizing cue reactivity through multi-dimensional assessment modalities that include physiological markers such as HRV.

Putting Thoughts Into Context: Alcohol Expectancies, Social Anxiety, and Hazardous Drinking

Alcohol outcome expectancies (AOE), or beliefs about the effects of drinking, are believed to moderate the association between social anxiety and hazardous alcohol use. AOE can also vary depending on the drinking context. The current study tested whether AOE specific to three drinking contexts would moderate the association between social anxiety and hazardous use among undergraduates (N = 377; 70% women; Mage = 21.0). Results showed that AOE about convivial contexts (e.g., at a party), but not AOE about coping (e.g., when sad) or intimate (e.g., on a date) contexts, moderated the association between social anxiety and hazardous drinking. Specifically, social anxiety and hazardous drinking were related positively for those endorsing higher positive or lower negative AOE about convivial settings, and associated negatively for those reporting low positive or high negative AOE in these contexts. Thus, socially anxious young adults who endorse high positive or low negative AOE about convivial drinking contexts could be at elevated risk for alcohol-related problems.

A revised edition of the Readiness to Change Questionnaire [Treatment Version

The UK Alcohol Treatment Trial provided an opportunity to examine the factor structure of the Readiness to Change Questionnaire–Treatment Version (RCQ[TV]) in a large sample (N = 742) of individuals in treatment for alcohol problems who were given the RCQ[TV] at baseline, 3-months and 12-months follow-up. Confirmatory factor analysis of the previously reported factor structure (5 items for each of Precontemplation, Contemplation and Action scales) resulted in a relatively poor fit to the data. Removal of one item from each of the scales resulted in a 12-item instrument for which goodness-of-fit indices were improved, without loss of internal consistency of the three scales, on all three measurement occasions. Inspection of relationships between stage allocation by the new instrument and negative alcohol outcome expectancies provided evidence of improved construct validity for the revised edition of the RCQ[TV]. There was also a strong relationship between stage allocation at 3-months follow-up and outcome of treatment at 12 months. The revised edition of the RCQ[TV] offers researchers and clinicians a shorter and improved measurement of stage of change in the alcohol treatment population.

Stress and alcohol use: A daily process examination of the stressor-vulnerability model.

The authors used a daily diary methodology to examine over 60 days how the within-person associations among event stress, alcohol consumption, and desire to drink varied as a function of gender, positive and negative alcohol-outcome expectancies, and avoidant coping in a sample of 88 regular drinkers. Multilevel regression analyses indicated that men who more strongly anticipated positive outcomes or a sense of carelessness from drinking drank relatively more on stressful days compared with low-stress days. Similar results were found predicting desire to drink. Men who anticipated greater impairment from drinking drank relatively less on stressful days. In general, these effects did not hold for women. Little evidence was found for the predicted effects for avoidant coping style, and some results showed that avoidant coping style buffered the exacerbating effects of careless unconcern expectancies.