Validation of cocaine and marijuana effect expectancies in a treatment setting

This study sought to establish the validity of the Cocaine Effect Expectanc y Questionnaire (CEEQ), and the Marijuana Effect Expectancy Questionnaire ( MEEQ) in discriminating between patterns of drug use in a clinical populati on. Prior research with these questionnaires has involved primarily nonclin ical samples. Expectancy literature has yielded ambiguous results in demons trating the role of both positive and negative expectancies in regards to d rug use patterns. The sample consisted of 149 males on an inpatient V.A. su bstance abuse unit. On the CEEQ, cocaine users, particularly frequent users , endorsed fewer global positive cocaine expectancies than infrequent or no nusers. Present-infrequent users endorsed greater arousal effects than eith er present-frequent or nonusers. Nonusers of cocaine endorsed greater relax ation than present users. On the MEEQ, nonusers expected more negative effe cts from marijuana than users. Present users expected greater relaxation an d craving effects than past users or nonusers. These results indicate: diff erent roles for positive and negative expectancies in cocaine and marijuana use. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.