Drinking to Cope With the COVID-19 Pandemic Mediates Pathways From COVID-19 Anxiety to Alcohol Use and Alcohol Myopia Consequences.

OBJECTIVE: People may consume alcohol to cope with the stressors and anxieties of the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study applied the self-medication hypothesis, tension reduction hypothesis, and alcohol myopia theory to understand COVID-19 alcohol coping as a mediator of the pathways from COVID-19 anxiety to alcohol use and alcohol consequences. METHODS: Participants (N = 477) were undergraduate college students. The mean age was 22.14 (SD = 5.66) years. Gender distribution included 73% females, 26% males, and 1% transgender. Racial categories included 70% White, 11% Latino, 5% Black, 5% Asian, and 9% multiracial. They completed the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, the COVID-19 Alcohol Coping Scale developed and validated in the present study, measures of drinking frequency and drinking quantity, and the Alcohol Myopia Scale to assess alcohol consequences. RESULTS: First, confirmatory factor analysis supported the measurement structure of the COVID-19 Alcohol Coping Scale. Second, a general structural equation model containing only latent factors provided evidence for the following pathways: COVID-19 anxiety to COVID-19 alcohol coping to overall alcohol use to alcohol myopia consequences. Third, a specific structural equation model separated the overall alcohol use factor into two measures of drinking frequency and drinking quantity. Results found that COVID-19 alcohol coping uniquely explained drinking frequency (but not drinking quantity), indicating that the pursuit of alcohol to cope with the pandemic was related to more frequent days of alcohol use but not more concentrated use on drinking days. Tests of indirect effects corroborated the mediational pathways in the explanatory models. CONCLUSIONS: The research offers insights into understanding that the risk connections from COVID-19 anxiety to alcohol behavioral outcomes are mediated by alcohol use to cope with the pandemic.

A meta-analysis of cognitive reappraisal and personal resilience.

Cognitive reappraisal, an adaptive emotion regulation strategy that involves subjectively reinterpreting stressful and adverse experiences in a more positive manner, can enhance personal resilience. Personal resilience is a constellation of attributes that facilitate successful coping and an expeditious return to adaptive functioning after exposure to stress or adversity. This meta-analysis evaluated the association between cognitive reappraisal and personal resilience. A systematic and exhaustive search identified 64 independent samples from 55 studies (N = 29,824) that examined the correlation between cognitive reappraisal and personal resilience. A random-effects model revealed a positive summary effect (r = 0.47, p < .001), indicating that higher cognitive reappraisal was associated with higher personal resilience. Six potential meta-moderators were tested: culture, age, name of the cognitive reappraisal measure, name of the personal resilience measure, study design, and publication period. After two extreme effect size outliers were omitted, tests of publication bias did not reveal any publication bias in this line of research. This quantitative synthesis offers compelling evidence showing that cognitive reappraisal skills operate as a protective strategy against stress and adversity and, therefore, enhance personal resilience. The protective benefits of cognitive reappraisal in relation to personal resilience are relatively robust, as the correlations were statistically significant for all subgroups in the meta-moderation analyses.

Predicting Sensationalism in Suicide Story Headlines.

Objective: Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States, and media publicity plays a role in suicide rates. The United States offers guidelines for the reporting of suicide. This study evaluated guideline adherence in newspaper and newswire publications covering celebrity suicide deaths. The research also assessed whether the sensationalism of article headlines could be predicted by variables reflecting nonadherent reporting. Method: Publications from 2013 to 2018 reporting on nine celebrity suicides were evaluated via content analysis. Adherence was assessed in a two-step hierarchical linear regression to determine which variables predicted sensationalism in headlines. Results: Overall adherence to reporting guidelines was moderate. Newspaper disclosure of suicide method only, suicide method and location, and note contents significantly predicted headline sensationalism in the first regression model, R2 = 22%. The sensationalism in the body of the article and other variables additionally predicted headline sensationalism in the second regression model, R2 = 55%. Limitations: This study is limited to celebrity suicide reporting and may not reflect media reporting trends of noncelebrity suicide deaths. Conclusion: Findings reveal that sensationalism in the body of the article and other variables uniquely contributed to sensationalism in newspaper headlines. This suggests that the public could be at risk for reading harmful content not consistent with reporting recommendations about suicide because of the initial attraction to sensational headlines.

