Longitudinal tracking of alcohol expectancies and their associations with impulsivity in alcohol naïve youth in the adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study
Research article
Highlights
- Positive and negative alcohol expectancies (PAEs and NAEs) can coexist simultaneously.
- PAEs and NAEs were negatively correlated between Ages 11, 12, and 13.
- PAEs link to sensation seeking and lack of premeditation; and NAEs link to positive urgency.
- Lack of perseverance exhibits a time-specific association with PAEs.
- PAEs, NAEs, and impulsivity interact in complex ways.
Background
Adolescence is a pivotal phase of physical, neurobiological, and cognitive development, coupled with increased novelty-seeking behaviors such as alcohol experimentation. While initial experimentation may start with normative alcohol consumption patterns (i.e., sipping or tasting or first drink of alcohol), the risk of progressing to hazardous alcohol use, such as binge alcohol use, and alcohol dependence, tends to amplify with age. To understand this potential risk, it is essential to recognize how antecedent precursors, such as an individual’s beliefs about the consequences of alcohol use (i.e., alcohol expectancies) and impulsive behaviors may contribute alcohol use initiation and escalation.
Alcohol expectancies (AEs) represent the beliefs about the behavioral, physiological, and cognitive consequences of alcohol-related experiences, encompassing both positive beliefs such as increased socialization, relaxation, and tension reduction (i.e., positive AEs; PAEs) and negative beliefs such as poor behavioral control, risk-taking behaviors, and poor decision-making (i.e., negative AEs; NAEs).
Positive alcohol expectancies are shown to be significantly linked with frequent and high-risk alcohol use, whereas, NAEs are linked with lower levels of alcohol use, although the literature on the link between NAEs and alcohol use has yielded mixed results. Ongoing investigation into the developmental trajectory of Positive alcohol expectancies and Negative alcohol expectancies is essential for a more precise understanding of their association with alcohol use.
Prior studies emphasize that environmental influences, like parental alcohol behavior, peer interactions, and media, initially shape the perceptions of alcohol, leading children to hold predominantly NAEs.
Typically, during grades 4–6, Alcohol Eexpectancies tend to shift towards more Positive alcohol expectancies while Negative alcohol expectancies decrease suggesting an inverse correlation between PAEs and NAEs. In fact, studies propose this shift from higher NAEs to higher PAEs as a critical period, as it may play a causal role in earlier alcohol use in adolescents.
But the link between positive and negative alcohol expectancies and the evolution of this relationship during adolescence are poorly understood, especially during the critical period of AEs development in alcohol-naïve youth. Understanding these relationships is crucial given the development of these alcohol-related cognitions are not only linked with alcohol use onset, but also its maintenance, and even progression to alcohol use problems.
Alcohol Expectancies predict the onset of alcohol use and mediate the influence of dispositional factors (i.e., impulsivity) on alcohol use behaviors.
Impulsivity, a known risk factor for adolescent alcohol use, involves stable personality tendencies (commonly termed as traits) such as premature decision making, insensitivity to consequences, and seeking novel experiences, along with impulsive action (i.e., failure to inhibit prepotent responses), and choice (i.e., preference for small, immediate rewards over larger, delayed ones).
A few studies have explored the relationship between different facets of impulsivity and AEs; however, these have predominantly focused on impulsive personality tendencies, thus not capturing impulsivity comprehensively. For example, research shows that youth with higher sensation seeking and lack of premeditation tend to have stronger Positive alcohol expectancies, leading to increased alcohol consumption, while the impact of negative urgency on alcohol use is linked to both positive and negative alcohol expectancies. Despite limited evidence linking behavioral impulsivity and Alcohol Expectancies, a previous study demonstrated that motor impulsiveness is associated with alcohol consumption, and is mediated by Positive alcohol expectancies.
While not directly examined in alcohol naïve youth, these findings indicate potential links between behavioral impulsivity and AEs. Moreover, existing studies to date insufficiently represent early adolescence (often exploring youth beyond age 11), alcohol-naïve youth, and have inadequate sample sizes (often fewer than 600 participants), thereby hindering the generalizability of findings.
This study is the first to investigate the development of Alcohol Expectancies in alcohol naïve youth from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study — a cohort of 11,000 youth across the United States.
This investigation spans from baseline self-report and behavioral impulsivity to AEs at ages 11, 12, and 13 employing a robust longitudinal design with data collected over four years.
Key findings
- The study showed, using ABCD data, that Positive alcohol expectancies gradually increased through ages 11–13, whereas Negative alcohol expectancies increased from ages 11–12 and subsequently remained comparable between ages 12 and 13.
- The study also showed that positive and negative alcohol expectancies were inversely correlated at each time point.
- Positive alcohol expectancies were positively correlated with Sensation seeking and Lack of Premeditation, and Negative alcohol expectancies were negatively correlated with Positive Urgency.
- Interestingly, the researchers observed a time-specific association between Lack of Perseverance and Positive alcohol expectancies; such that Lack of Perseverance was more positively associated with Positive alcohol expectancies at age 11, than at age 12.
