Tension Reduction Expectancies Research Articles

Alcohol-related expectancies in adults and adolescents: Similarities and disparities.

This study aimed to contrast student and not student outcome expectancies, and explore the diversity of alcohol-related cognitions within a wider student sample. Participants (n=549) were college students (higher education-typically aged 15-18 years), university students (further education-typically aged 18-22 years) and business people (white collar professionals <50 years) who completed questionnaires in their place of work or education. Overall positive expectancies were higher in the college students than in the business or university samples. However, not all expectancy subcategories followed this pattern. Participant groups of similar age were therefore alike in some aspects of their alcohol-related cognitions but different in others. Similarly, participant groups whom are divergent in age appeared to be alike in some of their alcohol-related cognitions, such as tension reduction expectancies. Research often homogenises students as a specific sub-set of the population, this paper hi-lights that this may be an over-simplification. Furthermore, the largely exclusive focus on student groups within research in this area may also be an oversight, given the diversity of the findings demonstrated between these groups.

Punishment sensitivity and tension reduction: Exploring the potential influence of genetics on South Korean alcohol consumption

AbstractAldehyde dehydrogenase 2*2 (ALDH2*2) is a genetically mutated enzyme that affects the liver’s ability to break down acetaldehyde, resulting in immediate negative physical effects following alcohol consumption. This usually leads to reduced lifetime alcohol dependence rates among those with ALDH2*2. Paradoxically, while around 30% of South Koreans have ALDH2*2, they still maintain both high levels of alcohol consumption and dependence. Therefore, how the negative reactions to alcohol experienced by those with ALDH2*2 interact with the expected effects of alcohol and sensitivity to punishment is of interest. Four hundred and sixty South Korean university students were tested for the ALDH2 gene type and completed alcohol expectancy and sensitivity to reward/punishment measures. The results indicated that there are different predictors of alcohol consumption depending on gene type, with ALDH2*2 heavy drinkers exhibiting lower levels of SP and higher levels of tension reduction expectancy. These findin...

A daily process examination of episode-specific drinking to cope motivation among college students

ObjectiveTheory suggests that state- and trait-like factors should interact in predicting drinking to cope (DTC) motivation, yet no research to date has demonstrated this at the drinking episode level of analysis. Thus, we examined whether daily variation in positive and negative affect and avoidance and active coping were associated with DTC motivation during discrete drinking episodes and whether these associations were moderated by tension-reduction expectancies and other person-level risk factors. MethodsUsing a secure website, 722 college student drinkers completed a one-time survey regarding their tension reduction expectancies and then reported daily for 30days on their affect, coping strategies, drinking behaviors and motives for drinking. ResultsIndividuals reported higher levels of DTC motivation on days when negative affect and avoidance coping were high and positive affect was low. We found only little support for the predicted interactive effects among the day- and person-level predictors. ConclusionOur results support the state and trait conceptualizations of DTC motivation and provide evidence for the antecedent roles of proximal levels of daily affect and avoidance coping. Our inconsistent results for interaction effects including day-level antecedents raise the possibility that some of these synergistic processes might not generalize across level of analysis.

Alcohol Expectancies, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Alcohol Use in College Students With a History of Childhood Trauma

abstractObjective: Prior research has emphasized that the key mediator in the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom–alcohol use relationship is the expectancy of alcohol's tension-reducing properties. This study extends the literature by examining various alcohol outcome expectancies. Methods: Cross-sectional data were obtained from 198 college students who reported experiencing at least one traumatic event in childhood. Participants answered surveys measuring PTSD symptoms, alcohol outcome expectancies, and three measures of alcohol consumption and related problems. Results: Participants included 131 males (mean age = 19.65 years, SD = 1.06, range = 18 to 24) and 67 females (mean age = 19.43 years, SD = 0.82, range = 18 to 23), who were predominantly European-American (82%). For males and females, results of the multivariate analyses suggested that self-perception expectancies mediated the effects of PTSD symptoms on alcohol use severity, whereas sociability expectancies mediated the effects of PTSD symptoms on monthly alcohol use. For women, risk and aggression and sexuality expectancies mediated the relationship between PTSD symptoms and alcohol use severity, while risk and aggression expectancies mediated the relationship between PTSD symptoms and alcohol use consequences. For men, sociability expectancies mediated the effects of PTSD symptoms on alcohol use severity. Across genders, tension-reduction expectancies did not mediate the relationship between PTSD symptom and the three alcohol measures. Conclusions: This study was unable to find support for the self-medication hypothesis via the tension-reduction outcome expectancy pathway. However, other significant findings can be interpreted in light of the self-medication hypothesis. For example, alcohol may aid in coping with social impairments related to PTSD symptoms, particularly in a college sample. This study also highlighted gender differences in the association between PTSD symptoms and alcohol consumption and related problems.

