Kevin S. Montes

Trajectories of positive alcohol expectancies and drinking: an examination of young adults in the US and Sweden

Positive alcohol expectancies and alcohol use tend to increase from adolescence to young adulthood, yet little is known about the associations between these constructs across cultures. The current study adds to the extant literature by examining the growth trajectories of positive alcohol expectancies and drinking behavior among United States (US) and Swedish participants during a critical period where significant change in these outcomes may be expected to occur. A total of 870 (US, N=362; Sweden, N=508) high school seniors completed baseline, 6-month, and 12-month assessments of alcohol expectancies and drinking (i.e., drinks per week). Changes in positive alcohol expectancies and drinking behavior were examined using a parallel process latent growth model. In both samples, higher baseline levels of positive alcohol expectancies were associated with a higher number of drinks consumed per week at baseline. In the US sample, lower baseline levels of positive alcohol expectancies were associated with a greater increase in positive alcohol expectancies at 12-month follow-up, and lower baseline levels of drinks per week were associated with a greater increase in drinks consumed per week at 12-month follow-up. In the Swedish sample, an increase in positive alcohol expectancies over time was associated with an increase in drinks consumed per week over the same period of time. Additional research is needed to examine when and for whom expectancy-based alcohol interventions are most efficacious.

Do Protective Behavioral Strategies Mediate the Effect of Preparty Motives on Event-Level Preparty Alcohol Use?

ABSTRACT Background: Research suggests that protective behavioral strategies (PBS) serve as one mechanism through which drinking motives can influence alcohol use. Whether these findings generalize to preparty drinking has yet to be examined. Objectives: The current study attempts to fill this gap in the literature by examining three types of PBS (Limiting/Stopping Drinking, Manner of Drinking, and Serious Harm Reduction) as mediators of the relationship between preparty-specific drinking motives (e.g., Interpersonal Enhancement, Intimate Pursuit, Situational Control, and Barriers to Consumption) and event-level preparty drinking. Method: Participants were 986 college students from two universities taking part in a larger alcohol intervention study who reported on the amount of alcohol they consumed during a recent preparty occasion. Results: After controlling for general drinking motives, campus affiliation, and gender, Manner of Drinking PBS (e.g., avoiding drinking games and consuming shots of liquor) were found to mediate the relationship between preparty-specific motives and event-level preparty drinking. Conclusions/ Importance: The findings demonstrate that PBS may be helpful to assuage the strong association between preparty drinking motives and preparty drinking. The findings also point to several areas for further exploration, including the identification of PBS which are specific to prepartying.

A quantification of the alcohol use-consequences association in college student and clinical populations: A large, multi-sample study: Alcohol Use And Consequences

BACKGROUND The present study sought to quantify the relationship between alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences in both college student and clinical samples. METHODS We gathered 33 college student datasets comprising of 15,618 participants and nine clinical sample datasets comprising of 4,527 participants to determine the effect size of the relationship between alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences. We used random-effects meta-analytic techniques, separately in college and clinical samples, to account for a distribution of true effects and to assess for heterogeneity in effect sizes. RESULTS Results demonstrated that the clear majority of the variability in alcohol-related consequences is not explained by alcohol use (ie, >77% in college samples; >86% in clinical samples), and that there was significant heterogeneity in all effect sizes. CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE Experiencing alcohol-related consequences results from factors that extend beyond frequency and quantity of alcohol consumed suggesting a need to examine other predictors of alcohol-related consequences beyond alcohol use. (Am J Addict 2018;27:116-123).

The Relationship Between Perceived Hookup Attitudes and Negative Hookup Consequences: Do Perceived Attitudes of Close Friends Matter?

