The unique contribution of attitudes toward non-alcoholic drinks to the prediction of adolescents' and young adults' alcohol consumption (original) (raw)

The development of a model to predict drinking behavior from attitudes in university students

The Journal of Primary Prevention, 1994

The major purposes of the study were: a) to examine the relationship between attitudes and self-reported levels of drinking; and b) to develop a stable prediction equation that included attitudes as a predictor of drinking behavior. A Likert-type survey was developed to measure college student's attitudes toward alcohol. The survey was administered to a sample of college students (n = 1049). The coefficient alpha reliability estimate was found to be .91.

Adolescent Alcohol Beverage Type Choices Reflect Their Substance Use Patterns and Attitudes

Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2003

Alcoholic beverage type choices were studied in relation to adolescents' substance use patterns and attitudes towards substance use, utilizing the national 1999 Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey data (N = 4943) collected among Finns aged 14 and 16 years by mail. Frequencies of drinking, drunkenness and smoking, and chewing tobacco use as well as attitudes towards substance use and exposure to other drugs were all strongly related to beverage type choices. The amount of alcohol consumed was associated with the beverage choice. The relationships between beverage choices and substance use patterns were partly mediated through amounts drunk. Beverage type choices seemed to reflect substance use patterns and attitudes more generally. Wine and cider appeared beverages related to moderation and control in relation to substance use, but beer drinking may be interpreted as a sign of initiation into a substance use pattern favoring smoking and heavier use of alcohol and other drugs.

Characteristics of adolescent excessive drinkers compared with consumers and abstainers

Drug and Alcohol Review, 2011

This study aimed at comparing adolescent abstainers, consumers and excessive drinkers in terms of family characteristics (structure of family, socioeconomic factors), perceived social support, personality characteristics (extraversion, self-esteem, aggression) and well-being. Cross-sectional data were obtained from 3694 elementary school students in the 8th and 9th grades from several cities in Slovakia (mean age 14.5, 49.0% men; response rate 93%). Respondents completed questions on the use of alcohol and on family structure (parental divorce), the socioeconomic position of the family (parents' education and family affluence), perceived social support, extraversion, self-esteem, aggression and psychological well-being. They were split into three groups based on the pattern of alcohol use--abstainers, consumers and excessive drinkers (i.e. being drunk at least once during the past 4 weeks). The results showed significant differences between abstainers, consumers and excessive drinkers in almost every characteristic explored. A risky pattern of alcohol consumption occurs more frequently among adolescents who have divorced parents, higher socioeconomic position, higher scores for perceived social support from friends, extraversion, negative self-esteem and aggression, and lower scores for social support from family and for well-being. A risky pattern of alcohol consumption is more likely among relatively easily identifiable groups of adolescents from high socioeconomic position and divorced families. Their personalities and social networks have characteristics that could be accommodated in preventive interventions as well.

Young people, young adults and binge drinking

Journal of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene, 2019

Summary Introduction and purpose The consumption of alcohol among young people and young adults has undergone, in recent decades, a sharp upsurge with the increasingly frequent intake of large quantities of alcohol. The aim of our study was to investigate socio-demographic, economic and behavioural factors that have a major impact on the voluntary alcohol habit in young people. Methods The survey was conducted via administration of an anonymous questionnaire based on “the WHO Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test”, disseminated on-line, to young people and young adults (aged 18 to 35). Results We examined a sample of 365 subjects. Consumption of wine and beer were predominant followed by super-alcohol mixes. We found correlations between alcohol use and the following variables: marital status (p < 0.001), parental education (mother p < 0.05; father p < 0.001), income level (p < 0.05), physical activity (p < 0.05) and voluptuous habits (smoke and coffee: p < 0.0...