Social anxiety and cannabis cravings: The influences of parent injunctive norms and tension reduction expectancies.

Socially anxious cannabis users are influenced by cannabis expectancies and normative perceptions. The present study examines the influence of psychosocial factors on cannabis use vulnerability factors as the result of interactions between norms perceptions, social anxiety, and expectancies. Participants were 149 (36.2% female) current cannabis users aged 18-36 (M=21.01, SD=3.09). Hierarchical multiple regressions were employed to investigate the predictive value of the social anxiety X injunctive norms X expectancies interaction on cannabis cravings. A three-way interaction emerged in the prediction of cannabis cravings. Simple slopes analyses showed that among individuals with perceptions of greater parent approval of cannabis use (higher injunctive norms), social anxiety was associated with greater cannabis craving when expectancies regarding relaxation and tension reduction were greater (t=2.54, p=.01, β=1.12). Among cannabis users with perceptions of greater injunctive norms, social anxiety was associated with greater cannabis craving when tension reduction expectancies were greater. However, social anxiety was unrelated to cannabis craving when expectances were low. This suggests that cannabis craving among socially anxious adults was greatest when cannabis use was viewed as acceptable and expected to reduce tension, and highlights the importance of considering norms, expectancies, and social anxiety in understanding cannabis-related behaviors.

Ecological evidence that affect and perceptions of drink effects depend on alcohol expectancies.

(1) To compare affective changes over drinking and non-drinking days among frequent drinkers and (2) to evaluate whether drinkers' expectations influence affective changes and perceived pleasure and relief from drinking. Observational study involving ecological momentary assessments collected via electronic diaries during the course of 3 weeks. Drinkers' usual settings in Columbia, MO, USA. A total of 400 adult, frequent drinkers, aged 18-70 years. Ecological assessments included morning reports, pre-drinking random prompts, user-initiated first-drink reports and device-prompted follow-ups over drinking episodes. Participants rated positive (enthusiastic, excited, happy) and negative (distressed, sad) affect and perceived pleasure and relief from drinking in real time. A self-report questionnaire completed at baseline evaluated expectancies for enhanced sociability and tension reduction from drinking. Relative to affective changes over non-drinking days, positive affect increased prior to drinking [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.004, 0.023], and at first drink (95% CI = 0.238, 0.317), whereas negative affect decreased prior to drinking (95% CI = - 0.007, 0.000) and at first drink (95% CI = - 0.154, - 0.098). Sociability expectancies augmented increases in positive affect prior to drinking (95% CI = 0.009, 0.027) and at first drink (95% CI = 0.017, 0.169). Sociability expectancies also enhanced perceived pleasure from first drinks (95% CI = 0.046, 0.318). Tension-reduction expectancies attenuated decreases in negative affect at first drink (95% CI = - 0.133, - 0.029), but augmented perceived relief from first drinks (95% CI = 0.001, 0.304). Although theoretical models tend to focus on negative affective outcomes of drinking, changes in positive affect prior to drinking and early in drinking episodes are important for maintaining drinking behavior. Frequent drinkers' expectations for enhanced sociability or tension reduction from drinking influence their affective experiences over drinking days and perceptions of pleasure and relief from drinking.

Traumatic Event Exposure and Alcohol Use Expectancies among Adolescents

Extant work suggests that trauma-exposed adolescents are at risk for problematic drinking. Although work conducted with adults suggests that trauma-exposed individuals drink to reduce negative affectivity, no work has yet examined alcohol use outcome expectancies (AOEs) among trauma-exposed adolescents. The current study examined positive AOEs as a function of trauma history among 63 community-recruited youths (Mage = 15.92; 46% girls). Findings indicated that trauma exposure predicted elevated tension-reduction AOEs. Furthermore, the indirect effect of tension-reduction expectancies accounted for a significant proportion of the relation between trauma exposure and alcohol use frequency. These preliminary data are discussed in terms of future research efforts.

