Alcohol and Regrettable Drinking-Related Social Behaviors
Alcohol and Regrettable Drinking-Related Social Behaviors
Aims: Research has shown that alcohol outcome expectancies are predictive of heavy alcohol consumption, which can lead to risky behavior. The purpose of the present study was to assess the incidence of various low-risk social behaviors while drinking among college students. Such social behaviors may later be regretted (referred to as regrettable social behaviors) and include electronic and in-person communications.
Methods: College students (N = 236) completed measures of alcohol outcome expectancies and regrettable social behaviors.
Results: Regrettable social behaviors were reported by 66.1% of participants, suggesting that they may occur at a much higher rate than more serious drinking-related consequences (e.g. drinking and driving, violence, etc.). Expectancies for social facilitation predicted regrettable social behavior. Further, this relationship was mediated by amount of alcohol consumed.
Conclusion: Given the high incidence, regrettable social behaviors may be effective targets in alcohol prevention programming.
Consequences of College Drinking
Despite efforts by college and university policy makers to curb alcohol consumption and subsequent negative consequences, college students continue to drink at dangerous levels—approximately 1 in 4 college freshmen will drop out or have other academic consequences due to alcohol abuse and 1800 college student deaths can be attributed to alcohol-related injuries each year (Hingson et al., 2009). Considerable research has found a positive association between drinking and involvement in high-risk behaviors such as illicit drug use, risky sexual behavior, driving while intoxicated and aggressive behavior (Fromme et al., 1997; Giancola, 2002; Paschall, 2003; Bersamin et al., 2012). The significant attention paid to high-risk behaviors in the literature is well deserved, as these behaviors have serious consequences for the drinker, other individuals and society as a whole.
Research has found that nearly half of college students report experiencing at least one alcohol-related consequence (e.g. missed class, unplanned sexual activity, injury), while nearly 20% report experiencing at least five consequences (Wechsler et al., 2002). While high-risk behaviors can result in serious consequences, research suggests that less serious outcomes tend to be more commonly reported. In fact, the most frequently experienced alcohol-related negative outcome was 'doing something regrettable' (Wechsler et al., 2002), rather than drunk driving, violence, or other high-risk behaviors. Another study found that blackouts were the most frequently reported negative consequence, while the second most reported was social and interpersonal problems (Read et al., 2008). Regarding the latter, it is unclear in the current literature what behaviors may lead to social and interpersonal problems.
Intoxicated social interactions may be examples of behaviors that result in social and interpersonal problems. If these interactions were regretted, they would be consistent with literature finding regrettable actions to be highly frequent among college drinkers (Wechsler et al., 2002). These behaviors may involve in-person or electronic communications, such as calling or text messaging a friend or potential sexual partner while under the influence of alcohol. Because they have the potential to be regretted, these behaviors are referred to herein as 'regrettable social behaviors.' Regrettable social behaviors may have serious implications for interpersonal relationships and mental health among college students. Previous research has shown that having a supportive social network can be a protective factor against mental health issues via increased access to pro-social activities (Kawachi and Berkman, 2001). More specifically, high-quality social relationships have been shown to be negatively associated with depression (Teo et al., 2013) and suicide attempts (Holma et al., 2010). Social isolation has also been found to be associated with depression, anxiety and substance use (Chou et al., 2011). Research on self-consciousness has found that individuals may be more likely to withdraw from future social situations following an embarrassing situation (Froming, Corley, and Rinker, 1990). If regrettable social behaviors are perceived as embarrassing, they may similarly result in withdrawal from future social events and negatively impact social support and related benefits.
Current mobile technology allows for a continuous stream of social communication, which may further increase susceptibility to engage in regrettable social behaviors while intoxicated. Examples of electronic forms of regrettable social behaviors include the relatively recent phenomena of 'drunk dialing' or 'drunk texting'—both of which are defined on popular internet-based dictionaries (e.g. Wikipedia, Urban Dictionary). Ferris and Hollenbaugh (2011) examined motivations for 'drunk dialing' among college students and found that students often engaged in such behavior for reasons such as entertainment, confession of emotion and sexuality. While these reasons may serve as a benefit to an individual, such behaviors could also place the individual at risk for experiencing embarrassment, distress or other social consequences (e.g. loss of a friendship or romantic relationship). In addition to phone calls, sending text messages while intoxicated is likely more common, given the relative ease compared to calling. These text messages may take the form of 'sexting'—the transmission of sexually explicit messages or images via cell phone—which has been found to commonly occur among young adults (Drouin and Landgraff, 2012), and is associated with recent substance use and high-risk sexual behavior (Benotsch et al., 2013).
