Drinking frequency matters: links between consumption pattern and implicit/explicit attitudes towards alcohol

Abstract

Rationale: Attitudes towards alcohol constitute a central factor to predict future consumption. Previous studies showed that young adults with risky alcohol consumption present positive implicit and explicit attitudes towards alcohol.

Objectives: It appears crucial to disentangle the relationship between specific consumption patterns (e.g., binge drinking or moderate daily drinking) and these alcohol-related attitudes.

Methods: We compared implicit/explicit positive attitudes towards alcohol among 101 university students distributed in 4 groups [control low-drinking participants (CP), daily drinkers (DD), low binge drinkers (LBD), high binge drinkers (HBD)] differing regarding alcohol consumption profile, to explore the impact of consumption characteristics on alcohol-related attitudes. Participants performed a visual version of the Implicit Association Test (evaluating implicit attitudes towards alcohol), followed by self-reported measures of explicit alcohol-related attitudes and expectancies.

Results: HBD and DD (but not LBD) presented stronger implicit positive attitudes towards alcohol than CP. All drinkers explicitly considered alcohol consumption as pleasant, but only DD qualified it as something good.

Conclusion: Beyond and above the quantity consumed and the presence of binge drinking habits, consumption frequency appears as a central factor associated with high implicit/explicit positive attitudes towards alcohol in young drinkers. This underlines the need to consider this factor not only in future studies exploring implicit/explicit attitudes but also in the development of prevention and intervention campaigns in youth.

Keywords: Alcohol expectancies; Alcohol-related attitudes; Binge drinking; Implicit Association Test.