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Hypothetical evaluations of positive and negative alcohol consequences in adolescents across various levels of drinking experience.

ABSTRACT: Research supports the importance of the subjective evaluation of alcohol-related consequences, and theory suggests that these evaluations may depend on one's prior experience. The goal of the present study was to understand how adolescents subjectively evaluate the potential negative and positive consequences of drinking and to test the hypothesis that evaluations differ as a function of personal experience with alcohol use and consequences. Participants were 697 adolescents (55% female) who completed online surveys assessing lifetime drinking experience and hypothetical evaluations of 13 negative and 9 positive consequences. Never having consumed a full drink of alcohol (vs. having consumed a full drink, but not having negative consequences) was significantly associated with higher mean negative evaluations and lower mean positive evaluations. Those who had a full drink (vs. those who had not) rated close to half of the negative consequence items as significantly less bothersome, and all of the positive consequences as significantly more enjoyable. However, there was little evidence in this sample that evaluations differ between drinkers with and without experience with negative consequences. Overall, findings suggest that youth who have experience with simply consuming alcohol may place more value on the positive and less value on some of the negative consequences of drinking, which has the potential to impact decisions to continue to drink. Longitudinal research uncovering the direction of evaluation-experience effects and mechanisms other than consequence experience, are essential next steps. (PsycINFO Database Record

SUBMITTER: Merrill JE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5222775 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Hypothetical evaluations of positive and negative alcohol consequences in adolescents across various levels of drinking experience.

Merrill Jennifer E JE Lopez-Vergara Hector I HI Barnett Nancy P NP Jackson Kristina M KM

Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors 20160825 8

Research supports the importance of the subjective evaluation of alcohol-related consequences, and theory suggests that these evaluations may depend on one's prior experience. The goal of the present study was to understand how adolescents subjectively evaluate the potential negative and positive consequences of drinking and to test the hypothesis that evaluations differ as a function of personal experience with alcohol use and consequences. Participants were 697 adolescents (55% female) who com ...[more]

PMID: 27560994

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Project description:Although alcohol is socially accepted in most Western societies, studies are clear about its associated negative consequences, especially among university and college students. Studies on the relationship between alcohol-related consequences and both beverage type and drinking onset, however, are scarce, especially in a European context. The aim of this research was, therefore, twofold: (1) What is the relationship between beverage type and the negative consequences experienced by students? and (2) Are these consequences determined by early drinking onset? We will examine these questions within the context of a wide range of alcohol-related consequences.The analyses are based on data collected by the inter-university project 'Head in the clouds?', measuring alcohol use among students in Flanders (Belgium). In total, a large dataset consisting of information from 19,253 anonymously participating students was available. Negative consequences were measured using a shortened version of the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey (CADS_D). Data were analysed using negative binomial regression.Results vary depending on the type of alcohol-related consequences: Personal negative consequences occur frequently among daily beer drinkers. However, a high rate of social negative consequences was recorded for both daily beer drinkers and daily spirits drinkers. Finally, early drinking onset was significantly associated with both personal and social negative consequences, and this association was especially strong between beer and spirits drinking onset and social negative consequences.Numerous negative consequences, both personal and social, are related to frequent beer and spirits drinking. Our findings indicate a close association between drinking beer and personal negative consequences as well as between drinking beer and/or spirits and social negative consequences. Similarly, early drinking onset has a major influence on the rates of both personal and social negative consequences. The earlier students started drinking, the more negative consequences they experienced during college or university. Several (policy) interventions are discussed. This study is the first to incorporate detailed information on both beverage type and drinking onset, and its associated negative consequences, as measured by the CADS_D, in a large student population.

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Hypothetical evaluations of positive and negative alcohol consequences in adolescents across various levels of drinking experience.

Publications

Hypothetical evaluations of positive and negative alcohol consequences in adolescents across various levels of drinking experience.

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