A prospective study of the acquired preparedness model: The effects of impulsivity and expectancies on smoking initiation in college students.

Abstract

Aims This paper reports on a prospective test of the Acquired Preparedness Model, which posits that impulsivity influences cigarette smoking through the formation of more positive and fewer negative expectancies about smoking effects. Design College freshman never-smokers (n = 400; 45% male) completed a baseline interview and quarterly online follow-up assessments for 15 months following baseline. Findings Structural equation modeling indicated that the effects of the impulsivity components of sensation seeking and negative urgency on risk of smoking initiation were mediated by expectancies for positive and negative reinforcement from smoking, respectively. Expectancies about negative consequences from smoking predicted initiation but did not mediate the effects of sensation seeking or negative urgency. Conclusions Findings are consistent with the Acquired Preparedness Model, and suggest that heightened impulsivity is associated with heightened expectancies for reinforcement from smoking, and thus with greater risk for smoking initiation.

Testing the Acquired Preparedness Model: Predicting College Student Gambling Frequency and Symptomatology

“…Specifically, the full mediational model that included impulsivity and outcome expectancies robustly predicted both frequency and gambling symptomatology. In addition, this study provided further support for a multidimensional measurement of impulsivity (e.g., Dir, Cyders & Coskunpinar, 2013; Doran et al, 2012; Schaumberg & Earleywine, 2013). In this case, we found that three gambling specific impulsivity dimensions were each related to gambling activity and symptomology, and these relations were uniquely mediated by different gambling outcome expectancies.…”

“…This bias, in turn, influences a person's outcome expectancies and ultimately the engagement in the risk taking behavior. Studies on various risk behaviors by college students have provided support for this model (e.g., Doran et al, 2012; McCarthy, Kroll, & Smith, 2001; Vangsness, Bry, Erich & Labouvie, 2005), but have not tested the model with gambling. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the acquired preparedness model can be used to evaluate the relation between three impulsivity dimensions and more proximal risk factors of outcome expectancies on gambling involvement and problematic gambling risk.…”

“…Tests of the acquired preparedness model have shown expectancies to mediate impulsivity for alcohol use (McCarthy, Kroll & Smith, 2001; McCarthy, Miller, Smith & Smith, 2001), sexual behaviors (Dir, Cyders & Coskunpinar, 2013), smoking initiation (Doran et al, 2012), bulimic behaviors (Schaumberg & Earleywine, 2013), and marijuana use (Vagness, Bry, Erich & LaBouvie, 2005). Furthermore, tests of the acquired preparedness model that have used specific dimensions of impulsivity have supported a multidimensional relation of impulsivity and expectancies for various risk behaviors (Dir, Cyders & Coskunpinar, 2013; Doran et al, 2012; Schaumberg & Earleywine, 2013). …”

Smoking Trajectories Across High School: Sensation Seeking and Hookah Use

“…The development of sensation seeking in relation to subsequent smoking has been much less studied (Crawford, Pentz, Chou, Li, & Dwyer, 2003). Explanatory mechanisms for the association between sensation seeking and the initiation of smoking include heightened reward sensitivity to nicotine, underestimation of risk, consorting with other sensation-seeking peers, and expectancies for positive reinforcement from smoking (Doran et al, 2012;Perkins et al, 2008;Wills, Windle, & Cleary, 1998;Yanovitzky, 2005).…”

Cigarette Smoking Initiation During College Predicts Future Alcohol Involvement: A Matched-Samples Study

“…Initial studies addressing this issue found that approximately 11% of college students smoked their fi rst cigarette after age 18 or following college enrollment (Everett et al, 1999;Wechsler et al, 1998;Wetter et al, 2004). More recent prospective research suggests substantially higher smoking initiation during the college years, with 18%-25% of students who had not previously smoked reporting cigarette smoking within their fi rst 2 years in college (Costa et al, 2007;Doran et al, 2012;Tercyak et al, 2007). Substantial initiation also appears to occur among students from ethnic groups with low smoking rates, as suggested by a longitudinal study of Asian American college students in which 25% of those who had not smoked before entering college initiated smoking before the end of their fourth year in college (Myers et al, 2009).…”