Perception of High Alcohol Use of Peers Is Associated With High Personal Alcohol Use in First-Year University Students in Three Central and Eastern European Countries

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess discrepancies between estimated peer and personal drinking behavior and to determine associations between perceptions of peer and personal drinking behavior among university students from Hungary (HU), Lithuania (LT), and the Slovak Republic (SK). Methods: 2,554 freshman university students completed an online questionnaire on the frequency of their personal alcohol use, the number of heavy drinking occasions and on their perception concerning the corresponding drinking behavior of a typical student. Associations between perceived peer and personal use were analyzed by means of logistic regression, adjusting for sex. Results: The majority of students across all countries thought their peers drink more frequently and are more often involved in heavy drinking occasions than themselves. Students who perceived the frequency of peer alcohol use to be higher were more likely to drink alcohol twice a week or more often (SR: OR = 3.81, 95% CI = 2.51–5.79; LT: OR = 3.16, 95% CI = 2.11–4.75; HU: OR = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.53–2.87) compared with students who drink alcohol monthly or less. Those who perceived the number of peer heavy drinking occasions as high were more likely to report heavy drinking weekly or more often (SR: OR = 3.16, 95% CI = 1.92–5.20; LT:OR = 3.56, 95% CI = 2.14–5.94; HU:OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 0.79–2.51) compared with students who report heavy drinking less than monthly. Conclusions/Importance: University students perceived peer alcohol use to be higher than their personal use. Given the association between perceptions and personal alcohol use, future research should investigate if targeting perceptions in the surveyed countries may have an impact on alcohol use.     

Impulsivity and Problem Drinking in College: Examining the Mediating Role of Sex-Related Alcohol Expectancies and Alcohol Use at Sex

Background: Dispositional impulsivity has been consistently implicated as a risk factor for problem drinking among college students and research suggests that this relationship may be explained in part by alcohol expectancies. A subset of alcohol expectancies, sex-related alcohol expectancies, is particularly linked to problem drinking among college students. The acquired preparedness model of risk postulates that people with dispositional impulsivity develop stronger sex-related alcohol expectancies, are subsequently more likely to drink at problematic levels in sexual situations, and thus, engage in more problem drinking. Objectives: Using this model, the current study examined whether sex-related alcohol expectancies and alcohol use at sex mediated the relationship between impulsivity and problem drinking among college students. Methods: College students (N = 101) completed self-report measures of alcohol use, sex-related alcohol expectancies, and five dimensions of impulsivity: negative urgency, positive urgency, sensation seeking, lack of premeditation, and lack of perseverance. Results: Two facets of impulsivity—sensation seeking and lack of premeditation—provided unique contributions to problem drinking. Sex-related alcohol expectancies significantly mediated the effects of lack of premeditation and sensation seeking on problem drinking. In support of the acquired preparedness model, the relationship between the impulsivity traits and problem drinking was serially mediated by sex-related alcohol expectancies and alcohol use at sex. Conclusions: Results suggest that sensation seeking and lack of premeditation continue to be areas of intervention for problem drinking among college students, and implicate sex-related alcohol expectancies as an area of intervention for alcohol use at sex and problem drinking.     

The Role of Protective Behavioral Strategies,Social Environment,and Housing Type on Heavy Drinking among College Students

Background: Though research has examined heavy drinking by housing type, the link between type of college student housing and protective behavioral strategies (PBS) has rarely been examined comparing different college campuses. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the role of housing type, perceptions of peer drinking, and PBS with respondent heavy drinking among undergraduate college students from one Southeastern and one Midwestern university in the United States. Methods: 1,448 college students enrolled in undergraduate courses at two public universities completed a paper and pencil survey of attitudes and experiences about dating, sexuality, and substance use. Data were analyzed using multiple group path analysis. Results: Students living in Greek housing perceived their close friends as engaging in more risky drinking, and had higher rates of heavy drinking compared to those living in other housing types. The effect of perceptions of peer drinking on PBS was significantly different between campuses as were several other indirect pathways to heavy drinking. Conclusion/Importance: Understanding more about the differing roles of college residential environments can help inform effective drinking interventions, and reduce heavy drinking among college students.     

