Normative Misperceptions of Alcohol Use Among Substance Abusing Army Personnel

Neighbors, Clayton; Walker, Denise D.; Rodriguez, Lindsey M.; Walton, Thomas O.; Mbilinyi, Lyungai; Kaysen, Debra; Roffman, Roger A.

doi:10.1080/21635781.2014.890883

Cited by 23 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…and behavioral items (e.g., “During the past month, on average, how many drinks did you consume each time you drank?,” etc.) were consistent with those commonly used in PNF alcohol use intervention studies targeting specific groups of individuals (Doumas & Hannah, 2008; Hester et al, 2005; Kuerbis, Schaumberg, Davis, Hail, & Morgenstern, 2014; Lewis et al, 2007; Neighbors et al, 2014; Pemberton et al, 2011; Walters & Woodall, 2003; Williams et al, 2009). Survey pages containing these items presented graphics to illustrate quantities of alcohol (beer, wine, liquor) equivalent to one standard drink.…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 81%

Do lesbians overestimate alcohol use norms? Exploring the potential utility of personalized normative feedback interventions to reduce high-risk drinking in Southern California lesbian communities

Boyle

LaBrie

Witkovic

2016

Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services

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This study examines the potential utility of social norms-based approaches to reduce heavy alcohol use in lesbian community settings. In a sample of 278 Southern Californian lesbians recruited from social media networks to complete an online survey, the majority of participants overestimated the quantity of alcohol consumed by their lesbian peers and more frequent lesbian bar attendance was associated with elevated perceptions of how much other lesbians drink. Greater than 90% of participants expressed interest in receiving personalized normative feedback, suggesting that culturally tailored personalized normative feedback interventions focused on correcting perceptions of heavy drinking may be successful in mitigating the alcohol-related risks of lesbians in Southern California, and potentially beyond.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 81%

Do lesbians overestimate alcohol use norms? Exploring the potential utility of personalized normative feedback interventions to reduce high-risk drinking in Southern California lesbian communities

Boyle

LaBrie

Witkovic

2016

Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services

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“…In contrast, perceived civilian behavioral norms were not strongly associated with drinking behavior in veterans. While the cross-sectional nature of these data preclude causal inferences, the strong association between current drinking levels and perceptions of veteran peers observed in this study and in other work with military samples (Neighbors et al, 2014) suggests that civilian norms may not be as relevant for veterans. Therefore, PNF interventions should focus on targeting veterans’ perceptions of their veteran peers’ drinking.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 66%

Young adult veteran perceptions of peers’ drinking behavior and attitudes.

Pedersen¹,

Marshall²,

Schell³

et al. 2016

Psychology of Addictive Behaviors

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Social norms-based interventions have shown promise in reducing drinking behavior and resulting consequences in young adults. Although most research has focused on young civilians (i.e., college students), some studies have investigated social norms-based interventions with active duty military and veteran samples. Yet, research has not yet determined how to maximize the effectiveness of social norms-based intervention in this heavy drinking population. As an initial step toward this goal, the current study utilized a community sample of 1,023 young adult veterans to examine: (1) whether veteran perceptions of the drinking behavior of their veteran peers differ from their perceptions of civilian drinking behavior, (2) whether perceptions of specific veteran groups differ from actual drinking behavior of veterans within those groups, (3) what levels of specificity in reference groups (same-gender civilians, same-branch veterans, same-gender veterans, or same-branch-and-same-gender veterans) are most strongly associated with veterans’ own drinking, and (4) whether perceptions about others’ attitudes toward drinking also contribute independently of perceived behavioral norms to veteran drinking. Findings indicated that participants perceived that other veterans drank more than civilians and that veteran groups drank more than veterans in the sample actually drank. Veteran-specific perceived behavioral norms were similar in their associations with drinking outcomes, whereas same-gender civilian perceived behavioral norms exhibited little or no associations with drinking. Veteran-specific perceived attitudinal norms exhibited little or no association on drinking behavior after controlling for perceived behavioral norms. These findings can be used to inform the development of social norms interventions for young adult veterans.

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“…However, the fact that military-specific norms did not contribute significantly to the prediction of drinking among SSM/Vs contradicts theoretical models, in which comparisons to a group perceived as more similar to the self would be expected to be more salient (Festinger, 1957). This also conflicts with recent research in which overestimations of military, but not civilian, drinking predicted personal drinking among active duty Army personnel (Neighbors et al, 2014) and young adult Veterans (Pedersen, Marshall, Schell, & Neighbors, 2015). Notably, however, neither of these studies examined military personnel in collegiate contexts.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 77%

Informing alcohol interventions for student service members/veterans: Normative perceptions and coping strategies

Miller

Brett

Leavens

et al. 2016

Addictive Behaviors

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Objective The current study aimed to inform future interventions for heavy alcohol use and problems among college students by examining the utility of normative perceptions and coping strategies in predicting alcohol use among student service members/Veterans (SSM/Vs). Methods SSM/Vs and civilian students (N = 319) at a large university in the Southern Plains completed self-report measures of demographics, alcohol use and related behaviors, and coping strategies. Results Both SSM/Vs and civilian students significantly overestimated the typical weekly drinking quantities and frequencies of same-sex students on campus. Among SSM/Vs, normative perceptions of typical student (not military-specific) drinking and substance-related coping strategies significantly predicted drinks consumed per week, while substance-related coping predicted alcohol-related consequences. Conclusions Despite the theoretical importance of similarity to normative referents, military-specific norms did not significantly improve the prediction of SSM/Vs’ personal drinking behavior. Moreover, neither typical student nor military-specific norms predicted alcohol-related consequences among SSM/Vs after accounting for substance-related coping strategies. Future research may examine the efficacy of descriptive normative feedback and the importance of military-specific norms in alcohol interventions for SSM/Vs.

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Normative Misperceptions of Alcohol Use Among Substance Abusing Army Personnel

Cited by 23 publications

References 34 publications

Do lesbians overestimate alcohol use norms? Exploring the potential utility of personalized normative feedback interventions to reduce high-risk drinking in Southern California lesbian communities

Do lesbians overestimate alcohol use norms? Exploring the potential utility of personalized normative feedback interventions to reduce high-risk drinking in Southern California lesbian communities

Young adult veteran perceptions of peers’ drinking behavior and attitudes.

Informing alcohol interventions for student service members/veterans: Normative perceptions and coping strategies

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