Together, the findings highlight age-related changes in positive and negative alcohol expectancies, their intercorrelations, and their time-specific associations with impulsivity in 10–13 year old youth.
Positive alcohol expectancies increased gradually through the ages of 11–13, and Negative alcohol expectancies only showed an initial increase from the ages of 11–12 and then remained unchanged between 12 and 13 years, emphasizing a pronounced ambivalence regarding Alcohol Expectancies, particularly during the 11–13-year age range. Such complex interplay emphasizes the need to understand developmental trajectories of positive and negative alcohol expectancies, and their dynamic relationships.
The study findings revealed key links between self-reported impulsive tendencies and Alcohol Expectancies. Alcohol-naïve youth with higher Positive alcohol expectancies exhibited greater Sensation seeking and greater Lack of Premeditation.
Sensation seeking has been shown to be associated with stronger Positive alcohol expectancies, thus contributing to an increased likelihood for future engagement in high-risk alcohol use. Sensation seeking remains a potential risk factor that may contribute to alcohol use behaviors.
In addition, consistent with the study findings, Lack of Premeditation has previously been associated with Positive alcohol expectancies, which in turn has shown to facilitate alcohol consumption behaviors. Lack of Premeditation within the APM framework is more consistently associated with the onset of alcohol use behaviors and subsequent use of alcohol, particularly the frequency of alcohol consumption in a middle-school cohort.
Greater Positive Urgency was linked with lower Negative alcohol expectancies, suggesting youth who respond rashly to their positive emotions may have lower negative beliefs about alcohol. This association may be clinically significant since higher Positive Urgency has been linked to future alcohol initiation.
The existence of negative beliefs about alcohol does not always discourage high impulsive youth from alcohol consumption. This may be explained by the development of PAEs and NAEs simultaneously. Youth with high Positive Urgency and beliefs that alcohol has fewer negative outcomes, may be at potential risk for engaging in high-risk alcohol use.
Perhaps one of the most novel findings of the current study is the time-specific change in association between Lack of Perseverance and Positive alcohol expectancies. Specifically, the relationship between Lack of Perseverance at baseline was significantly more positive with Positive alcohol expectancies at Age 11 than it was with Positive alcohol expectancies at Age 12.
Past studies have linked Lack of Perseverance to the initiation and escalation of alcohol use, raising some possibility that the relationship between Lack of Perseverance and alcohol initiation may be mediated by Positive Alcohol Expectancies, particularly in late childhood and early adolescence. However, continued research within the ABCD cohort is needed to ensure the observed patterns persist over a longer period and as youth initiate alcohol use.
Conclusions
This study provides novel insights into the trajectory of potential risks for alcohol use initiation in youth by exploring the dynamic nature of Alcohol Expectancies and their linked risk factors through the integration of self-report and behavioral impulsivity measures.
Overall, the researchers aimed to provide valuable insights into relationships between impulsivity and the development of AEs.
The findings highlight PAEs and NAEs changed dynamically over time, necessitating separate exploration as distinct entities, each potentially associated with unique risks for future alcohol consumption. Examining this relationship in an alcohol naïve cohort provides a unique opportunity to better understand the interplay between innate tendencies and social influences in shaping alcohol use onset.
Abstract
Background
Positive and negative alcohol expectancies (PAEs and NAEs, respectively) and impulsivity are key risk factors for the onset of alcohol use. While both factors independently contribute to alcohol initiation, the developmental aspects of AEs and their nuanced relationship with impulsivity are not adequately understood. Understanding these relationships is imperative for developing targeted interventions to prevent or delay alcohol use onset in youth.
Methods
This study utilized the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development cohort to examine how PAEs and NAEs develop over time and relate to each other.
The researchers also explored how self-reported and behavioral impulsivity at baseline (~10 years old) are linked with the longitudinal development of PAEs and NAEs in youth Ages 11, 12, and 13 (n = 7493; 7500; and 6981, respectively), as well as their time-specific relationships.
Results
Findings revealed while PAEs increased steadily over all three years, NAEs increased from ages 11–12 and then remained unchanged between 12 and 13. Overall, PAEs and NAEs were inversely related. Moreover, PAEs positively correlated with sensation seeking and lack of premeditation, while NAEs negatively correlated with positive urgency. Interestingly, a time-specific association was observed with PAEs and lack of perseverance, with a stronger correlation to PAEs at Age 11 compared to Age 12.
Conclusions
Overall, this study provides insights into the divergent developmental trajectory of PAEs and NAEs, and their overall and time-specific associations with impulsivity. These findings may guide focused and time-sensitive prevention and intervention initiatives, aiming to modify Alcohol Expectancies and prevent and reduce underage alcohol use.
Declaration of conflict of interest
Marc N. Potenza reports a relationship with Mohegan Sun that includes: funding grants. Mohegan Sun is an American casino, owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe on 240 acres (97 ha) of their reservation.
Marc N. Potenza reports a relationship with National Center for Responsible Gaming that includes: funding grants.