Despite the emerging literature on intoxicated use of electronic communications, less attention has been paid to understanding perceptions or consequences of these social behaviors. Specifically, the studies on 'drunk dialing' and 'sexting' discussed above do not indicate whether young adults experience negative outcomes, such as regret or embarrassment, following these behaviors. Such negative outcomes from in-person (e.g. 'hitting on an attractive person at a bar') and electronic forms of socially risky behaviors have not been well described in the current literature and a better understanding of incidence and perception may be beneficial to prevention and treatment efforts.
According to alcohol expectancy theory, vicarious and direct experience with drinking and its consequences shape expectancies for alcohol-related outcomes (Goldman et al., 1987, 1999). Research has examined the association between expectancies and drinking, with studies finding that positive expectancies (the belief that drinking will result in a desirable outcome) are associated with increased levels of drinking, while negative expectancies (the belief that drinking will result in an aversive outcome) are associated with reduced levels of drinking (Cox and Klinger, 1990; Stacy et al., 1990; Fromme et al., 1993). Alcohol expectancies have been found to be especially strong predictors of drinking behavior among college students (Brown, 1985).
The expectancy for social enhancement has been particularly important in understanding college drinking. Students entering college with the expectancy that alcohol facilitates social interactions increased their level of drinking after entering college (LaBrie et al., 2009). Another study found that positive expectancies for sociability and sexuality were the strongest predictors of binge drinking among college students (McBride et al., 2014). Regrettable social behaviors defined in the present study are likely to result from increased social or sexual confidence, if they are directed toward potential sexual partners. Steele and Josephs' (1990) alcohol myopia theory supports this notion, as their research suggests that alcohol use disinhibits cues that would otherwise guide decision making and potentially prevent regrettable social behaviors.
Positive outcomes of alcohol consumption (e.g. increased sociability; feeling 'buzzed') tend to be immediate and result in positive expectancies that are strongly associated with drinking (Stacy et al., 1990), whereas negative consequences (e.g. hangover; impaired school/work performance) are typically delayed, and thus produce negative expectancies that are more weakly associated with drinking (Rohsenow, 1983). Learning theory suggests that memory for consequences of a behavior (i.e. expectancy) is strengthened when the consequences occur frequently and immediately; associative learning of a behavior and its consequences does not occur, or occurs more weakly, when the consequences are infrequent and/or delayed (Goldman et al., 1987; Stacy et al., 1994). Personal experience with a consequence may also make it more meaningful to the individual (increasing the likelihood that it will be accessible when opportunities to engage in the behavior occur) than consequences learned vicariously or through 'hearsay' (Goldman et al., 1999).
College students may have greater personal experiences with regrettable social behaviors that occur more frequently than high-risk behaviors, thus exerting a stronger influence over future intentions to drink than mere knowledge of more serious negative consequences (i.e. via hearsay). Consistent with this hypothesis, prior research suggests that when recalling a prior drinking occasion, individuals are more likely to report negative affect toward drinking compared to when thinking about a future drinking occasion (Murgraff et al., 1999). Evoking anticipated regret has been found to be an effective strategy in reducing the intention to binge drink (Cooke et al., 2006). Such anticipated regret is the cognitive process of evaluating a future event and concluding that a negative outcome, such as embarrassment, will likely occur.
Current literature indicates alcohol consumption is positively associated with risky behavior, such as driving while intoxicated and unplanned sexual encounters. Less is known about the impact of alcohol consumption on engaging in minimally risky, but potentially regrettable, social behaviors that might result in embarrassment, damaged interpersonal relationships or social isolation. Extant research also provides support for the association between positive outcome expectancies and increased alcohol consumption, especially among college students. Furthermore, as positive expectancies for social facilitation have been found to result in heavier drinking among college students (LaBrie et al., 2009), individuals likely consume alcohol with the belief that drinking will enhance their social interactions. Thus, college students may consume greater qualities of alcohol based on these expectancies and seek out social interactions while intoxicated due to their greater perceived social competence, increasing their risk of engaging in social behavior that would later be regretted.
The primary aim of the present study was to examine rates of regrettable social behaviors (such as texting while intoxicated) among college students. Consistent with previous literature (LaBrie et al., 2009), alcohol outcome expectancies for increased sociability were hypothesized to be associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption among college students. It was also hypothesized that higher levels of alcohol consumption would predict engagement in regrettable social behaviors. Finally, it was hypothesized that quantity of alcohol consumed would mediate the association between alcohol-related expectancies for sociability and participation in regrettable social behaviors.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Aims: Research has shown that alcohol outcome expectancies are predictive of heavy alcohol consumption, which can lead to risky behavior. The purpose of the present study was to assess the incidence of various low-risk social behaviors while drinking among college students. Such social behaviors may later be regretted (referred to as regrettable social behaviors) and include electronic and in-person communications.
