DRINKING RESTRAINT AND ALCOHOL-RELATED OUTCOMES - EXPLORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF BEVERAGE INSTRUCTIONS, BEVERAGE CONTENT AND SELF-MONITORING

Objective: We examined the role of drinking restraint (temptation and restriction), beverage instructions and content and self-monitoring in alcohol-related outcomes (consumption, subjective intoxication and bl ood alcohol concentration [BAC]) in a sample of moderate- to heavy-dri nking young men. Method: Male social drinkers (N = 132) participated i n an individualized taste-rating task (TRT), an unobtrusive method for determining ad libitum alcohol consumption. Beverages were presented using the format of the balanced placebo design (BPD), in which subjec ts' expectation of an alcoholic versus a nonalcoholic beer was crossed with their receipt of an alcoholic versus a nonalcoholic beer. During a single 30-minute drinking occasion, each subject sampled two beers and rated their taste characteristics on a computer. Results: Consumpt ion during the TRT, ratings of subjective intoxication and postdrinkin g BAC, served as criterion variables in regressions in which BPD bever age condition, the two aspects of drinking restraint, self-monitoring, and their interactions, served as the predictors. The results indicat ed that TRT consumption was mainly a function of the temptation to dri nk (an aspect of restraint). As expected, assignment to the conditions of the BPD predicted subjective 'intoxication and BAG. Self-monitorin g did not have an impact on any of the alcohol-related outcomes. Concl usions: The results for TRT consumption suggest that drinking restrain t, particularly the temptation to drink (i.e., view the regulation of intake as difficult and/or drink to repair negative affective states), enhances the consumption of social drinkers during a single drinking occasion. Consistent with previous research, the conditions of the BPD predicted some alcohol-related outcomes.