Drinking identity (viewing oneself as a drinker) is a potential risk factor for problematic drinking in US undergraduate samples. Whether that risk extends to a broader, more general US sample is unknown. Additionally, there are critical, unanswered questions with respect to moderators of the drinking identity–problematic drinking relationship; an important issue for designing prevention efforts. Study aims were to assess the unique associations and interactive effects of implicit and explicit measures of drinking identity on problematic drinking, and to evaluate age and sex as potential moderators of the drinking identity–problematic drinking relationship. A sample of 11,320 adults aged 18–98 completed measures of implicit and explicit drinking identity and problematic drinking (the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test; AUDIT). Implicit and explicit drinking identity had positive, significant associations with AUDIT scores, as expected. Moderation analyses indicated small, but significant, interactions. There was an implicit by explicit identity interaction consistent with a synergistic effect: lower implicit and explicit identity was linked to a greater probability of being a non-drinker. Age moderated explicit but not implicit identity: lower drinking identity appeared to be more protective for younger individuals. Sex moderated implicit but not explicit identity: a weaker positive association with implicit identity and AUDIT scores was observed among men, potentially reflecting stigma against women’s drinking. Findings suggest that drinking identity’s potential as a risk factor for problematic drinking extends to a more general US sample and that both implicit and explicit identity should be targeted in prevention efforts.

Prospection, the mental simulation of future events, has been theoretically linked to physical and mental health. Prior studies have found that prospection is malleable; however, no research to our knowledge has tested whether a scalable intervention explicitly targeting the simulation of positive future outcomes can lead to more generalized positive prospection, and enhance positive outlook and reduce distress. The current study tested a novel, web-based cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) program designed to shift prospective bias towards more positive (as opposed to negative) representations of future outcomes among 172 participants selected for having a relatively negative baseline expectancy bias. Results showed that following CBM-I, participants in active training conditions exhibited more positive expectations about the future, and increased self-efficacy and growth mindset. Also, optimism increased and depression and anxiety symptoms decreased following active training, but this also occurred for the control condition. Analyses did not suggest that changes in positive expectations mediated changes in positive outlook outcomes. Results suggest that an online prospection intervention can lead to more positive expectations about future events and improve positive outlook, though open questions remain about what accounts for the training effects.

Introduction Drinking identity strength (how strongly one views oneself as a drinker) is a promising risk factor for hazardous drinking. A critical next step is to investigate whether the centrality of drinking identity (i.e., the relative importance of drinking vs. other identity domains, like well-being, relationships, education) also plays a role. Thus, we developed explicit and implicit measures of drinking identity centrality and evaluated them as predictors of hazardous drinking after controlling for explicit drinking identity strength. Methods Two studies were conducted (Ns = 360 and 450, respectively). Participants, who self-identified as full-time students, completed measures of explicit identity strength, explicit and implicit centrality, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Study 1a evaluated two variants of the implicit measure (short- vs. long-format of the Multi-category Implicit Association Test); Study 1b only included the long form and also assessed alcohol consumption. Results In Study 1a, implicit and explicit centrality measures were positively and significantly associated with AUDIT scores after controlling for explicit drinking identity strength. There were no significant differences in the implicit measure variants, but the long format had slightly higher internal consistency. In Study 1b, results replicated for explicit, but not implicit, centrality. Conclusions These studies provide preliminary evidence that drinking identity centrality may be an important factor for predicting hazardous drinking. Future research should improve its measurement and evaluate implicit and explicit centrality in experimental and longitudinal studies.

In prior work, we proposed that the related processes of status differentiation and stigmatization both diminish the status of negatively labeled groups, but that only stigma also engenders social rejection, in part via appraisals of abnormality (Lucas & Phelan, 2012, Phelan, Lucas, Ridgeway, & Taylor, 2014. We found support for this model using behavioral measures of influence and social distance. In this article, we compare status and stigma processes using both explicit (self-reported, consciously controlled) and implicit (relatively less consciously controlled) associations in a large, online volunteer sample (N ϭ 1,348) based on appraisals of "uneducated people" (low status) and "mentally ill people" (high stigma). As expected, we found that both uneducated and mentally ill people elicited negative explicit and implicit appraisals on the dimension of incompetence, and that mentally ill people elicited explicit and implicit appraisals of abnormality. Contrary to our prediction, uneducated people were also viewed, explicitly and implicitly, as abnormal, suggesting pervasive bias across two very disparate groups (uneducated and mentally ill), appraisal types (explicit and implicit), and appraisal dimensions (incompetent and abnormal). Notably, in follow-up manipulation checks to better understand the impact of the uneducated people category label, using independent samples, we showed that the term uneducated tends to elicit representation of individuals who did not complete high school, and we replicated the original findings that uneducated people (especially those with less than a high school education) are appraised as both incompetent and abnormal.

Prospection, the mental simulation of future events, has been theoretically linked to physical and mental health. Prior studies have found that prospection is malleable; however, no research to our knowledge has tested whether a scalable intervention explicitly targeting the simulation of positive future outcomes can lead to more generalized positive prospection, and enhance positive outlook and reduce distress. The current study tested a novel, web-based cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) program designed to shift prospective bias towards more positive (as opposed to negative) representations of future outcomes among 172 participants selected for having a relatively negative baseline expectancy bias. Results showed that following CBM-I, participants in active training conditions exhibited more positive expectations about the future, and increased self-efficacy and growth mindset. Also, optimism increased and depression and anxiety symptoms decreased following active training, but this also occurred for the control condition. Analyses did not suggest that changes in positive expectations mediated changes in positive outlook outcomes. Results suggest that an online prospection intervention can lead to more positive expectations about future events and improve positive outlook, though open questions remain about what accounts for the training effects.