Positive Expectancies at High vs. Low Doses Among Heavy and Light Drinking Female College Students**
Brenda S. Thapa, Preetal V. Karecha, Samantha B. Saturn, Aimee C. Schor, & Jennifer P. Read, Ph.D.
Introduction
Alcohol outcome expectancies have been shown to be strong predictors of
drinking behavior, particularly among college students. Recent research has
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York
Presented at the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy Conference, New Orleans, LA,
November 2004
Alcohol Consumption
focused on expectancies regarding the positive effects of alcohol, and suggests
Past 90-day drinking was assessed with self-report items measuring typical
that level of endorsement of positive expectancies may vary based on a number
quantity of alcohol consumption, drinking frequency, and binge drinking (see
of individual level factors. Though some studies suggest that beliefs about
Table 2).
alcohol may vary according to perceived alcohol dose the bulk of literature has
not distinguished between heavy and light doses of alcohol in examining
Heavy vs. Light Drinkers
expectancy endorsement. Further, as drinking behaviors have been shown to
Heavy drinking status was based on self-report measures of past 90 day
influence alcohol expectancies, it is likely that endorsement of expectancies at
alcohol consumption (see above description). Participants who reported
different doses might vary by drinker status (i.e., heavy versus light drinkers).
“typical” consumption of six or more drinks in a single sitting were categorized
Identifying those expectancies most held by different types of drinkers could point
as heavy drinkers. Those who typically drank three drinks or less were
to specific areas to be targeted in tailored expectancy-based interventions.
categorized as light drinkers. Drinking behaviors in these two categories are
Accordingly, the purpose of the present study was to compare heavy and light
described in Table 2.
Results show that female light and heavy drinkers
drinkers on alcohol outcome expectancies across two different imagined doses of
differentially endorse positive expectancies based on imagined dose. Across
alcohol (two drinks and four or more drinks).
all expectancy types, lighter drinkers had greater positive expectations for
Method
drinking at lower doses of alcohol than did heavy drinkers. Conversely, heavy
Participants
From an initial pool of 185 drinking college women at a public university in the
northeast, students who typically drank 3 or less drinks, or 6 or more drinks on a
Discussion
drinkers tended to endorse greater positive expectancies for higher doses.
Method (Cont’)
This is consistent with the literature suggesting that expectancies influence
Measures
drinking behavior, as drinkers appear to drink in accordance with how
Alcohol-Associated Expectancies
outcomes are anticipated by dose. However, as drinking behavior also has
Alcohol Expectancy Circumplex (Rather & Goldman, 1992)
been shown to influence expectancies, it may also be the case that
Out of the 110 participants, 68 (62%) were freshmen in college, 22 (20%) were
• 132 expectancy word-items describing the perceived effects of alcohol.
participants are more likely to endorse outcomes that they know/have
sophomores, 12 (11%) were juniors, 6 (5%) were seniors, and two reported as
• Rated each item across the imagined dose on a scale from 0 (not at all true)
experienced themselves. Finally, reports of positively-valenced alcohol
‘other’ (e.g. fifth year senior, transfer students without definite standing). The
to 6 (extremely true) according to the prompt “Drinking _____ drinks makes
cognitions consistent with participants’ own drinking behavior also would
majority of participants were of white ethnicity (n = 98, 89%). Over half of the
me…”
participants lived on campus in residence halls (n = 74, 67%), a smaller portion
 2 different imagined conditions (i.e., two drinks, four or more drinks).
lived at home (n = 17, 16%), or off campus not with family (n = 14, 13%).
Procedure
given occasion (N=110) were selected for expectancy comparisons. The
participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 24. The mean age was 18.8 (SD = 1.360).
Results
T-test comparisons revealed complex associations between drinking
Of note is that heavy drinking participants endorsed
 Expectancy items were parceled into 5 expectancy constructs, based on
status and expectancy endorsement. Examination of means reveals that
more expectancies of positive arousal and sociability. These dimensions have
thematic content (see Table 1 for internal reliability coefficients). These
heavy drinkers endorse significant more positive arousal, t(108)= -2.55, and
been considered to be important influences on college drinking.
constructs were comprised of 38 positive expectancy items.
sociability, t(108)=-2.06, expectancies than light drinkers at higher doses (ps
Eligible participants had to be regular drinkers (i.e., at least once/week in the
past three months). Participants were recruited through a mass testing screen
completed by over 90% of incoming introductory psychology students.
Participants were notified of their eligibility via e-mail, and scheduled for study
sessions by e-mail or telephone. Sessions were run in cohorts of 10-15
participants, and lasted about an hour and a half. Informed consent was obtained
at the beginning of each session. Students received academic credit for their
participation.
minimize cognitive dissonance about drinking.
5 Positive Outcome Expectancy Constructs (# of items):
Personal Attributes (9)
Sociability (14)
Positive Arousal (5)
Sexual Enhancement (5)
Liquid Courage (5)
Future
studies
should
extend
tests
of
these
<.01 and .05). No significant groups were found between these two groups
associations in mixed-sex samples. Further, as this sample included only
at lower doses. In contrast, lighter drinkers endorsed greater liquid courage,
regular drinkers, the extent to which these findings extend to infrequent
t(108)= 2.22, and sexual enhancement expectancies, t(108)= 2.32, both
drinkers or abstainers is unknown. Nonetheless, these findings offer
ps<.05, at lower doses of alcohol than did their heavy drinking counterparts.
information on how light and heavy drinkers perceive positive alcohol-related
No differences were found at higher doses for these expectancy types. No
outcomes at different doses, and may offer suggestions for how these
significant differences were found for personal attribute expectancies (see
differences may be used to target expectancy processes in expectancy-based
Table 3).
interventions.
** Supported by a grant from NIAAA (R21AA1035022) to Dr. Jennifer Read