Acquired preparedness model and impulsivity moderated expectancies: Examining predictors of marijuana use

The acquired preparedness model suggests that links between personality and substance use are mediated by expectancies. In contrast, expectancy-moderated links between personality and substance use also have support in previous research. This study sought to extend the acquired preparedness model to a diverse sample of frequent marijuana users. Tension-reduction expectancies, impulsivity, and ounces of marijuana used per month were assessed in 5996 participants recruited from a marijuana policy listserv. Tension-reduction expectancies partially mediated the relation between impulsivity and marijuana use. Additionally, expectancies and impulsivity interacted to predict marijuana use, with impulsivity showing a stronger link to use when expectancies increased. These findings support the acquired preparedness model of substance use as well as previous work on expectancy-moderated links between personality and substance use. Impulsive individuals are particularly likely to use substances when they have positive expectancies about them. Challenging these marijuana expectancies might prove useful in preventing problematic use.

Direct and indirect effects of alcohol expectancies on alcohol-related problems.

This study investigates pathways from alcohol outcome expectancies to alcohol-related problems (ARPs), considering alcohol volume and episodic heavy drinking (EHD) as potential mediators. It is further examined whether these pathways vary by age. The population-based sample comprised 6,823 individuals aged 18 to 64 years reporting alcohol use in the past year. Direct and indirect effects of five alcohol expectancies (social assertiveness, tension reduction, sexual enhancement, cognitive impairment, aggression) and alcohol use (average daily intake, EHD) on a latent measure of ARPs (six items of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) were investigated. A multiple-group structural equation model with three age groups (18 to 24, 25 to 44, 45 to 64 years) was examined. In individuals aged 18 to 24 years, social assertiveness expectancies were positively associated with average intake and EHD, which in turn were associated with more ARPs. In addition, expectancies related to cognitive impairment and aggression were directly linked to more ARPs without mediation in this age group. In individuals aged 25 years and older, tension reduction expectancies were associated with more ARPs through increased average intake. In contrast, high scores on cognitive impairment were associated with lower average intake and in turn with fewer ARPs. Challenging expectancies of sociability in young and expectancies of relaxation in mid adulthood might help decrease high-risk drinking and subsequently ARPs. Considering negative alcohol expectancies may help to identify younger individuals at high risk for ARPs, even if they have not previously exhibited repeated excessive drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Interoceptive Awareness, Tension Reduction Expectancies and Self-Reported Drinking Behavior

Recent accounts have suggested the involvement of interoceptive processes in consumption behavior for alcohol and other drugs. However, there is a paucity of empirical support for a direct association with physiologically assessed individual differences in interoceptive awareness (IA). The current research explored this postulated link and examined the interplay with positive outcome expectancies of alcohol consumption. IA of alcohol-dependent adult in- and outpatients was measured with an objective electrocardiogram heart rate tracking task. Tension reduction expectancies (TRE) and drinking compulsions/obsessions were assessed with self-report questionnaires. No direct associations of IA with drinking compulsions/obsessions were found. However, IA and TRE interacted as predictors of drinking compulsions and drinking obsessions. The results corroborate the suggestion that neglect of bodily feedback might be a maintaining factor for drinking behavior.

Work-Family Conflict and Alcohol Use: Examination of a moderated mediation model

Research consistently documents the negative effects of work-family conflict; however, little research focuses on alcohol use. This study embraces a tension reduction theory of drinking, wherein alcohol use is thought to reduce the negative effects of stress. The purpose of the study was to test a moderated mediation model of the relationship between work-family conflict and alcohol use in a Chicagoland community sample of 998 caregivers. Structural equation models showed that distress mediated the relationship between work-family conflict and alcohol use. Furthermore, tension reduction expectancies of alcohol exacerbated the relationship between distress and alcohol use. The results advance the study of work-family conflict and alcohol use, helping explain this complicated relationship using sophisticated statistical techniques. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Application of the stressor vulnerability model to understanding posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol-related problems in an undergraduate population.