Experimental Effects of Substance Use Legality (Sober, Alcohol, Marijuana, Cocaine) and Sexual Crime (Indecent Exposure, Rape) on Attributions of Perpetrator Responsibility, Blame, and Punishment.

Background: The perceived culpability of a sexual crime perpetrator may be attributed as a function of both the legality of the substance used when committing the crime and the severity of the sex crime. Objectives: The experiment applied attribution theory to examine the simultaneous impact of substance use legality and sexual crime severity on participants' perceptions of responsibility, blame, and punishment toward sexual crime perpetrators. Methods: Participants (N = 461) in this 4 (substance legality) × 2 (sexual crime severity) experimental design were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions to read a police report depicting a sexual offense. The independent variable of substance legality was manipulated as the perpetrator's usage of no substance (sober), alcohol (legal), marijuana (partially legal), or cocaine (illegal) at the time of the crime. The second independent variable of sexual crime severity was manipulated as the offense of indecent exposure (mild offense) or rape (severe offense) committed by the perpetrator. After reading the manipulated vignette, participants rated outcome measures involving the perpetrator's responsibility, blame (guilt attributions, external attributions, and mental element attributions), and punishment (punishment attitudes and punishment severity). Results: Factorial MANCOVA and ANCOVAs were performed. Participants tended to attribute greater responsibility and blame, but not punishment, toward the sober perpetrator compared to the perpetrator intoxicated with alcohol, marijuana, or cocaine. Additionally, participants attributed significantly greater responsibility, blame, and punishment toward the perpetrator of rape compared to indecent exposure. Conclusions: The experiment supported that both substance legality and sexual crime severity uniquely served as contextual factors that played roles in people's judgments about crimes. Findings offer drug policy information regarding how substance intoxication is perceived as a mitigating excuse in criminal justice systems for committing sexual offenses.

Postpartum Insomnia and Poor Sleep Quality Are Longitudinally Predictive of Postpartum Mood Symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Insomnia and poor sleep quality are frequently reported by perinatal women. Both are noted to increase the risk of postpartum depression, with less known about their association with postpartum anxiety. This study sought to assess whether perinatal sleep disturbances predicted depression and anxiety symptoms across each month of the first 6 months postpartum in women with a history of depression. METHODS: Pregnant women without active depression at enrollment ( N = 159), 18 to 45 years of age, were recruited. In late pregnancy and for up to 6 months postpartum, women completed monthly online questionnaires including the Insomnia Symptom Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. Repeated-measures multilevel models were used to predict depression and anxiety across the postpartum. RESULTS: The prevalence of insomnia was 20.4%, and the prevalence of poor sleep quality was 67.8% across the first 6 months postpartum. Postpartum insomnia and poor sleep quality at the between-subject and within-subject levels tended to uniquely predict greater depressive and anxiety symptoms, even after controlling for demographic characteristics, prenatal insomnia, and prenatal poor sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the women in our sample had sleep disturbances across the perinatal period. Consistent with the extant literature, postpartum insomnia and poor sleep quality, but not prenatal measures of sleep, longitudinally predicted greater postpartum depression and anxiety symptoms. The chronic sleep deprivation of insomnia and the subjective experience of poor sleep quality are uniquely relevant risks of postpartum mood disorders. Evaluation and mitigation of perinatal sleep disturbance are ideal opportunities to reduce postpartum mood disorders and subsequent health outcomes.

COVID-19 Stress (Traumatic Symptoms, Compulsive Checking, Xenophobia, and Danger & Contamination) and Alcohol Use Uniquely Explain State Alcohol Cravings.