Methods: College students (N = 236) completed measures of alcohol outcome expectancies and regrettable social behaviors.
Results: Regrettable social behaviors were reported by 66.1% of participants, suggesting that they may occur at a much higher rate than more serious drinking-related consequences (e.g. drinking and driving, violence, etc.). Expectancies for social facilitation predicted regrettable social behavior. Further, this relationship was mediated by amount of alcohol consumed.
Conclusion: Given the high incidence, regrettable social behaviors may be effective targets in alcohol prevention programming.
Introduction
Consequences of College Drinking
Despite efforts by college and university policy makers to curb alcohol consumption and subsequent negative consequences, college students continue to drink at dangerous levels—approximately 1 in 4 college freshmen will drop out or have other academic consequences due to alcohol abuse and 1800 college student deaths can be attributed to alcohol-related injuries each year (Hingson et al., 2009). Considerable research has found a positive association between drinking and involvement in high-risk behaviors such as illicit drug use, risky sexual behavior, driving while intoxicated and aggressive behavior (Fromme et al., 1997; Giancola, 2002; Paschall, 2003; Bersamin et al., 2012). The significant attention paid to high-risk behaviors in the literature is well deserved, as these behaviors have serious consequences for the drinker, other individuals and society as a whole.
Research has found that nearly half of college students report experiencing at least one alcohol-related consequence (e.g. missed class, unplanned sexual activity, injury), while nearly 20% report experiencing at least five consequences (Wechsler et al., 2002). While high-risk behaviors can result in serious consequences, research suggests that less serious outcomes tend to be more commonly reported. In fact, the most frequently experienced alcohol-related negative outcome was 'doing something regrettable' (Wechsler et al., 2002), rather than drunk driving, violence, or other high-risk behaviors. Another study found that blackouts were the most frequently reported negative consequence, while the second most reported was social and interpersonal problems (Read et al., 2008). Regarding the latter, it is unclear in the current literature what behaviors may lead to social and interpersonal problems.
Intoxicated social interactions may be examples of behaviors that result in social and interpersonal problems. If these interactions were regretted, they would be consistent with literature finding regrettable actions to be highly frequent among college drinkers (Wechsler et al., 2002). These behaviors may involve in-person or electronic communications, such as calling or text messaging a friend or potential sexual partner while under the influence of alcohol. Because they have the potential to be regretted, these behaviors are referred to herein as 'regrettable social behaviors.' Regrettable social behaviors may have serious implications for interpersonal relationships and mental health among college students. Previous research has shown that having a supportive social network can be a protective factor against mental health issues via increased access to pro-social activities (Kawachi and Berkman, 2001). More specifically, high-quality social relationships have been shown to be negatively associated with depression (Teo et al., 2013) and suicide attempts (Holma et al., 2010). Social isolation has also been found to be associated with depression, anxiety and substance use (Chou et al., 2011). Research on self-consciousness has found that individuals may be more likely to withdraw from future social situations following an embarrassing situation (Froming, Corley, and Rinker, 1990). If regrettable social behaviors are perceived as embarrassing, they may similarly result in withdrawal from future social events and negatively impact social support and related benefits.
Current mobile technology allows for a continuous stream of social communication, which may further increase susceptibility to engage in regrettable social behaviors while intoxicated. Examples of electronic forms of regrettable social behaviors include the relatively recent phenomena of 'drunk dialing' or 'drunk texting'—both of which are defined on popular internet-based dictionaries (e.g. Wikipedia, Urban Dictionary). Ferris and Hollenbaugh (2011) examined motivations for 'drunk dialing' among college students and found that students often engaged in such behavior for reasons such as entertainment, confession of emotion and sexuality. While these reasons may serve as a benefit to an individual, such behaviors could also place the individual at risk for experiencing embarrassment, distress or other social consequences (e.g. loss of a friendship or romantic relationship). In addition to phone calls, sending text messages while intoxicated is likely more common, given the relative ease compared to calling. These text messages may take the form of 'sexting'—the transmission of sexually explicit messages or images via cell phone—which has been found to commonly occur among young adults (Drouin and Landgraff, 2012), and is associated with recent substance use and high-risk sexual behavior (Benotsch et al., 2013).