The Influence of Alcohol-Related Cognitions on Personality-Based Risk for Alcohol Use During Adolescence

This study examines whether expectancies about the impact of not drinking or reducing alcohol use and perceptions of peer alcohol use partially mediated risk incurred by sensation seeking for adolescent alcohol involvement. High school drinkers (N = 3,153) completed a survey assessing substance use, sensation seeking, perceived peer alcohol use, and non-drinking expectancies. Single and multiple mediation models were used to estimate the size of the mediated effect. Participants' expectations about the consequences of not drinking explained a substantial portion of the relationship between sensation seeking and alcohol use for both males and females (43.9% and 22.7%, respectively). Perceived peer alcohol use was also relevant to this link for females (8.4%). The role of these potentially malleable cognitive processes in adolescent decision making regarding alcohol use have direct prevention and intervention implications for helping to reduce risky alcohol use among high-risk adolescents.     

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.     

Alcohol expectancies,protective behavioral strategies,and alcohol-related outcomes: A moderated mediation study

Aims: The influence of alcohol expectancies on alcohol consumption and the negative consequences of alcohol consumption among college students has been well documented. Protective behavioral strategies are associated with decreases in alcohol use and related consequences. This study examined the extent to which the use of protective behavioral strategies mediated the influence that alcohol expectancies had for alcohol consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences.

Methods: Measures of expectancies about alcohol consumption, protective behavioral strategies used when consuming alcohol, amount of alcohol consumed and negative consequences associated with alcohol use were completed by 679 traditional age undergraduate students via a secure website. A moderated mediation data analytic strategy was employed because of the gender differences that have been observed for alcohol expectancies, consumption, and consequences.

Findings: The use of protective behavioral strategies was found to mediate the associations that positive expectancies had with both the amount of alcohol consumed and the negative consequences of alcohol consumption only for women.

Conclusions: Education and harm reduction efforts for college student drinkers, including expectancy challenge initiatives, would benefit from including information about use of protective behavioral strategies.     

Alcohol perceptions and behavior in a residential peer social network

Personalized normative feedback is a recommended component of alcohol interventions targeting college students. However, normative data are commonly collected through campus-based surveys, not through actual participant-referent relationships. In the present investigation, we examined how misperceptions of residence hall peers, both overall using a global question and those designated as important peers using person-specific questions, were related to students' personal drinking behaviors. Participants were 108 students (88% freshman, 54% White, 51% female) residing in a single campus residence hall. Participants completed an online baseline survey in which they reported their own alcohol use and perceptions of peer alcohol use using both an individual peer network measure and a global peer perception measure of their residential peers. We employed network autocorrelation models, which account for the inherent correlation between observations, to test hypotheses. Overall, participants accurately perceived the drinking of nominated friends but overestimated the drinking of residential peers. Consistent with hypotheses, overestimating nominated friend and global residential peer drinking predicted higher personal drinking, although perception of nominated peers was a stronger predictor. Interaction analyses showed that the relationship between global misperception and participant self-reported drinking was significant for heavy drinkers, but not non-heavy drinkers. The current findings explicate how student perceptions of peer drinking within an established social network influence drinking behaviors, which may be used to enhance the effectiveness of normative feedback interventions.     

Predicting Alcohol Consumption: The Influences of Perceived Opposite-Sex Peer Expectancies and Drinking Behavior

ABSTRACT

This study describes the relationship between personal and perceived opposite-sex peer expectations and drinking behavior. As compared to themselves, participants believed that their opposite-sex best friend had greater expectations for the effects of alcohol. Females reported that their male friend drank more often (p < .01) and more per occasion (p < .01) than they did; there was no significant difference regarding the maximum quantity consumed. Males believed that their female friend drank less per typical (p < .01) and maximum (p < .01) occasion than they did; no differences were found for drinking frequency. Perceived peer drinking behavior added to the prediction of self-reported drinking beyond that which is predicted by personal alcohol expectancies. Perceived peer expectancies added to the prediction of personal drinking for females but not males. Gender differences and clinical implications are highlighted.     

