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.

Temperament in the prediction of proximal versus distal expectancies: An acquired preparedness model.

“…Although less experienced drinkers may recognize the potential for consequences, it is possible they lack the firsthand experience with these outcomes that would result in altering their behaviors. This would be consistent with research in which drinkers with limited drinking experience appraise negative consequences as less bothersome than positive consequences (Merrill, Lopez-Vergara, Barnett, & Jackson, 2016). Nonetheless, the individual difference factors that distinguish these drinkers remains an important question for future research, as effortful control did not predict consequence expectancies in the current study.…”

Adolescents’ perceptions of alcohol portrayals in the media and their impact on cognitions and behaviors.

“…A novel observation was that some consequences of drinking that are typically thought of as negative (e.g., vomiting) can be portrayed positively or downplayed (e.g., “no big deal”) in the media. One hypothesis to be tested in subsequent work is that media may influence not only the extent to which youth believe drinking consequences are likely but also the extent to which they are perceived to be concerning or severe (i.e., subjective consequence evaluations; Merrill et al, 2016). Although participants in this study also described some negative portrayals of alcohol in the media, these were noted to appear less frequently, particularly in social media, a finding consistent with prior work with college students (Moreno et al, 2012).…”

Would you believe an intoxicated witness? The impact of witness alcohol intoxication status on credibility judgments and suggestibility

“…Alternatively, participants may not have believed that the co-witness was sufficiently intoxicated to prevent them from reporting misinformation from the co-witness. Participants' tendency to report misinformation reported by the intoxicated co-witness may thus be influenced by alcohol expectancies, drawn from one's own direct and indirect experience of alcohol consumption (Merrill et al, 2016). They may have decided that after consuming three glasses of wine, a witness' memory would not be greatly impaired.…”