Research examining the comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol-use disorder (AUD) suggests that individuals experiencing PTSD symptoms (PTSS) often drink alcohol as a means to self-medicate their trauma symptoms; however, little attention has been given to moderating variables that may make this association more likely. The stressor vulnerability model proposes that being male, relying on maladaptive forms of coping, and holding positive alcohol-outcome expectancies predispose individuals to engage in alcohol use when experiencing psychological distress. In the current study, sex, avoidance coping (AVC), tension-reduction expectancies (TRE), and emotional-relief drinking-refusal self-efficacy (ERDRSE) were examined as moderators of the relationship between PTSS and alcohol-related problems in a sample of 144 undergraduates. Results indicated that males reporting high levels of TRE exhibited a stronger positive relationship between PTSS and alcohol-related problems than was present for males reporting low levels of TRE and for females reporting either high or low levels of TRE. In addition, a significant positive relationship between PTSS and alcohol-related problems was observed for individuals reporting high levels of TRE and low levels of ERDRSE, but not for individuals reporting high levels of TRE and high levels of ERDRSE, low TRE-low ERDRSE, or low TRE-high ERDRSE. Assessment of these vulnerability factors in traumatized youth and young adults may serve as a useful means of identifying individuals at risk for the development of alcohol-related problems.

Effects of mood and urgency on activation of general and specific alcohol expectancies

We tested the interaction of a mood manipulation with positive and negative urgency on activation of general and specific alcohol expectancies. In Study 1, high negative urgency was associated with increased positive-alcohol IAT scores following a negative mood induction, F(1, 93) = 5.71, p < .01. In Study 2, high positive and negative urgency were associated with faster ETASK reaction times for global positive and tension reduction expectancies. These associations did not differ across mood conditions or expectancy subtypes. Our results suggest that positive and negative urgency are associated with increased activation of general, positive alcohol cognitions, rather than mood-specific subtypes.

Negative mood, implicit alcohol-related memory, and alcohol use in young adults: The moderating effect of alcohol expectancy

Objective Alcohol-related implicit (preconscious) cognitive processes are established and unique predictors of alcohol use, but most research in this area has focused on alcohol-related implicit cognition and anxiety. This study extends this work into the area of depressed mood by testing a cognitive model that combines traditional explicit (conscious and considered) beliefs, implicit alcohol-related memory associations (AMAs), and self-reported drinking behavior. Method Using a sample of 106 university students, depressed mood was manipulated using a musical mood induction procedure immediately prior to completion of implicit then explicit alcohol-related cognition measures. A bootstrapped two-group (weak/strong expectancies of negative affect and tension reduction) structural equation model was used to examine how mood changes and alcohol-related memory associations varied across groups. Results Expectancies of negative affect moderated the association of depressed mood and AMAs, but there was no such association for tension reduction expectancy. Conclusion Subtle mood changes may unconsciously trigger alcohol-related memories in vulnerable individuals. Results have implications for addressing subtle fluctuations in depressed mood among young adults at risk of alcohol problems.

General Anxiety Disorder Symptoms, Tension Reduction, and Marijuana Use Among Young Adult Females

The current study tested the hypothesis that tension reduction expectancies mediate the relationship between anxiety symptoms and marijuana use. Interview data for 332 young adult females from Southern New England were collected from 2004 to 2009. In structural equation modeling, anxiety symptoms had a significant direct effect (b(yx) = 0.227, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.086-0.369, p < 0.05) on tension reduction expectancies and a significant indirect effect (b(yx) = 0.026, 95% CI 0.010-0.046, p < 0.05) on marijuana use. The effect of anxiety symptoms on marijuana use was fully mediated by tension reduction expectancies. Implications for tension reduction as a possible component of treatment interventions are discussed.

Is expectancy reality? Associations between tension reduction beliefs and mood following alcohol consumption.

The present study investigated whether tension reduction expectancies were uniquely associated with self-reported mood following in-lab alcohol administration, given that little research has addressed this association. We also tested whether level of experience with alcohol, which may influence the learning of expectancies, moderated expectancy-mood associations. Regularly drinking college students (N = 145) recruited through advertisements completed self-report measures of positive alcohol expectancies, alcohol involvement, demographics, and pre- and post-drinking mood, and then consumed alcohol ad libitum up to four drinks in the laboratory. Regression analyses controlling for pre-consumption mood, blood alcohol concentration, and all other positive expectancies showed tension reduction expectancies to be a marginally significant positive predictor of negative mood post-drinking. This association was significant only for those who achieved lower blood alcohol concentrations in lab and those who reported less involvement with alcohol (i.e., lower typical quantity, heavy episodic drinking frequency, and years of regular drinking). Findings suggest that associations between expectations for mood and actual post-drinking mood outcomes may operate differently for less versus more involved drinkers. Clinical implications pertain to early intervention, when expectancies may be less ingrained and perhaps more readily modified.

