Development and Initial Validation of the Alcohol Expectancy Task

Kuntsche, Emmanuel; Kuntsche, Sandra

doi:10.1111/acer.13427

Cited by 13 publications

(24 citation statements)

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“…For young children, future research should consider using more age‐adequate assessments of AE, as children's cognitive and language skills are still developing (Berk, ; Keenan and Evans, ). For instance, the recently developed Alcohol Expectancy Task (Kuntsche and Kuntsche, ) accessible on a tablet could foster more age‐friendly measurements. Furthermore, longitudinal studies (e.g., Jester, ) are advised to evaluate the transition from AE to alcohol use initiation and subsequently to more risky drinking patterns in adolescence and beyond using the same individuals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to Parental Alcohol Use Rather Than Parental Drinking Shapes Offspring's Alcohol Expectancies

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Otten

Kleinjan

et al. 2019

Alcoholism Clin & Exp Res

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Background: Alcohol expectancies (AE), that is, the anticipated effects of alcohol, start developing early in childhood and are important predictors of alcohol use years later. Whereas previous research has demonstrated that parental drinking relates to children's AE, this study aims to test whether exposure to parental alcohol use mediates the link between parental alcohol use and positive and negative AE among children (6 to 8 years) and early adolescents (12 to 15 years).Methods: Longitudinal multi-informant family studies were conducted in the Netherlands among children (Study 1 (2015 to 2017): N = 329; 48.9% boys; M age = 4.6) and adolescents (Study 2 [2015(Study 2 [ to 2018: N = 755; 45.6% boys; M age = 11.3). Fathers' and mothers' alcohol use in terms of quantity and exposure (i.e., the frequency of alcohol use in 9 family-specific situations), and offspring's AE were collected using online questionnaires.Results: Structural equation modeling conducted in the full sample and separately by gender revealed the following: For children, no associations were found in the full sample. However, genderspecific results indicated that fathers' exposure was associated with (and mediated) favorable AE. Among adolescents, fathers' exposure was associated with (and mediated) social and coping AE (both boys and girls) and enhancement AE (only boys). Contrastingly, neither mothers' alcohol use nor its exposure was associated with any AE. Although different associations were found by offspring's gender, strong evidence for gender differences was lacking.Conclusions: This study indicates that, for specific expectancies, exposure to fathers' alcohol use shapes offspring's cognitions about the effects of alcohol, rather than fathers' alcohol use in general. Prevention efforts could focus on lowering the degree to which fathers expose their drinking, which might be more easily changeable than drinking in general.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to Parental Alcohol Use Rather Than Parental Drinking Shapes Offspring's Alcohol Expectancies

Smit

Otten

Kleinjan

et al. 2019

Alcoholism Clin & Exp Res

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“…A related issue is that we examined sex differences but have not documented menstrual cycles in female participants. Third, AE as assessed by questionnaires may involve logistic and methodological issues and behavioral tasks to circumvent these difficulties and to capture the association between alcohol-related knowledge and behavior would facilitate this direction of research (Kuntsche and Kuntsche, 2017). Fourth, the AUDIT is a screening instrument and may not address all relevant aspects of alcohol use behavior in social drinkers.…”

Section: Limitations Of the Study And Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Problem Drinking, Alcohol Expectancy, and Thalamic Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Nondependent Adult Drinkers

