ALCOHOL EXPECTANCIES IN EARLY ADOLESCENTS - PREDICTING DRINKING BEHAVIOR FROM ALCOHOL EXPECTANCIES AND PARENTAL ALCOHOLISM

The current study examined the role of alcohol expectancies and parent al alcoholism in prospectively predicting alcohol consumption and cons equences among early adolescents. We examined whether personal effects expectancies would predict ''problem'' alcohol use outcomes and if so cial effects expectancies would predict ''normal'' alcohol consumption . Although confirmatory factor analytic techniques showed considerable overlap between personal and social effects expectancies, we Found ev idence to suggest that distinctiveness between these constructs may in crease at higher levels of alcohol consumption. Regression analyses su pported the utility of alcohol expectancies in prospectively predictin g alcohol consequences over and above pre-existing alcohol consumption , and parental alcoholism. However. there was no consistent support fo r the hypothesis that personal and social effects expectancies predict ed different types of drinking outcomes, possibly because of the young age of the current sample.