Despite the emerging literature on intoxicated use of electronic communications, less attention has been paid to understanding perceptions or consequences of these social behaviors. Specifically, the studies on 'drunk dialing' and 'sexting' discussed above do not indicate whether young adults experience negative outcomes, such as regret or embarrassment, following these behaviors. Such negative outcomes from in-person (e.g. 'hitting on an attractive person at a bar') and electronic forms of socially risky behaviors have not been well described in the current literature and a better understanding of incidence and perception may be beneficial to prevention and treatment efforts.
Alcohol Outcome Expectancies
According to alcohol expectancy theory, vicarious and direct experience with drinking and its consequences shape expectancies for alcohol-related outcomes (Goldman et al., 1987, 1999). Research has examined the association between expectancies and drinking, with studies finding that positive expectancies (the belief that drinking will result in a desirable outcome) are associated with increased levels of drinking, while negative expectancies (the belief that drinking will result in an aversive outcome) are associated with reduced levels of drinking (Cox and Klinger, 1990; Stacy et al., 1990; Fromme et al., 1993). Alcohol expectancies have been found to be especially strong predictors of drinking behavior among college students (Brown, 1985).
The expectancy for social enhancement has been particularly important in understanding college drinking. Students entering college with the expectancy that alcohol facilitates social interactions increased their level of drinking after entering college (LaBrie et al., 2009). Another study found that positive expectancies for sociability and sexuality were the strongest predictors of binge drinking among college students (McBride et al., 2014). Regrettable social behaviors defined in the present study are likely to result from increased social or sexual confidence, if they are directed toward potential sexual partners. Steele and Josephs' (1990) alcohol myopia theory supports this notion, as their research suggests that alcohol use disinhibits cues that would otherwise guide decision making and potentially prevent regrettable social behaviors.
Positive outcomes of alcohol consumption (e.g. increased sociability; feeling 'buzzed') tend to be immediate and result in positive expectancies that are strongly associated with drinking (Stacy et al., 1990), whereas negative consequences (e.g. hangover; impaired school/work performance) are typically delayed, and thus produce negative expectancies that are more weakly associated with drinking (Rohsenow, 1983). Learning theory suggests that memory for consequences of a behavior (i.e. expectancy) is strengthened when the consequences occur frequently and immediately; associative learning of a behavior and its consequences does not occur, or occurs more weakly, when the consequences are infrequent and/or delayed (Goldman et al., 1987; Stacy et al., 1994). Personal experience with a consequence may also make it more meaningful to the individual (increasing the likelihood that it will be accessible when opportunities to engage in the behavior occur) than consequences learned vicariously or through 'hearsay' (Goldman et al., 1999).
College students may have greater personal experiences with regrettable social behaviors that occur more frequently than high-risk behaviors, thus exerting a stronger influence over future intentions to drink than mere knowledge of more serious negative consequences (i.e. via hearsay). Consistent with this hypothesis, prior research suggests that when recalling a prior drinking occasion, individuals are more likely to report negative affect toward drinking compared to when thinking about a future drinking occasion (Murgraff et al., 1999). Evoking anticipated regret has been found to be an effective strategy in reducing the intention to binge drink (Cooke et al., 2006). Such anticipated regret is the cognitive process of evaluating a future event and concluding that a negative outcome, such as embarrassment, will likely occur.
Rationale and Hypotheses
Current literature indicates alcohol consumption is positively associated with risky behavior, such as driving while intoxicated and unplanned sexual encounters. Less is known about the impact of alcohol consumption on engaging in minimally risky, but potentially regrettable, social behaviors that might result in embarrassment, damaged interpersonal relationships or social isolation. Extant research also provides support for the association between positive outcome expectancies and increased alcohol consumption, especially among college students. Furthermore, as positive expectancies for social facilitation have been found to result in heavier drinking among college students (LaBrie et al., 2009), individuals likely consume alcohol with the belief that drinking will enhance their social interactions. Thus, college students may consume greater qualities of alcohol based on these expectancies and seek out social interactions while intoxicated due to their greater perceived social competence, increasing their risk of engaging in social behavior that would later be regretted.
The primary aim of the present study was to examine rates of regrettable social behaviors (such as texting while intoxicated) among college students. Consistent with previous literature (LaBrie et al., 2009), alcohol outcome expectancies for increased sociability were hypothesized to be associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption among college students. It was also hypothesized that higher levels of alcohol consumption would predict engagement in regrettable social behaviors. Finally, it was hypothesized that quantity of alcohol consumed would mediate the association between alcohol-related expectancies for sociability and participation in regrettable social behaviors.
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