Influencing Adolescent Social Perceptions of Alcohol Use to Facilitate Change through a School-Based Intervention

The current study examines the effectiveness of a voluntary high school-based alcohol intervention by investigating one proposed mechanism of change in adolescent alcohol involvement: perception of peer use. High school students reporting lifetime drinking (N = 2055) completed fall and spring surveys that assessed demographic information, substance use, risk factors, and intervention attendance (N = 327). The motivational enhancement-based intervention used school and grade-specific normative data to facilitate change in adolescent perceptions regarding the frequency and quantity of peer alcohol use. Results indicate that intervention participants were more likely to increase the accuracy of their peer frequency estimates over the course of the year in comparison to the general student body. Furthermore, students demonstrating decreases in peer perceptions of alcohol use exhibited a greater reduction in number of binge episodes, lower maximum number of drinks consumed per episode, and average number of drinks consumed per drinking occasion (ps < .05); teens with the greatest alcohol use history demonstrated the largest reductions. Although we found no significant main effect for intervention attendance, findings support the role of reduced peer drinking estimates in decreasing alcohol involvement among teen drinkers.     

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.     

Changes Over One Semester in Drinking Game Playing and Alcohol Use and Problems in a College Student Sample

One-hundred ninety-five alcohol-using college students completed a questionnaire in early September, at the beginning of the fall semester, then completed a follow-up questionnaire in mid-November, near the end of the semester. The questionnaires included items on levels of alcohol use, the Eysenck I.7 measure of impulsiveness and venturesomeness, alcohol expectancies, perceived norms for alcohol use, reasons for drinking, and aspects of drinking game playing. As predicted, those students who were 18 years of age and younger, nearly all of them 1st-year students, significantly increased their levels of alcohol use during their first semester in college. While increases in reasons for drinking were significantly predictive of increased alcohol use and problems in first-year and older students, increases in expectancies of alcohol effects and in frequencies of drinking game playing were significantly predictive of increases in alcohol use and problems only for first-year students. The present results provide further evidence of the importance of drinking games in the socialization of college students into problematic alcohol use.     

Acculturative stress as a moderator for international student drinking behaviors and alcohol use consequences

Drinking behaviors and alcohol use consequences can have a major effect on well-being in college student populations. Little research has addressed how the unique acculturative stress experiences of international students may affect their alcohol use and consequences. This study examined acculturative stress as a moderator of the relationship between international student drinking behaviors and alcohol use consequences. Data were collected from 175 international students and analyzed using hierarchal regression analysis to assess the moderating effect of acculturative stress. Acculturative stress moderated the relationship between alcohol use and related consequences such that the relationship was stronger among those with higher levels of acculturative stress. Efforts to alleviate acculturative stress experiences of this population may help decrease alcohol use consequences.     

Validation of the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Questionnaire in Older Adults

Background: Alcohol expectancies have been established as an important construct in the prediction of alcohol use among younger adults, but there is little understanding about the perceived expected effects of consuming alcohol in older adults. Beliefs about the expected effects of alcohol may be quite different in older adults compared to young adults, which may also play a different role in their drinking behavior. In older cohorts there may be stigma may be associated with drinking and the nature of drinking experiences may differ to those of younger adults. Existing measures of expectancies are based on the perspectives of younger adults and therefore warrant validation in an older sample. Objectives: The aim of this study is to validate the comprehensive effects of alcohol questionnaire (CEOA) in a sample of older adults, and to investigate the relationships between alcohol expectancies, their evaluations and alcohol use. Methods: A sample of community dwelling older adults (N?=?473) completed self-report measures assessing drinking behavior and alcohol expectancies. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted. Results: The final model of the CEOA supported two global dimensions of positive and negative expectancies, and showed excellent goodness-of-fit and internal consistency. Male drinkers were more likely to endorse positive expectancies and favorable evaluations of positive and negative expectancies. Favorable evaluations of positive expectancies were the strongest predictors of drinking frequency and quantity. Conclusions/Importance: The results support for the empirical validity of a two-factor expectancy model consisting of a 10-item negative expectancy factor and a 10-item positive expectancy factor. This more concise version could offer a more acceptable and time efficient measure of expectancies and valuations for older adults. Furthermore, the study provides important findings for the role of evaluations in their prediction of alcohol use.     

