The Moderating Role of Gender in the Prospective Associations Between Expectancies and Alcohol–Related Negative Consequences Among College Students

Abstract

This study examined if alcohol expectancies (assessed with the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol–Brief Form) were prospectively related to negative consequences (assessed with the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index) and if these associations varied by gender. Data were collected from 558 first-year college students at a university in the southeastern United States as part of an intervention study conducted during their initial residence hall meetings of the fall semester of 2007. Only those students who used alcohol and completed both baseline and 3-month follow-up surveys were included in the analyses (n = 347). Mixed-model multivariate analyses indicated that higher sexuality and tension reduction expectancies were prospectively related to more alcohol consumption–related negative consequences for males but not for females. Findings suggest that intervention efforts to prevent problem drinking would benefit from being gender-specific. The study's limitations are noted.

Keywords:

• expectancies
• college students
• alcohol–related negative consequences
• gender
• problem drinking