Stressful events may lead to the consumption of alcohol as a self-medicating and coping strategy. The self-medication hypothesis and addiction loop model served as the theoretical frameworks to understand how various COVID-19 pandemic stressors serve as risks for alcohol usage and state alcohol cravings. The study hypothesized that higher COVID-19 stressors (past month) would predict higher alcohol use (past month), and both were hypothesized to uniquely explain stronger alcohol cravings (state). Adult alcohol users (N = 366) participated in this cross-sectional study. Respondents completed measures of the COVID Stress Scales (socioeconomic, xenophobia, traumatic symptoms, compulsive checking, and danger & contamination), drink frequency and drink quantity, and state alcohol cravings (Alcohol Urge Questionnaire and Desires for Alcohol Questionnaire). Results from a structural equation model involving latent factors determined that higher pandemic stress explained greater alcohol use, and both factors uniquely contributed to stronger state alcohol cravings. A structural equation model premised on specific measures revealed that higher xenophobia stress, higher traumatic symptoms stress, higher compulsive checking stress, and lower danger & contamination stress uniquely predicted drink quantity, but not drink frequency. Furthermore, greater drink quantity and drink frequency independently predicted stronger state alcohol cravings. The findings recognize that pandemic stressors operate as cue-induced triggers for alcohol use and cravings. The COVID-19 stressors identified in this study could be targeted in interventions based on the addiction loop model designed to mitigate the effects of stress cues on alcohol use and present cravings for alcohol.

The Alcohol Relief Questionnaire: Development and validation of a multidimensional scale to measure the psychological, interpersonal, sleep, and physical relief effects of drinking.

Several major alcohol theoretical frameworks postulate that people consume alcohol to attain relief from negative states. These relief experiences are consistent with the classification of alcohol as a central nervous system depressant and may reinforce drinking behaviors that sustain the addiction cycle. The present research developed and validated a multidimensional questionnaire to assess the relief effects and experiences attributed to alcohol consumption in adult drinkers. In Study 1 (N = 380), an initial set of questionnaire items representing an array of alcohol relief effects was administered, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed. A correlated four-factor structure consisting of psychological relief, interpersonal relief, sleep relief, and physical relief was exhibited. In Study 2 (N = 531), confirmatory factor analysis cross-validated the four-factor structure. In tests of convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validities, the four alcohol relief subscales evidenced differential correlations with subscales of alcohol expectancies and alcohol affect and correlated with higher drink frequency, drink quantity, and alcohol problems. Furthermore, the overall alcohol relief scale incrementally explained alcohol use and problems beyond positive and negative alcohol expectancies and alcohol affect. The Alcohol Relief Questionnaire (ARQ) advances the conceptualization of relief as a multidimensional construct stemming from self-medication with alcohol. The measure and its subscales may be used to inform etiology, prevention, and treatment of alcohol use and misuse. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Development and Validation of the Drama Triangle Scale: Are You a Victim, Rescuer, or Persecutor?

The drama triangle is a theoretical framework to describe and understand the roles (Victim, Rescuer, and Persecutor) that people assume and perpetuate in interpersonal relationships, especially in contexts of "drama" or conflict. The Drama Triangle scale was developed, validated, and psychometrically scrutinized across three independent samples of adults. In Study 1 (N = 326), the initial pool of items was generated based on reviewing the literature. Exploratory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure of Victim (damsel in distress), Rescuer (hero), and Persecutor (villain) roles. In Study 2 (N = 342), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) produced satisfactory fit indices. In Study 3 (N = 301), another CFA successfully cross-validated the final set of items. Furthermore, tests of convergent, discriminant, and criterion validities evaluated this scale against previously validated external measures of attachment styles, anxiety, stress, depression, positive emotions, and negative emotions. The drama triangle subscales tended to be associated with non-secure attachment styles and higher anxiety, stress, depression, and negative emotions, but results varied depending on the specific drama subscale. The Victim subscale was most strongly connected with undesirable outcomes, supporting the theoretical premise that Victims receive blame from Persecutors and help from Rescuers. This measurement instrument helps to conceptualize, measure, and understand the drama roles of Victim, Rescuer, and Persecutor that people enact in interpersonal relationships. The scale offers theoretical and applied implications for administration in future research on interpersonal conflict, aggression, violence, and other domains.