Simultaneous Use of Alcohol and Marijuana: Patterns and Individual Differences

Background: Simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use, or using alcohol and marijuana in such a way that their effects overlap, is associated with negative health and behavioral outcomes. Objectives: Our study sought to fill gaps in our knowledge on this emerging public health concern by comparing SAM users and alcohol-only users on individual-level factors and substance use outcomes as well as examining associations of SAM use frequency, within users. Methods: Participants were recruited through online postings. Our analytic sample consisted of 1017 young adults (18–25?years) who reported past-month alcohol use. Most were male (67.8%), Caucasian (71.5%), and had attended at least some college (74.8%). Results: Past-year SAM users reported higher levels of sensation seeking and greater perceptions of their close friends’ drinking behavior in comparison to alcohol-only users. SAM users reported heavier and more frequent alcohol use than alcohol-only users. Within past-year SAM users, 70% reported SAM use at least weekly. More frequent SAM use was associated with all alcohol use outcomes (e.g., weekly quantity, frequency, alcohol-related problems) and marijuana use outcomes (e.g., quantity, frequency, peak use) and higher drinking norms. Conclusions/Importance: It is clear that SAM users are a vulnerable sub-population of young adult drinkers. SAM users are differentiated from alcohol-only users in terms of their personality characteristics and perceptions of peer groups’ drinking. SAM users and more frequent users are also at heightened risk for substance use outcomes. Prevention and intervention efforts targeting high-risk drinking may benefit from also assessing whether they simultaneously use alcohol and marijuana.     

Understanding college student spring break drinking: Demographic considerations,perceived norms and travel characteristics

Research has documented normative perceptions of others' alcohol use and how these related to increased rates of drinking and related problems among college students. Recently, research has expanded this concept to specific events (21st birthday drinking and tailgating). No studies to date examine the construct of normative perceptions of alcohol use for spring break (SB). SB is a known time of risk for increased alcohol use, and understanding whether students overestimate SB drinking norms, variables that influence norms perceptions (gender, ethnicity and travel) and whether SB norms relate to one's own drinking can inform future prevention and intervention efforts. We extend the literature by examining SB normative perceptions: (1) whether or not these perceptions are accurate and (2) the relationship to students' own drinking and related consequences. A random sample (N?=?1583) of students were asked about their SB drinking, consequences and norm perceptions. Students' SB drinking in this study was lower than their perception of typical student SB drinking (p?<?0.001), and women's perceptions were higher than men's (p?<?0.001). After adjusting for demographics and typical drinking, SB norms were significantly associated with SB drinking among those taking a trip over SB (p?<?0.001). After controlling for SB drinking, SB drinking norms were unrelated to consequences. Similar misperceptions exist for SB drinking. Prevention and intervention efforts aimed at reducing SB drinking and consequences, particularly for those planning a trip, may incorporate SB specific social norms education.     

Alcohol Prevalence and Attitudes Among Adults and Adolescents: Their Relation to Early Adolescent Alcohol Use in Rural Communities

Although research has identified numerous neighborhood mechanisms influencing urban adolescent risk behaviors, less is known about how community contexts influence rural adolescents. This study explores perceived controls against adolescent drinking (i.e., tolerance of community adolescent alcohol use), adolescent perceptions of community supportiveness, and the prevalence of community alcohol use exhibited by adolescents and adults. Multilevel analyses were applied to 1,424 sixth- through eighth-grade students residing in 22 rural communities in the Northern Plains. Perceptions of tolerance, prevalence, and support from 790 parents, teachers, and community leaders were also collected. Analyses revealed that community supportiveness and controls against drinking reduced both the decision to try alcohol and past-month use among early adolescents. Adolescents were more likely to have ever tried alcohol if they lived in a community with higher peer prevalence than higher levels of adult alcohol prevalence, but in communities where peer drinking was lower; adolescents were more likely to have tried alcohol if they lived in a high adult-prevalence community. Perceived peer drinking was not related to past-month use.