Expectancies, peer-influences and social determinants

regarding alcohol use in young people

Stephan Van den BrouckeUC Louvain

Symposium on « Binge Drinking in Belgian Minors: an innocent problem?

Palace of the AcademiesBrussels, 8 November 2011

BackgroundCollege or university is the place where adolescents learn to drink alcohol

Studies among university students reveal – a high level of alcohol

consumption – a high level of problematic

use, particularly binge drinking

Percentage heavy episodic drinking in the past month, ages 18-20 and 21-24, in college versus noncollege persons, 1998, 2002, and 2005 (Hingson, 2009)

Source: National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Alcohol education as a solution?

Source: Bangert-Drowns, R.L. (1988). Journal of Drug Education, 18, 243-264.

N= 26

N= 18

N= 14

To address the problem of student binge drinking it is necessary to investigate the factors that influence it

Factors influencing student alcohol abuse• Individual

- expectancies - attitudes- control perceptions- Sensation seeking and risk

taking tendency- personal stress

• Social- family- peers - perceived norms

• Institutional– availability and price– rules and regulations

• Societal– cultural habits– economic conditions

Dahlgren & Whitehead (1991)

Objectives of the presentation• Document the individua and

social factors that influence problematic alcohol use (including binge drinking)

• Highlight the contribution of own researchMost published research on determinants of alcohol use has been carried out in the US

Determinants of alcohol use considered• Cognitive determinants

– Alcohol expectancies– Attitudes– Refusal self-efficacy

• Peer influences– Peer pressure– Perceived norms

Alcohol expectancies• The cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes an individual

expects to occur due to drinking– Expectancies vary between persons– Expectancies can be positive or negative

Positive : improved social contact, sexual enhancement, relaxation, assertion

Negative: loss of responsibility, decreased performance

– Positive expectancies are believed to motivate to drink alcohol Drinking motives are the most proximate factor that precedes alcohol use, and are the gateway through which expectancies impact on use

• Findings from literature reviews– Fewer positive alcohol expectancies are associated with fewer binge drinking

episodes among young adults– Negative alcohol expectancies are not related to binge drinking

Courtney E, Polich J (2009), Psychological bulletin 135 (1), 142-156.

Alcohol expectancies in Belgian students• Study among 492 students of the UCL

– 277 psychology students and 215 engeneering– 213 male, 279 female

• Online questionnaire – French adaptation of the AEQ-A– 4 expectancies :

• Relaxation and facilitating social contact• Improved physical and mental abilities• Enhanced sensations• Loss of control

• Findings– males student have higher scores on positive expectancies than female

students– psychology and engineering students have different expectancies

Darcheville (2012)

Attitudes• A psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a

particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor (Eagly & Chaiken, 1995)

Based on outcome beliefs, the subjective value of the outcomes, and the perceived probability that the outcome will occur

• Reviews of community prevention strategies indicate that having favorable attitudes toward substance use is associated with binge drinking among adolescents

Collins et al. (2007). Substance Use Misuse, 42(6), 985-1007

Self-efficacy and perceived control• The measure of the belief in one's own ability of performing a

given behavior– Applied to alcohol use and binge drinking: the ability to refuse drinks

easily or to stop drinking – Is believed to influence an individuals’ drinking intentions and

ultimately the behaviour

• Numerous studies have demonstrated an inverse association between drinking refusal self-efficacy and drinking behavior

Attitudes and perceived control combined• Theory of Planned Behaviour

TPB tested among Belgian studentsStudy among 192 students of the KU Leuven-recruited via the student medical service-53% human sciences, 24% exact sciences and 22% biomedical sciences -43% male, 57% female-Pen-and-paper questionnaire (validated)

Van Campenhout (2013)

Attitudes and perceived control combined• Behaviour Reasoning Theory

BRT tested among Belgian studentsStudy among 547 students of the UCL-418 online, 129 in auditorium-218 for 2nd completion-Different faculties (economics and political sciences, psychology, other)

-242 male, 304 female-Online/pen-and-paper questionnaire

De Waele & Godfrin (2013)

Reasons for and against drinking

Peer influences• The influence of other students on alcohol use and binge

drinking can be– Direct: offering alcohol and/or insist on drinking– Indirect: setting social norms

• Descriptive norms: What other people do• Injunctive norms: What other people approve of

• Reviews indicate that binge or risky drinking among adolescents is associated with

– having close friends who consumed alcohol in the past month – excessive drinking among peers

Gilligan et al. Alcohol, 47(3), 349-354.

Peer influences tested in Belgian students

Study among 282 students of the UCL-Different faculties (psychology, bio-enginieering)

-246 women (87.23%); 36 men (12.77%) -Online questionnaire measuring direct offer, perceived injunctive norms, perceived descriptive norms and alcohol consumption-Distinction between non-binge drinkers (19.1%), binge drinkers (72.3%) and frequent binge drinkers (8.5%)

Kumst (2013)

Conclusion• Alcohol expectancies, attitudes, self-efficacy, direct

peer pressure and perceived norms all contribute to alcohol consumption and to binge drinking

• The relative importance of the determinants varies– For alcohol use and binge drinking– Between subgroups (gender)

• Prevention campaigns and strategies need to take the multiple determinants of alcohol use and binge drinking into account

• Research on the determinants of binge drinking can help to inform prevention efforts

“The chief reason for drinking is the desire to behave in a certain way, and to be able to blame it on alcohol” 

~ Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960