Sensation seeking versus alcohol use: Evaluating temporal precedence using cross-lagged panel models.

BACKGROUND: Sensation seeking has been theoretically conceptualized as the personality trait for novel and complex experiences responsible for the predilection of engaging in risky activities. The study evaluated several cross-lagged panel models premised on various measurement variations of sensation seeking to determine the extent that each representation operates as the temporal antecedent or consequent of alcohol use. METHODS: Participants (N = 201) were United States college students under 21 years of age. The measures, completed in two assessments separated by a month, included the Sensation Seeking Scale-V (SSS-V) and its subscales of boredom susceptibility, disinhibition, experience seeking, thrill & adventure seeking; the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS); and the frequency and quantity of alcoholic drinks. Cross-lagged panel models containing synchronous correlations, auto-regressive paths, and cross-lagged paths were estimated in path analysis using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: The cross-lagged panel model results varied depending on the measurement variant of sensation seeking. The SSS-V emerged as a longitudinal precursor to both drink frequency and quantity. Thrill & adventure seeking longitudinally anticipated drink frequency and quantity. However, disinhibition and drink quantity reciprocally reinforced one another across time. Boredom susceptibility and experience seeking did not exhibit any temporal directionality with alcohol behaviors. Furthermore, the BSSS operated as a longitudinal precursor of drink quantity. CONCLUSIONS: Findings help to unravel the temporal precedent of sensation seeking versus alcohol behaviors based on the scrutiny of various sensation seeking measurement approaches.

Fear and Derision: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Provaccine and Antivaccine Internet Memes.

The purpose of the study was to examine the characteristics of Internet memes created and disseminated by proponents and opponents of vaccinations. A quantitative content analysis was performed on 234 pro- and antivaccine memes culled from the vaccination fan pages with the greatest number of followers on Facebook. Coding variables included whether the meme was pro- or antivaccine, percentage of factually incorrect claims, mention of the out-group, persuasive appeals (emotion, fear, and rationality), degree of sarcasm, and number of reactions and shares. The most prevalent themes concerned vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine injury/safety/autism, and conspiracy theories. Independent t tests indicated that provaccination memes were more likely to use sarcasm whereas antivaccination memes were more likely to contain emotion and fear appeals and inaccurate claims. The percentage veracity of the claims in each meme was fact-checked using authoritative scientific sources. A path analysis applying structural equation modeling revealed that memes containing characteristics that were antivaccine (vs. provaccine), appealed to emotion, and appealed to rationality significantly contributed to greater likelihood of social media reactions and shares. Additional analysis determined that both pro- and antivaccination memes tended to contain more gist than verbatim information, and both groups did not significantly differ on this gist-to-verbatim variable. Findings offer insights to understand the persuasion tactics that provaccine and antivaccine groups apply in memes to persuade others via social media. Understanding these techniques will enable the development of health communication strategies to combat false and damaging vaccine information disseminated on the Internet.

Pathways from Positive, Negative, and Specific Alcohol Expectancies to Weekday and Weekend Drinking to Alcohol Problems.

The current study tested and identified risk and protective pathways from alcohol expectancies to weekday and weekend consumption to problematic consequences. Adult alcohol users (N = 395) completed measures of alcohol expectancies, daily consumption habits during a typical week, and alcohol-related problems. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the five-factor structure of positive expectancy, negative expectancy, weekday drinking, weekend drinking, and alcohol problems. The structural equation model specifying general positive and negative expectancy to weekday and weekend use to alcohol problems exhibited satisfactory fit indices. Specifically, positive expectancy contributed to greater weekend drinking, but negative expectancy prompted greater weekday drinking. Furthermore, lower positive expectancy, higher negative expectancy, higher weekday drinking, and higher weekend drinking each uniquely explained greater alcohol problems. The structural equation model involving the seven specific expectancies to weekday and weekend use to alcohol problems produced high fit indices. Specifically, higher risk and aggression, higher self-perception, and lower cognitive and behavioral impairment expectancies uniquely predicted weekday drinking. In contrast, higher sociability, higher liquid courage, higher risk and aggression, and lower cognitive impairment expectancies explained weekend drinking. The predictive model premised on specific alcohol expectancies as distinct constructs exhibited higher fit indices and more nuanced insights regarding risk and protective pathways for prevention than the model involving general positive versus negative expectancy constructs. Findings underscore that different types of self-fulfilling alcohol expectancy beliefs distinctively explain weekday versus weekend intake and problems.