Parental History of Anxiety and Alcohol-Use Disorders and Alcohol Expectancies as Predictors of Alcohol-Related Problems

Research has consistently identified a family history of alcoholism as a risk factor for alcohol-related problems, and global positive expectancies have been found to moderate this association. High rates of comorbidity between alcohol use and anxiety disorders suggest that a family history of anxiety disorders may also increase risk. Further, expectations of negative reinforcement (e.g., tension reduction) have been found to moderate the influence of anxiety-related traits. The current study sought to extend previous research by examining the influence of parental history of alcoholism, anxiety disorders, and the combination, as predictors of alcohol-related problems. Expectancies of global positive changes and tension reduction were hypothesized to moderate the influence of parental history of alcoholism and anxiety, respectively. Direct interviews with parents assessed their history of alcoholism and anxiety for 144 offspring (ages 18-32; 53.5% male) creating four groups: those with a parental history of alcoholism (27.80%), anxiety (22.20%), both alcoholism and anxiety (33.30%), and no history of psychopathology (16.70%). Established measures assessed the offsprings'alcohol expectancies, alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. Although expected interactions between parental alcoholism and global positive expectancies and between parental anxiety and tension-reduction expectancies were not found, global positive expectancies were associated with alcohol-related problems among the group with parental history of both alcoholism and anxiety. The results suggest that the relation between parental history of alcoholism and global positive expectancies observed in previous studies may be strongest among individuals with a comorbid parental history of alcohol and anxiety disorders. Incorporating expectancies into interventions targeting individuals with a comorbid parental history of alcohol and anxiety disorders may have utility.

The Moderating Role of Gender in the Prospective Associations Between Expectancies and Alcohol–Related Negative Consequences Among College Students

This study examined if alcohol expectancies (assessed with the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol–Brief Form) were prospectively related to negative consequences (assessed with the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index) and if these associations varied by gender. Data were collected from 558 first-year college students at a university in the southeastern United States as part of an intervention study conducted during their initial residence hall meetings of the fall semester of 2007. Only those students who used alcohol and completed both baseline and 3-month follow-up surveys were included in the analyses (n = 347). Mixed-model multivariate analyses indicated that higher sexuality and tension reduction expectancies were prospectively related to more alcohol consumption–related negative consequences for males but not for females. Findings suggest that intervention efforts to prevent problem drinking would benefit from being gender-specific. The study's limitations are noted.

Clarifying the Anxiety Sensitivity and Alcohol Use Relation: Considering Alcohol Expectancies as Moderators

Empirical examinations of the relation between anxiety sensitivity (AS) and alcohol use have yielded inconsistent results, with some studies finding a positive association and other studies finding no association. The present study sought to clarify this relation by examining the moderational effects of alcohol expectancies (i.e., tension reduction, cognitive and behavioral impairment) on the AS-alcohol use association. Gender-specific pathways were also examined. Participants (N=158, 82 women) were alcohol nonabstaining college freshmen who completed a questionnaire battery including assessments of alcohol expectancies (four positive subscales: sociability, tension reduction, liquid courage, and sexuality; three negative subscales: cognitive and behavioral impairment, risk and aggression, and self-perception), AS, and alcohol use (past month). Regression analysis was used to test three-way AS x Gender x Alcohol Expectancy interaction terms predicting alcohol use. Only the tension reduction and cognitive and behavioral impairment subscales entered into significant (p< .05) and marginally significant (p= .05) interaction terms, respectively. The simple slopes suggested that, for men only, high AS was associated with heavy drinking but only when tension reduction expectancies were high and that high AS was associated with low levels of drinking when cognitive and behavioral impairment expectancies were high, but this was true only for women. These findings provide an explanation for why AS has been inconsistently linked to alcohol use in prior research and suggest that models of alcohol use incorporating AS should consider the role of moderators.

Marijuana effect expectancies: Relations to social anxiety and marijuana use problems

High social anxiety is related to marijuana problems, yet the nature of this relation remains unclear. We examined relations between marijuana effect expectancies, social anxiety, and marijuana among undergraduates (N=337). Social anxiety was related positively to Negative Expectancies and negatively to Tension Reduction Expectancies. Among socially anxious individuals, greater belief that marijuana produces Cognitive and Behavioral Impairment was associated with greater marijuana use rates. Negative Expectancies mediated the social anxiety–marijuana problems link. These data provide new insight into problematic marijuana use among this high-risk group.