Comprehensive effects of alcohol: Development and psychometric assessment of a new expectancy questionnaire.

Abstract

A comprehensive measure of alcohol outcome expectancies was developed through the use of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The questionnaire assesses both positive and negative expected effects of alcohol as well as the subjective evaluation of those effects. The measure was found to demonstrate adequate internal consistency, temporal stability, and construct validity. Criterion validity was demonstrated through structural regression analyses of the independent and combined influences of outcome expectancies and subjective evaluation on three measures of alcohol use. Information on subjects' dose-related expectancies provided further validation of the expectancy construct and yielded information about the effects people associate with drinking different amounts of alcohol.

Differential Associations Between Alcohol Expectancies and Adolescent Alcohol Use as a Function of Childhood ADHD

“…The Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol (CEOA) questionnaire (Fromme et al, 1993) is a widely used measure of explicit alcohol expectancies. The CEOA has 38 expectancy items, which have been found to load on two higher order factors of global positive and negative expectancies with seven distinct subscales (Fromme et al, 1993). Positive expectancies are sociability (eight items, α = .88), tension reduction (three items, α = .75), liquid courage (fi ve items, α = .87), and sexuality (four items, α = .74).…”

“…Negative expectancies are cognitive and behavioral impairments (nine items, α = .89), risk and aggression (fi ve items, α = .73), and negative self-perception (four items, α = .64). The CEOA has demonstrated good test-retest and internal consistency reliability, and it has been found to be associated with alcohol use in adolescent and college student populations (Fromme and D'Amico, 2000;Fromme et al, 1993). The CEOA begins with the stem, "If I were under the infl uence from drinking alcohol" followed by 38 concluding phrases (e.g., I would be outgoing, I would have diffi culty thinking, I would be clumsy).…”

Alcohol Expectancies and Evaluations of Aggression in Alcohol-Related Intimate-Partner Verbal and Physical Aggression

“…The likelihood of a behavior occurring depends on whether the pleasant consequences outweigh the unpleasant consequences. Thus, in relation to certain drinking behaviors, the likelihood of consuming alcohol will be based on not only the extent to which one perceives a certain outcome will occur but also how desirable that outcome is (Fromme et al, 1993;Leigh, 1989). Although some outcomes of alcohol use may seem inherently negative (e.g., increased dizziness) or positive (e.g., decreased tension), research has shown that this is not necessarily the case.…”

“…Although some outcomes of alcohol use may seem inherently negative (e.g., increased dizziness) or positive (e.g., decreased tension), research has shown that this is not necessarily the case. In developing the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol (CEOA) questionnaire, Fromme et al (1993) found that individuals evaluated risk-taking and aggressive behaviors when intoxicated both positively and negatively.…”

“…For example, Leigh (1987) found that evaluations were signifi cantly associated with the amount of alcohol consumed per occasion, frequency of intoxication, and frequency of consuming eight or more drinks after controlling for the expectancies held by the individuals. In establishing the validity of the CEOA questionnaire, Fromme et al (1993) found that evaluating positive outcomes of consuming alcohol (e.g., increased sociability and sexuality, and decreased tension) more favorably signifi cantly predicted the quantity of alcohol typically consumed, the frequency of alcohol consumption, and overall weekly alcohol consumption more than simply endorsing such expectancies (i.e., believing that consuming alcohol would result in increased sociability and sexuality, and decreased tension). In a study examining self-generated expectancies and evaluations, Wood et al (1996) found that both likelihood (i.e., expectancies) and positive value ratings were associated with heavy alcohol use.…”