ALCOHOL EXPECTANCIES AND CHANGES IN BEER CONSUMPTION OF 1ST-YEAR COLLEGE-STUDENTS

The present study used a prospective design to evaluate the relationsh ip between alcohol expectancies and the progression of beer consumptio n of first-year college students over a 2-month period. One hundred an d fifty-four first-year undergraduate students completed the Alcohol E xpectancy Questionnaire (AEQ; Brown, Goldman, Inn, & Anderson, 1980) a nd a measure of precollege drinking during their first week of college , and completed a retrospective diary account of alcohol consumption a lso during the first week and at 1-month and 2-month follow-up. Beer w as consumed considerably more frequently than other alcoholic beverage s and was used as the dependent measure. The results showed that each AEQ subscale was positively correlated with beer consumption at almost all time points, and the magnitude of these correlations was generall y higher for male subjects. Furthermore, the expectancies that alcohol increases social assertiveness and that alcohol is associated with gl obal, positive changes were positively correlated with increases in be er consumption from Session 1 to Session 2 and from Session 1 to Sessi on 3 for male, but not female, subjects. The findings extend previous research by demonstrating that certain alcohol expectancies are relate d to progressive increases over time in the amount of beer consumed.