Personality Traits Moderate Connections from Drinking Attitudes to Alcohol Use and Myopic Relief, Self-inflation, and Excess.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol myopia theory postulates that the level of alcohol use in conjunction with personal cues, such as alcohol attitudes and personality traits help to understand the types of consequences manifested. OBJECTIVES: This study examined and identified the personality traits that served as predictors and moderators of the risk connections from drinking attitudes to alcohol use to myopia outcomes. METHODS: College students (N = 433) completed self-report measures. In a path analysis using structural equation modeling, personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and neuroticism), drinking attitudes, and personality × drinking attitudes interactions simultaneously served as predictors on the outcomes of alcohol use and myopic relief, self-inflation, and excess. RESULTS: Alcohol attitudes and use consistently emerged as unique predictors of all three myopia outcomes. Extraversion and neuroticism were identified as statistical moderators, but results varied depending on the myopia outcome interpreted. Specifically, extraversion moderated the pathways from attitudes to usage and from attitudes to myopic relief. Neuroticism, however, moderated the relations from attitudes to myopic self-inflation and from attitudes to myopic excess. Conclusions/Importance: Extraverted and neurotic dispositions could exacerbate or attenuate the risk connections from alcohol attitudes to outcomes. Findings offer implications for alcohol prevention efforts designed to simultaneously target drinking attitudes, personality traits, and alcohol myopia.

Predicting Long-Term Mortality, Morbidity, and Survival Outcomes Following a Cardiac Event: A Cardiac Rehabilitation Study.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has been shown to decrease mortality and morbidity but estimations vary. While there is significant literature supporting short-term benefits, there is not a similarly body of research as to long-term (LT) benefits. Low participation rates in CR are due to several causes and evidence demonstrating positive LT outcomes could be a catalyst to increased participation rates. OBJECTIVE: To predict LT mortality, readmission, and survival benefits associated with CR participation in a nationally certified program. METHODS: Investigators collected mortality and hospital readmission data in a retrospective study to examine a cohort of cardiac patients following a myocardial infarction (MI), MI/percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) up to 14 years ago. Hospital electronic medical record (EMR; n = 207) were used to measure hospital readmission outcome and State Health Department records (n = 361) for mortality and survival outcomes. Participation in CR, age, gender prior history of cardiac event, and diagnosis were used to predict readmission, mortality, and survival. RESULTS: Approximately half (52.1%) the sample participated in CR. Participants included 72% males, average age 68 years (38-91 years), and were predominantly Non-Hispanic white. CR participants attended an average of 20 sessions. CR group differed in diagnoses MI (58.5%), CABG (57.4%) and in prior history of heart disease (25.4%) from the non-cardiac rehabilitation (NCR) group (83.2%, 25.4%, 42.2%, respectively) (P < .05). After controlling for the covariates in logistic regression analyses, the CR group independently predicted lower all-cause mortality (odds ratio, OR = 0.22, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.39) and decreased hospital readmissions (OR = 0.48, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.96). After controlling for the covariates in survival analysis, the CR group significantly contributed to decreased likelihood of death hazard (hazard ratio = 0.36, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.54). Median survivor time for the participants was 5.91 years, SD = 3.81 years. CONCLUSIONS: Participation in CR for middle age and elderly patients is associated with increased survival, a marked decrease in all-cause mortality, and a decrease in cardiovascular-related hospital readmission. A referral to a nationally certified outpatient CR program prior to hospital discharge and early enrollment may improve LT outcomes.

