Context Effects of Alcohol Availability at Home: Implicit Alcohol Associations and the Prediction of Adolescents’ Drinking Behavior

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Objective: Recent studies suggest that the predictive effect of implicit alcohol associations is context dependent. Findings indicate that implicit associations are more easily retrieved in an alcoholassociated setting or context (e.g., bar) compared with a neutral setting. In line with this reasoning, we hypothesized that alcohol availability at home might moderate the relationship between implicit alcohol associations and future drinking behavior of adolescents. Method: Participants were 262 at-risk adolescents (235 boys, 27 girls, adolescents with externalizing behavioral problems) with a mean age of 14.11 years (SD = 0.86, age range: 12-16 years) at baseline. Adolescents completed a questionnaire and a modified version of the Implicit Association Test (i.e., Single Category Implicit Association Test; SC-IAT). Results:Stronger implicit alcohol associations predicted increase in frequency of alcohol use, only in adolescents who indicated that alcohol was available at home. No moderating effects were found for increase in quantity of alcohol use and problematic alcohol use, suggesting that implicit alcohol associations particularly influence the decision of whether to drink in adolescence. Conclusions: The findings illustrate that the availability of alcohol in the home setting influences adolescents' implicit alcohol associations and consequently affects the frequency of alcohol use. In this way, alcohol availability at home may be an important contextual factor to consider when examining the effect of implicit alcohol associations on the future drinking behavior of adolescents. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 77, 749-756, 2016)

A dual process perspective on advances in cognitive science and alcohol use disorder

“…Relatedly, two other studies indicate that baseline memory bias in adolescents (Pieters, Burk, Van der Vorst, Engels, & Wiers, 2014) and changes in memory bias in children (Colder et al, 2014) are not associated with subsequent changes in their drinking, further suggesting that alcohol memory biases may initially serve as markers of exposure to and experience with drinking (vs. drivers of drinking). Evidence for memory biases serving as predictors of subsequent drinking has been found in high-risk (but not general community) adolescent samples (Ames, Xie, Shono, & Stacy, 2017) and adolescents who also endorsed in-home alcohol availability (Peeters, Koning, Monshouwer, Vollebergh, & Wiers, 2016). Another study with college students found that memory biases predicted increases in drinking over time (Lindgren et al, 2016) and observed bi-directional relationships between increases in memory biases and increases in risk for hazardous drinking (Lindgren, Baldwin, et al, 2017).…”

The Association Between Adverse Child Health, Psychological, Educational and Social Outcomes, and Nondependent Parental Substance: A Rapid Evidence Assessment

“…It is possible that when children observe their parents consuming alcohol and/or drugs, it encourages the development of normative views about substance use. Further, the availability of alcohol or other substances within the home may increase the likelihood of adolescent use (Peeters, Koning, Monshouwer, Vollebergh, & Wiers, 2016).…”