SOCIAL SKILLS, EXPECTANCIES, AND DRINKING IN ADOLESCENTS

Research in the field of teenage drinking behavior has shown relations hips between both social skills and drinking and alcohol expectancies and drinking. The present research investigated the comparative power of both of these sets of variables in predicting teenage drinking beha vior, as well as looking at the contribution of more global cognitive structures. It was hypothesised that adolescents with high alcohol inv olvement would be discriminated from those with low involvement on the basis of social skills, cognitive structures, and alcohol expectancie s. Seven hundred thirty-two adolescents participated in the study. Res ults indicated that adolescent alcohol involvement was associated with social skills deficits, positive alcohol expectancies, and negative c ognitive structures concerning parents and teachers. The results revea led that, although the bulk of the variance in drinking behavior was e xplained by the independent effects of social skills and expectancies, the interaction of the two constructs explained an additional and sig nificant proportion of the variance. Implications for preventive and t reatment programs are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.