Development and validation of the Adult Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Scale: Measuring mother, best friend, and romantic partner acceptance.

Acceptance-rejection studies and inventories commonly examine children's relationships with parents, but no measurement scale is available in the literature to assess interpersonal acceptance across adulthood close relationships. The Adult Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Scale (AIARS) was developed, validated, and psychometrically scrutinized across three studies using independent samples of adult participants. In Study 1 (N = 342), the created items were administered to participants and data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis. The correlated three-factor structure of Mother Acceptance, Best Friend Acceptance, and Romantic Partner Acceptance was preliminarily supported. In Study 2 (N = 420), confirmatory factor analysis successfully cross-validated the three-factor measurement model after the deletion of items possessing the poorest loadings. In Study 3 (N = 315), convergent, discriminant, and criterion validities were scrutinized with tests of correlations and multiple regression. Higher acceptance subscale scores uniquely contributed to higher positive emotions, lower negative emotions, and higher life satisfaction. The current research confers measurement and assessment insights to capture the construct of interpersonal acceptance and yields applied implications for future research using the scale. Administration of the scale is anticipated to encourage novel primary investigations that examine acceptance across pivotal close relationships in adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Validation and psychometric properties of the Alcohol Positive and Negative Affect Schedule: Are drinking emotions distinct from general emotions?

People vary in experiences of positive and negative emotions from consuming alcohol, but no validated measurement instrument exclusively devoted to assessing drinking emotions exists in the literature. The current research validated and evaluated the psychometric properties of an alcohol affect scale based on adjectives from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and tested the extent that emotions incurred from drinking were distinct from general trait-based emotions. Three studies tested independent samples of adult alcohol users. In Study 1 (N = 494), exploratory factor analyses of the Alcohol PANAS revealed that both the 20-item model and the 9-parcel model (represented by similar mood content) supported the 2-factor dimensionality of alcohol positive and negative affect. In Study 2 (N = 302), confirmatory factor analyses corroborated the measurement structure of alcohol positive and negative affect, and both constructs evidenced statistical independence from general positive and negative affect. In Study 3 (N = 452), alcohol positive and negative affect exhibited discriminant, convergent, and criterion validity with established alcohol scales. Incremental validity tests demonstrated that alcohol positive and negative affect uniquely contributed (beyond general positive and negative affect) to alcohol expectancies, use, and problems. Findings support that alcohol emotions are conceptually distinct from trait emotions, and underscore the necessity of an assessment instrument tailored to the former to examine associations with alcohol beliefs and behaviors. The Alcohol PANAS confers theoretical and practical applications to understand the emotional consequences of drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record

Alcohol expectancies longitudinally predict drinking and the alcohol myopia effects of relief, self-inflation, and excess.

INTRODUCTION: Alcohol myopia theory posits that alcohol consumption attenuates information processing capacity, and that expectancy beliefs together with intake level are responsible for experiences in myopic effects (relief, self-inflation, and excess). METHODS: Adults (N=413) averaging 36.39 (SD=13.02) years of age completed the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol questionnaire at baseline, followed by alcohol use measures (frequency and quantity) and the Alcohol Myopia Scale one month later. Three structural equation models based on differing construct manifestations of alcohol expectancies served to longitudinally forecast alcohol use and myopia. RESULTS: In Model 1, overall expectancy predicted greater alcohol use and higher levels of all three myopic effects. In Model 2, specifying separate positive and negative expectancy factors, positive but not negative expectancy predicted greater use. Furthermore, positive expectancy and use explained higher myopic relief and higher self-inflation, whereas positive expectancy, negative expectancy, and use explained higher myopic excess. In Model 3, the seven specific expectancy subscales (sociability, tension reduction, liquid courage, sexuality, cognitive and behavioral impairment, risk and aggression, and self-perception) were simultaneously specified as predictors. Tension reduction expectancy, sexuality expectancy, and use contributed to higher myopic relief; sexuality expectancy and use explained higher myopic self-inflation; and risk and aggression expectancy and use accounted for higher myopic excess. Across all three predictive models, the total variance explained ranged from 12 to 19% for alcohol use, 50 to 51% for relief, 29 to 34% for self-inflation, and 32 to 35% for excess. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support that the type of alcohol myopia experienced is a concurrent function of self-fulfilling alcohol prophecies and drinking levels. The interpreted measurement manifestation of expectancy yielded different prevention implications.

