Assessing alcohol-related beliefs using pictographic representations: a systematic approach to the development and validation of the revised alcohol expectancy task

Abstract

Aim: To systematically develop and test stimuli for inclusion within the revised Alcohol Expectancy Task (rAET)-a pictographic assessment of alcohol-related beliefs.Using a UK adult sample of regular social drinkers, this paper documents the (1) selection (2)development and (3)testing of stimuli, along with (4)initial validation of the rAET. Method: A hierarchy of common alcoholic beverages was established, along with a consensus regarding beverage presentation format.A professional artist iteratively developed pictographs of characters exhibiting different emotions in everyday scenarios and specialised photography of beverages was undertaken. Accurate identification/recognition of these stimuli was then established using a response box, whereby participants indicated which word (from eight) matched the onscreen images presented.Finally, developed stimuli were included within the rAET. Results: Informing stimuli development and selection, wine, beer and vodka were the most common alcoholic beverages that participants reported consuming, with a preference for photographic representations.Inverse efficiency scores (based on accuracy and reaction time) suggested some variability in the recognition of certain beverage types and emotional stimuli, highlighting which stimuli may be best for inclusion in the rAET. Confirmatory factorial analyses of rAET responses suggests it has good construct validity. Conclusion: Maximising the transparency of stimuli selection, development and assessment provides a solid basis for systematic and valid scenario-based assessments of alcohol-related beliefs.

Validation of the revised Alcohol Expectancy Task [rAET].

“…This study confirmed the four-dimensional structure of the recently systematically rAET (Monk et al, 2021) and it appears that the rAET can be successfully used to assess alcohol expectancies in terms of the emotions that participants believe will occur when people drink alcohol. While further research may be needed to tease apart the associations regarding consumption, the rAET appears useful for examining the alcohol expectancies of adult participants while also maintaining the advantages of being time-efficient, minimising response burden, avoiding predefined associations, and social desirability or recall bias (Kuntsche & Kuntsche, 2017).…”

“…The aim of the present study was to examine the assumed factor structure and validity of the rAET, particularly with regard to the CMA (Russell, 1980). Administering the rAET (a recently developed systematic pictographic assessment tool: Monk et al, 2021) among a large sample of adults, we obtained some evidence to support our three hypotheses. The CFA confirmed the assumed factor structure for the four-factor model used in the rAET (Hypothesis 1).…”

“…), and "Negative Sedation" (sad, etc. ), were depicted in four illustrated scenarios, a single male watching TV, a single female watching TV, a mixed gendered couple at a restaurant, and a group of friends having a social gathering (Monk et al, 2021; see Figure 1 for an example of the illustrations). For each scenario, participants were asked to select which type of drink the person presented in the illustration was most likely to have drunk.…”

Sex differences in young children’s perceptions of situational drinking norms over time.

“…Additionally, future iterations could include spirits and liqueurs to strengthen the tasks design. Finally, research from countries with different drinking norms and patterns is needed and for which more recent iterations of the task, for example, the revised Alcohol Expectancy Task (Monk et al, 2021), may be more useful as they include less context-specific situations (i.e., Saint Nicholas).…”

Alcoholic Liver Biomarkers: Determinants for Admission to Rehabilitation Centres During the Covid 19 Period in Kenya

“…The findings of the study suggested GGT, AST and ALT as the main biomarkers for severity of liver injury. Different studies have also reported of these parameters as important predictors of mortality due to chronic alcohol consumption 30, 31 .Other researchers had contrary opinions from our study citing no importance in liver function tests during admission and emphasized need for behavioral approach in treating alcoholism than systemic approach 32,33,34…”