Psychosocial Factors and Beliefs Related to Intention to Not Binge Drink Among Young Adults

Alcohol and Alcoholism, 2012

Aims: The objective of the study was to identify psychosocial factors and salient beliefs associated with the intention of young people to not binge drink in the next month, applying an extended version of the theory of planned behavior. Methods: Among 200 youths randomly recruited from adult education centers in the province of Quebec, Canada, 150 completed a questionnaire. Of these, 141 youths reported having used alcohol in the last year-analyses were performed on this sub-sample. Results:

Predictive Models of Alcohol Use Based on Attitudes and Individual Values

Journal of Drug Education, 2013

Two predictive models are developed in this article: the first is designed to predict people' attitudes to alcoholic drinks, while the second sets out to predict the use of alcohol in relation to selected individual values. University students ( N = 1,500) were recruited through stratified sampling based on sex and academic discipline. The questionnaire used obtained information on participants' alcohol use, attitudes and personal values. The results show that the attitudes model correctly classifies 76.3% of cases. Likewise, the model for level of alcohol use correctly classifies 82% of cases. According to our results, we can conclude that there are a series of individual values that influence drinking and attitudes to alcohol use, which therefore provides us with a potentially powerful instrument for developing preventive intervention programs.

Evaluation of a level of response to alcohol-based structural equation model in adolescents

Journal of studies on alcohol, 2005

A low level of response (LR) to alcohol relates to a family history of alcoholism and predicts future heavier drinking and alcohol-related problems. The current analyses evaluate how LR functions within the context of a Social Information Processing Model, using 238 subjects aged 13 to 19 years from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). A structural equation model (SEM) was used to evaluate the relationship among (1) a family history (FH) of alcoholism, (2) the LR to alcohol, (3) expectations as measured by the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire and (4) the recent pattern of drinking among parents in the home as predictors of the maximum recent quantity of drinking, the maximum number of drinks ever consumed in 24 hours and the number of alcohol problems in the teenage subjects. When tested in the SEM, LR functioned as a mediator of the relationship between an FH of alcoholism and alcoholic outcome, and expectancy functioned as a partial mediator of the relatio...

Adolescents' negative attitudes towards non-drinkers: A novel predictor of risky drinking

Journal of Health Psychology, 2013

The Regan Attitudes towards Non-Drinkers Scale was developed to address the concept that consumption of alcohol may serve as a means of avoiding social costs associated with being a non-drinker. This study sought to examine the Regan Attitudes towards Non-Drinkers Scale within a sample of Irish school-age adolescents. Results indicated that the Regan Attitudes towards Non-Drinkers Scale was a statistically significant predictor of self-reported problematic drinking. The findings of this study underscore the importance of this newly identified construct and highlight the necessity of further empirical tests of the Regan Attitudes towards Non-Drinkers Scale.

Attitudinal and Normative Predictors of Alcohol Use by Older Adolescents and Young Adults

Journal of Drug Education, 2003

A model of alcohol use based on the theory of planned behavior, expectancy theory, and the developmental literature on the influence of parents and peers was examined with 87 eleventh grade students, 105 college freshmen, and 107 college juniors. Specifically, the influence of attitudes about the positive and negative consequences of drinking, perceived parental and peer norms about alcohol consumption, and perceived control over drinking predicted self-reported alcohol use. The results suggest that, during adolescence, decisions to consume alcohol are rational, based on the consideration of the positive consequences of alcohol use and perceptions of control over drinking; however, the negative consequences of alcohol use are discounted. While perceived peer norms predicted alcohol consumption in all three age groups, the influence of perceived parental norms varied such that they predicted alcohol use only among the college juniors. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

Rational and Developmental-Contextual Predictors of Alcohol Consumption by Youth

1999

This paper examines the relation of cognitive and developmental-contextual variables to alcohol use in adolescence and early adulthood in an attempt to increase the understanding of alcohol use during this age period. Components for each of the rational decision making theories, specifically attitude, subjective norm, and self-efficacy, were incorporated into this study. The proposed model of relationships among cognitive and developmental variables was similar to that of the theory of planned behavior in that it included attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy; however, it differed in several ways. Results of the study involving eleventh graders (n=87), college freshmen (n=105), and college juniors (n=107) demonstrated that a model incorporating rational decision and developmental-contextual variables accounts for a substantial proportion of the variance in alcohol consumption among adolescents and young adults. Rational decision variables, namely positive attitude and self-efficacy, predicted alcohol consumption in all three age groups, in accord with previous research; however, multisample analyses revealed that the predictive power of rational decision components was not equivalent across age groups sampled. Age differences and patterns emerged such that positive attitudes and self-efficacy were less important predictors among young adults than among adolescents. (Contains 27 references and 3 figures.) (MKA)