The Acquired Preparedness Model (APM) posits that alcohol expectancies mediate effects of personality traits on drinking outcomes, whereas the Dual Process Model (DPM) suggests that top down behavioral control (e.g. self-control) moderates the impact of bottom up risk factors like alcohol expectancies. This study sought to integrate the APM and DPM by examining the extent to which indirect effects of impulsive sensation-seeking on drinking outcomes are moderated by self-control. We hypothesized that the APM may hold more strongly for people who are higher in self-control, as they may engage in alcohol use for the explicit purpose of meeting sensation seeking goals. Data were from 462 participants (ages 15–63; 58.4% male) who completed one of five studies affiliated with the Center for the Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism (CTNA). Consistent with the APM, higher levels of impulsive sensation seeking were associated with stronger positive expectancies which, in turn, contributed to heavier drinking and related problems. Consistent with the DPM, among non-dependent drinkers, indirect effects of impulsive sensation seeking on alcohol use were only present among those who were high in self-control. These findings suggest that expectancy challenges may be most effective for those with high levels of self-control prior to the development of alcohol dependence. However, future studies integrating the APM and DPM should include both implicit and explicit measures of expectancies to address the possibility that individuals with lower levels of self-control may be more influenced by automatic or implicit influences, and may therefore respond well to implicit expectancy challenges.

Objective: The current project aims to enhance our understanding of the well-established relation between fraternity membership and sexual aggression on college campuses. Most prior research has been crosssectional and unable to distinguish selection and socialization accounts of the relation, and only one prior longitudinal study has simultaneously examined selection and socialization effects. Method: Fraternity membership, sexual aggression, binge drinking, sociosexual attitudes and behaviors, and perceived peer sexual aggression were assessed for 772 male participants (n = 116 fraternity members) in a longitudinal survey study from the summer prior to college through Year 2 of college. Results: Longitudinal path analyses revealed three key findings. First, fraternity membership was prospectively correlated with sexual aggression in Years 1 and 2 of college (socialization effect), controlling for selection effects, when the two prospective paths were constrained to be equivalent. Second, more frequent binge drinking and sociosexual attitudes prior to college prospectively correlated with an increased likelihood of joining a fraternity (selection effect), and both selection variables indirectly correlated with future sexual aggression via fraternity membership. Third, fraternity membership was associated with increased binge drinking and perceived peer sexual aggression (socialization effects). Conclusions: These findings identify critical targets for the prevention of sexually aggressive behavior that are linked to fraternity membership: Binge drinking and sociosexual attitudes. Public Health Significance StatementFraternity membership is associated with an increased likelihood that college men engage in sexual aggression, even after considering past sexual aggression and variables that predict joining a fraternity (i.e., binge drinking and a preference for casual sex).

The current study seeks to create a brief survey measure of self-control that differentiates perceived capacity from internal and external motivation. Items were adapted from the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS; Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004) and administered through 2 online surveys to 347 students and 1 online survey to 192 participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk. The Multidimensional Assessment of Self-Control showed strong evidence for the reliability of test scores and the validity of the interpretation of test scores. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a 3-factor structure consistent with the underlying theoretical model. The final 15-item measure demonstrated excellent model fit. The 3 subscales related to various self-reported behavioral outcomes and accounted for additional variance beyond that accounted for by the BSCS. Although more research in this area is needed, the current study demonstrates the importance of studying multiple aspects of self-control, including self-control motivation. Future research might use this measure to elucidate mechanisms involved in self-control for various health-risk and protective behaviors. Such findings might ultimately inform tailoring of prevention and intervention efforts to be more specific, effective, and efficient.

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