Validity and Reliability of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire-Adolescent, Brief

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a brief version of the Alcohol Expectancy QuestionnaireAdolescent (AEQ-A; Brown, Christiansen, & Goldman, 1987 Expectancies have been implicated in the initiation and maintenance of drinking (Goldman et al., 1991). In expectancy theory, thoughts affect behavior and consequences related to drug use; these thoughts or expectancies are learned (directly or indirectly through others), and are linked to memories; and as a result, expectancies can affect behavior voluntarily and involuntarily (Brown, 1993). One method clinicians may utilize to reduce drinking behavior is to alter alcohol effect expectancies.Numerous studies have found that the more expectancies endorsed by an individual, the greater the amount of reported alcohol use (Greenbaum, Brown, & Friedman, 1995). Alcohol expectancies appear to be linked to relapse after alcoholism treatment (Brown, 1985;Marlatt, 1978). The relationship of expectancies to drinking has been widely supported in a variety of adolescent samples (Smith et al., 1995;Christiansen, Goldman, & Inn, 1982;Christiansen & Goldman, 1983;Webb et al., 1993). Among youth with serious emotional disorders, adolescents with Conduct Disorder seem to have the highest risk for drinking (Boyle & Offord, 1991). The drinking behavior of these high-risk adolescents appears to be the same with regard to expectancies: The greater the expectancy, the greater the consumption of alcohol .There is an assortment of instruments that can be used to measure alcohol effect expectancies; however, none of them appear to increase prediction of drinking beyond results obtained by using the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire-Adolescent (AEQ-A; Greenbaum et al., 1995). The AEQ-A is 90 items long. A short form exists (AEQ-SF; Rather, 1990), which consists of the 17-item Subscale 2 (enhanced social facilitation) and the 10-item Subscale 3 (enhanced cognitive and motor skills). However, the AEQ-SF has the disadvantage of not tapping the additional five constructs of the AEQ-A (Global positive changes, sexual enhancement, cognitive and motor impairment, increased arousal, and relaxation and tension reduction), and it is still 27 items long. Clinicians working in fast-paced environments with few resources may be interested in a very brief but useful alcohol expectancy tool during short-term clinical interventions.The purpose of this study is to describe the psychometric characteristics of a brief version of the AEQ-A. Starting with the AEQ-A was ideal since this parent instrument has been shown to be valid for use with delinquent adolescents (Brown, Christiansen, & Goldman, 1987). Many adolescents in substance abuse treatment settings also exhibit antisocial behaviors (Grella et al., 2001). The literature indicates that expectancies are useful factors to target during treatment (Brown, 1993;Brown et al., 1998). The AEQ-AB is meant to be a brief measure used by clinicians to address and challenge adolescent alcohol effect expectancies during brief interventions. We will describe ...

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