From the Laboratory to Real Life: A Pilot Study of an Expectancy Challenge With “Heavy Drinking” Young People on Holiday

Abstract

The Alcohol Expectancy Challenge (EC) is a promising program for changing alcohol expectancies and reducing alcohol consumption in “heavy drinking” young men in a bar-lab setting. In this study the EC was adapted for use in mixed-gender groups in a holiday setting and its feasibility tested in camping resorts in the Netherlands where a lot of binge drinking takes place (summer 2002). Male and female participants (N = 170; mean age, 18.8 years) were randomly assigned to an EC or to an assessment-only control group. One day before the intervention, alcohol expectancies were measured by a Visual Analogue Scale of arousal-sedation expectancies (VAS expectancies questionnaire). At the same time, alcohol use in everyday life and on holiday was assessed by a General Drinking Questionnaire and a 24-hour drinking diary, respectively. Twenty-four hours after the intervention, the VAS expectancies questionnaire was administered again and alcohol use over the previous 24 hours was reported in the drinking diary. Six weeks after the intervention, participants were telephoned and administered oral versions of the VAS expectancies questionnaire and General Drinking Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using mixed ANOVAs. Although the study was hampered by recruitment difficulties, the EC proved feasible in this setting, was well received by youngsters, and effects on their alcohol expectancies may have been present. No effect was found on alcohol use. In conclusion, implementation must be improved and more studies are needed to come to more definite conclusions about the value of the EC in a real-life targeted intervention.

Keywords:

• adolescene
• alcohol consumption
• alcohol use
• binge drinking
• Expectancy Challenge
• intervention

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jade van de Luitgaarden

Jade van de Luitgaarden, M.Sc., is working on her Ph.D. in the Department of Medical Sociology at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. Her research interests include the role of expectancies in alcohol consumption, the Expectancy Challenge intervention, and the development and effectiveness of community action on alcohol.

Reinout W. Wiers

Reinout W. Wiers, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. His research interests include implicit cognition, cognitive and biological aspects of addiction, and prevention and treatment of substance use and misuse. He received his doctorate in 1998 from the University of Amsterdam.

Ronald A. Knibbe

Ronald A. Knibbe, Ph.D., is Professor in Social Epidemiology of Alcohol and Drug use at the Faculty of Health Sciences of Maastricht University, The Netherlands. His research interest is in social causes and social context of alcohol and drug use and the development and evaluation of policies and interventions to reduce substance-related harm.

Brigitte J. Boon

Brigitte J. F. Boon, Ph.D., is Research Manager at the Addiction Research Institute Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Her research interests include determinants and prevention of alcohol use, the cognitive regulation of eating behavior, and the prevention and treatment of (childhood) obesity. She received her doctorate in 1998 from Utrecht University.