Measurement Equivalence of the Brief Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Scale in a Multiethnic Sample of College Students

Abstract

This study provides support for the utility of the B-CEOA in college students of different ethnicities and genders in assessment and prevention.

Introduction to the Special Issue on College Student Mental Health

“…Given that pregaming is a common occurrence on college campuses and is often a precursor to heavy alcohol consumption, Zamboanga et al (2013) examine the contexts in which pregaming occurs, and the differential effects of other drinkingrelated variables on pregaming across contexts. Finally, Ham, Wang, Kim, and Zamboanga (2013) examine the measurement equivalence of the Brief Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Scale (Ham, Stewart, Norton, & Hope, 2005) across ethnicity and gender.…”

Dysmorphic Appearance Concern and Hazardous Alcohol Use in University Students: The Mediating Role of Alcohol Expectancies

“…Each item beings with the phrase, "If I were under the influence from drinking alcohol…" (e.g., "I would be outgoing"). This approach of using the composite PAE and NAE scores has been shown to be reliable, valid and has been utilised extensively previously using university samples (e.g., Dunne et al, 2013;Ham et al, 2012). NAE include cognitive and behavioural impairment (e.g., "I would feel clumsy" and "I would have difficulty thinking"), risk and aggression (e.g., "I would take risks" and "I would act aggressively"), and self-perception (e.g., "I would feel moody").…”

“…For example, individuals experiencing high levels of discomfort and distress deriving from their appearance concerns (e.g., anxiety, shamefulness, or embarrassment in social contexts) may use alcohol to "self-medicate" and attenuate such negative affect, with the outcome of improving functioning in such situations. Such expectancies, particularly positive expectancies, have been consistently shown to predict heavier drinking patterns in university students (Dunne, Freedlander, Coleman, & Katz, 2013;Ham, Wang, Kim, & Zamboanga, 2012;Young, Connor, Ricciardelli, & Saunders, 2006), while the predictive utility of negative expectancies has been found to be questionable, with empirical work even suggesting a link between the construct and heavier drinking patters (Dunne et al, 2013;Wood, Nagoshi, & Dennis, 1992;Zamboanga & Ham, 2008;Zamboanga, Schwartz, Ham, Borsari, & Van Tyne, 2009). Alcohol expectancies are beliefs that people hold about the effects of alcohol on behaviour, cognition, moods, and emotions (Leigh, 1989), and can act as a mediator of alcohol consumption as individuals will often consume alcohol in a way that delivers expected outcomes (Jones, Corbin, & Fromme, 2001).…”

“…For example, alcohol use is assumed to be largely driven by the individual's expectation that alcohol will result in certain positive consequences, whereas negative and undesirable beliefs are, typically, predicted to result in reduced drinking (Leigh, 1989;Leigh & Stacy, 2004). Such expectancies, particularly positive expectancies, have been consistently shown to predict heavier drinking patterns in university students (Dunne, Freedlander, Coleman, & Katz, 2013;Ham, Wang, Kim, & Zamboanga, 2012;Young, Connor, Ricciardelli, & Saunders, 2006), while the predictive utility of negative expectancies has been found to be questionable, with empirical work even suggesting a link between the construct and heavier drinking patters (Dunne et al, 2013;Wood, Nagoshi, & Dennis, 1992;Zamboanga & Ham, 2008;Zamboanga, Schwartz, Ham, Borsari, & Van Tyne, 2009). It may be speculated that the outcomes of alcohol conventionally perceived as "negative" (e.g., to become dizzy) may actually be sought after on occasion.…”

Alcohol-Impaired Driving: The Influence of Adverse Rearing Environments, Alcohol, Cannabis Use, and the Moderating Role of Anxiety

“…From a developmental perspective, it has been hypothesized that young adults who had experienced rearing adversity engage in drug use to self-medicate against painful childhood memories. Tension-reduction theories of substance use (Dennhardt & Murphy, 2011; Ham et al, 2013) have purported that coping with negative affect (e.g., anxiety symptoms related to past experiences) is one of the mechanisms by which early onset and progression of substance use may be explained. Beyond the differential pharmacological effects of alcohol and cannabis, less is known about the distinct behavioral phenotypic etiology of these two drugs relative to risk behaviors.…”