et al. 2018

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Alcohol misuse is associated with thalamic dysfunction. The thalamus comprises subnuclei that relay and integrate information between cortical and subcortical structures. However, it is unclear how the subnuclei contribute to thalamic dysfunctions in problem drinking. We investigated resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of thalamic subregions in 107 nondependent drinkers (57 women), using masks delineated by white matter tractography. Thalamus was parceled into motor, somatosensory, visual, premotor, frontal association, parietal association, and temporal association subregions. Whole-brain linear regression, each against Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and positive alcohol expectancy (AE) score with age as a covariate, was performed for each seed, for men and women combined, and separately. Overall, problem drinking was associated with increased thalamic connectivities, whereas AE was associated with a mixed pattern of increased and decreased connectivities. Motor, premotor, somatosensory, and frontal association thalamic connectivity with bilateral caudate head was positively correlated with AUDIT score in men and women combined. Connectivity of the right caudate head with frontal association and premotor thalamus was also positively correlated with AE score in men and women combined. In contrast, motor and premotor thalamic connectivity with a number of cortical and subcortical structures showed sex differences in the correlation each with AUDIT and AE score. In mediation analyses, AE score completely mediated the correlation between thalamic caudate connectivity and AUDIT score, whereas the model where AE contributed to problem drinking and, in turn, altered thalamic caudate connectivity was not supported. To conclude, thalamic subregional rsFCs showed both shared and distinct changes and sex differences in association with problem drinking and AE. Increased thalamic caudate connectivity may contribute to problem drinking via enhanced AE. The findings suggest the importance of examining thalamic subdivisions and sex in investigating the functional roles of thalamus in problem drinking.

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“…Alcohol consumption may also impair memory on which responders must rely when answering questions (Walker & Hunter, 1978;Weissenborn & Duka, 2003). Furthermore, it has been noted that self-report assessments of alcohol expectancies can be time-consuming, and that the language used can be prohibitive to those with lower or as-yet undeveloped literacy skills (Kuntsche & Kuntsche, 2017). Finally, they typically provide participants with a predefined association (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, they typically provide participants with a predefined association (e.g. 'drinking ¼ happiness') which participants are invited to (dis)agree with (Gmel et al, 2010;Kuntsche & Kuntsche, 2017). This means that it is possible that participants' responses are an artefact of the questioning process rather than a reflection of beliefs or states.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This means that it is possible that participants' responses are an artefact of the questioning process rather than a reflection of beliefs or states. As such, researchers have begun to point towards the need for research tools which can assess alcohol-related beliefs that are not reliant on language comprehension, and can assess cognitions without leading participants by supplying narrowly confined response options (Kuntsche & Kuntsche, 2017). This is not to say that the development of self-report questionnaires has been without rationale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing alcohol-related beliefs using pictographic representations: a systematic approach to the development and validation of the revised alcohol expectancy task

Monk

Leather

Qureshi

et al. 2021

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy

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Aim: To systematically develop and test stimuli for inclusion within the revised Alcohol Expectancy Task (rAET)-a pictographic assessment of alcohol-related beliefs.Using a UK adult sample of regular social drinkers, this paper documents the (1) selection (2)development and (3)testing of stimuli, along with (4)initial validation of the rAET. Method: A hierarchy of common alcoholic beverages was established, along with a consensus regarding beverage presentation format.A professional artist iteratively developed pictographs of characters exhibiting different emotions in everyday scenarios and specialised photography of beverages was undertaken. Accurate identification/recognition of these stimuli was then established using a response box, whereby participants indicated which word (from eight) matched the onscreen images presented.Finally, developed stimuli were included within the rAET. Results: Informing stimuli development and selection, wine, beer and vodka were the most common alcoholic beverages that participants reported consuming, with a preference for photographic representations.Inverse efficiency scores (based on accuracy and reaction time) suggested some variability in the recognition of certain beverage types and emotional stimuli, highlighting which stimuli may be best for inclusion in the rAET. Confirmatory factorial analyses of rAET responses suggests it has good construct validity. Conclusion: Maximising the transparency of stimuli selection, development and assessment provides a solid basis for systematic and valid scenario-based assessments of alcohol-related beliefs.

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Development and Initial Validation of the Alcohol Expectancy Task

Abstract: The AET has the advantage of being time-efficient and convenient and could overcome certain limitations associated with questionnaire-based assessments of alcohol expectancy.

Cited by 13 publications

References 24 publications

Exposure to Parental Alcohol Use Rather Than Parental Drinking Shapes Offspring's Alcohol Expectancies

Exposure to Parental Alcohol Use Rather Than Parental Drinking Shapes Offspring's Alcohol Expectancies

Problem Drinking, Alcohol Expectancy, and Thalamic Resting-State Functional Connectivity in Nondependent Adult Drinkers

Assessing alcohol-related beliefs using pictographic representations: a systematic approach to the development and validation of the revised alcohol expectancy task

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