Thinking and drinking: alcohol-related cognitions across stages of adolescent alcohol involvement

Abstract

Alcohol-related cognitions, particularly expectancies for drinking and nondrinking and motives for nondrinking, are involved in the initiation, maintenance, and cessation of alcohol use and are hypothesized to play key roles in adolescent decision making. This study explored (a) the relationships between alcohol use expectancies, nondrinking expectancies, and nondrinking motives; (b) the roles of these cognitions across hypothesized developmental stages of adolescent alcohol use; and (c) the relationships between these cognitions and recent or intended future changes in drinking behavior in a cross-sectional sample. Surveys assessing alcohol use behaviors and attitudes were administered to 1,648 high school students. Heavier drinkers reported more positive alcohol use expectancies and fewer nondrinking motives than did lighter drinkers or nondrinkers; however, nondrinking expectancies only differed between nondrinkers and rare drinkers and all subsequent drinking classes. Alcohol use expectancies, nondrinking expectancies, and nondrinking motives differentiated students who recently initiated alcohol from those who had not, while nondrinking expectancies and nondrinking motives differentiated binge-drinking students who had made recent efforts to reduce/stop their drinking from those who had not. Intentions to initiate or reduce drinking in the coming month were also associated with these alcohol-related cognitions. Drinking and nondrinking expectancies and motives for not drinking may play critical roles in decisions to alter alcohol-use behavior during adolescence. Future exploration of temporal relationships between changes in alcohol-related cognitions and behavioral decision making will be useful in the refinement of effective prevention and intervention strategies.

Figure 1

A three factor model of the alcohol related cognitions (n = 1648) Note: Standardized factor loadings are reported in this figure.

Figure 2

Estimated marginal means of alcohol-related cognitions for five drinking groups, co-varying for sex and grade (n = 1515). Notes: Covariates were evaluated at the following values: sex = .47, grade = 10.45; *p < .001. Error bars represent standard error values. * Significant post-hoc comparisons (p < .05)

Figure 3

Differences in alcohol-related cognitions between youth who initiated alcohol use in the past year compared to those who have never drank alcohol (n = 870). Note: Error bars represent standard error values.

Figure 4

Differences in alcohol-related cognitions between binge drinking youth who had made purposeful attempts to quit or reduce their alcohol use in the past month compared to those who had not (n = 373). Note: Error bars represent standard error values.