Perceived Control of Drinking and Other Predictors of Alcohol Use and Problems in a College Student Sample

Abstract

Perceived efficacy in controlling drinking has occupied a central place in theories of the acquisition, treatment, and maintenance of drinking behavior. Two measures of perceived control over drinking were used in the present study to predict alcohol use and problems. The first was designed to assess perceived control over specific expectancies of alcohol effects, and the second, taken from the Impaired Control Scale (ICS), measured perceived control over alcohol use. One-hundred forty-two alcohol-using college students reported on their level of alcohol use and moderate to severe levels of problems with alcohol use. Besides the perceived control measures, they also completed a number of other known predictors of alcohol use/problems, including the Eysenck 1.7 scales of impulsivity and venturesomeness, irrational beliefs, depression, perceived alcohol use norms, reasons for drinking, and expectancies of alcohol effects. While both perceived control measures were significantly correlated with alcohol expectancies and reasons for drinking, the ICS measure was additionally significantly correlated with the personality dimensions of impulsivity and proneness to depression and irrational beliefs. Over and above the influence of the other predictors, the ICS measure of perceived control over alcohol use was found to be a significant specific predictor of alcohol use problems, but not of level of alcohol use.

Key Words:

• alcohol use
• alcohol use problems
• perceived control
• expectancies
• personality
• college students