Research suggests that the perceived hookup attitudes of close referents are generally a poor predictor of hookup behavior and likely a poor direct predictor of negative hookup consequences. The current study aimed to examine three intervening variables as mediators of the relationship between the perceived hookup attitudes of college students’ close friends and negative hookup consequences (e.g., regret, embarrassment). Self-report data were collected from 589 heavy-drinking college students from three midsized universities. The results indicated that students’ own attitudes toward hooking up, motivation to hook up, and self-reported number of hookup partners significantly mediated the relationship between the perceived hookup attitudes of close friends and negative hookup consequences. The perceived hookup attitudes of close friends were positively associated with participants’ attitudes toward hooking up. Participants’ attitudes toward hooking up were positively associated with social-sexual motivation to hook up. Elevated social-sexual motivation to hook up was positively associated with hooking up with multiple partners, with hooking up with multiple partners positively associated with negative hookup consequences. A better understanding of the predictors and mediators of negative hookup consequences has the potential to inform prevention and intervention efforts.

Does Age Moderate the Effect of Spirituality/Religiousness in Accounting for Alcoholics Anonymous Benefit?

ABSTRACT Gains in spiritual/religious (S/R) practices among Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members are associated with reductions in drinking. This study had the following aims: (1) examine spirituality/religiousness as a mediator of the relationship between AA attendance and reductions in drinking behavior to replicate past research findings and to (2) examine age cohort as a moderator of the mediational analyses given that empirical evidence (e.g., generational differences in spirituality) suggests that age may influence the acquisition of gains in spirituality/religiousness during AA as well as the expression of these gains on drinking behavior. Measures were administered to 253 participants recruited from community-based AA and outpatient treatment programs at baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, and 210 (83%) participants provided complete data to test study aims. Gains in S/R practices mediated the relationship between AA attendance and increased abstinence but not drinking intensity. Simple slopes analyses indicated a positive association between AA attendance and gains in S/R practices among younger AA affiliates but not older AA affiliates in the moderated-mediational analyses. However, age was not found to moderate the global mediational effect. The results from the current study inform efforts to increase positive change in AA affiliates’ drinking behavior by highlighting specific aspects of S/R practices that should be targeted based on the age of an AA affiliate.

Negative affect as a moderator of the relationship between hookup motives and hookup consequences

ABSTRACT Objective: The current study examined the extent to which negative affect moderates the relationships between distinct hookup motives and hookup consequences. Participants: Data were collected from 271 heavy-drinking undergraduate college students. Methods: Students from 3 US universities completed online surveys assessing hooking up–related motives, behaviors, and consequences. Results: The results showed that conformity motives to hookup and negative affect predicted hookup consequences. Furthermore, negative affect moderated the relationship between hooking up for relationship reasons and hookup consequences. Specifically, among students with high negative affect, hooking up to secure a long-term relationship was positively associated with hookup consequences whereas among students with low negative affect, securing a long-term relationship was negatively associated with hookup consequences. Conclusions: These findings highlight the role that motives and negative affect play in the prediction of negative hookup consequences. Moreover, the findings from the current study have the potential to inform prevention efforts designed to reduce hookup consequences.

Hazardous drinking has unique relationships with implicit and explicit drinking identity

Measures of drinking identity are predictive of hazardous drinking. The extent to which hazardous drinking is differentially related to implicit compared to explicit drinking identity is not well understood. Neurocognitive models of addiction indicate that chronic alcohol use is associated with deficits in self-awareness which could limit the growth or recognition of drinking identity for individuals engaging in hazardous drinking. This might be particularly true for more reflective explicit measures of identity because their assessment and underlying cognitive processes rely more on self-awareness and conscious introspection. We predicted there would be different patterns of relationships between hazardous drinking and implicit/explicit drinking identity measures. A linear model was predicted to better fit the hazardous drinking and implicit identity relationship whereas a non-linear model was predicted to better fit the hazardous drinking and explicit identity relationship due to decreased ability to reflect on changes in identity at high levels of hazardous drinking. The present study is a re-analysis of a large secondary dataset (Project Implicit Mental Health; N = 11,320) which included measures of hazardous drinking (e.g., Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test) and implicit/explicit identity. Results were consistent with predictions. The relationship between hazardous drinking and implicit drinking identity was best modeled by a linear function whereas the relationship between hazardous drinking and explicit drinking identity was best modeled by a non-linear cubit spline function. These findings are consistent not only with neurocognitive models but also with dual process formulations that implicit and explicit drinking identity are somewhat related but also quite distinct.