Organization and Activation of Alcohol Expectancies Across Empirically Derived Profiles of College Student Drinkers

Alcohol expectancies have been linked to the development of alcohol pathology. Research has shown college drinkers can be classified into unique drinking profiles that vary by use and related problems. The current study examines paths of alcohol expectancy activation as a function of drinking profile. College student drinkers (n = 1,226; 60.77% female) completed assessments of alcohol involvement and alcohol expectancies. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to classify drinking profiles. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) techniques were then applied to examine differences in the likely activation of alcohol expectancies as a function of drinking profile. LPA identified 6 classes of college student drinkers: light drinkers with minor problems, moderate drinkers with mild problems, moderate drinkers with severe problems, heavy drinkers with mild problems, heavy drinkers with severe problems, and heavy drinkers with physical dependence. MDS was used to develop a hypothetical memory network of alcohol expectancies. Preference mapping was then used to plot paths of expectancy activation through the hypothetical memory network for each drinking profile. Light drinkers showed expectancy activation along a prosocial-antisocial dimension. As use patterns became increasingly pathological, paths of activation shifted toward arousal-sedation. The shift in activation paths from prosocial-antisocial to arousal-sedation was driven more by alcohol-related pathology than by consumption. This suggests that individuals high in arousal-sedation expectancies may be at an increased risk for more severe alcohol pathology. Further, individuals high in arousal-sedation expectancies may benefit most from programs that restructure expectancy pathways away from arousal-sedation.