Testing competing models of injunctive and descriptive norms for proximal and distal reference groups on alcohol attitudes and behavior.

INTRODUCTION: Injunctive norms represent perceptions regarding the extent that others approve of a behavior, whereas descriptive norms represent perceptions of the extent that others engage in a behavior. This study evaluated competing path models, varying in the representation of injunctive and descriptive norm constructs, to forecast alcohol attitudes and use. METHODS: College students (N=326) answered questions about their normative perceptions regarding three relevant reference groups (typical students, friends, and parents) in the form of alcohol injunctive and descriptive norms. Personal alcohol attitudes (approval) and usage were assessed one month later. RESULTS: The path analysis model arranged by injunctive versus descriptive found that injunctive norms explained attitudes, but descriptive norms contributed to behavior. In the path analysis model of constructs organized by reference groups, friend and parent norms uniquely contributed to attitudes, but typical student, friend, and parental norms contributed to use. Finally, the comprehensive model based on each reference group combination with injunctive and descriptive norms (e.g., typical student injunctive) determined that friend injunctive norms and parent injunctive norms uniquely forecasted alcohol attitudes, whereas typical student injunctive norms, typical student descriptive norms, and friend descriptive norms forecasted behavior. CONCLUSIONS: A novel contribution of the study is the scrutiny of competing models of alcohol norms using the same multifaceted measures. Disparate implications emerge about the role of subjective norms as a function of the approach to compute the constructs. The most nuanced insights were obtained in the final comprehensive model involving the representation of norms at the finest level of specificity.

Testing the Amotivational Syndrome: Marijuana Use Longitudinally Predicts Lower Self-Efficacy Even After Controlling for Demographics, Personality, and Alcohol and Cigarette Use.

The marijuana amotivational syndrome posits that cannabis use fosters apathy through the depletion of motivation-based constructs such as self-efficacy. The current study pursued a two-round design to rule out concomitant risk factors responsible for the connection from marijuana intake to lower general self-efficacy. College students (N = 505) completed measures of marijuana use, demographics (age, gender, and race), personality (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and neuroticism), other substance use (alcohol and tobacco), and general self-efficacy (initiative, effort, and persistence) in two assessments separated by a month. Hierarchical regression models found that marijuana use forecasted lower initiative and persistence, even after statistically ruling out 13 pertinent baseline covariates including demographics, personality traits, alcohol use, tobacco use, and self-efficacy subscales. A cross-lagged panel model involving initiative, effort, persistence, alcohol use, cigarette use, and marijuana use sought to unravel the temporal precedence of processes. Results showed that only marijuana (but not alcohol or tobacco) intake significantly and longitudinally prompted lower initiative and persistence. Furthermore, in the same model, the opposite temporal direction of events from lower general self-efficacy subscales to marijuana use was untenable. Findings provide partial support for the marijuana amotivational syndrome, underscore marijuana as a risk factor for decreased general self-efficacy, and offer implications and insights for marijuana prevention and future research.

Comparing the predictive validity of the four-factor and five-factor (bifactor) measurement structures of the drinking motives questionnaire.

INTRODUCTION: The Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ-R) is the most widely administered instrument to assess reasons for consuming alcohol and is conventionally premised on a four-factor structure. Recent research instead reveals that a bifactor measurement model of five motive factors (one general and four specific) represents a superior psychometric embodiment of the scale. The current study evaluated and compared the predictive validity of the four-factor and five-factor models of drinking motives in longitudinally explaining alcohol use and problems. METHODS: Adult participants (N=413; age range=18-79 years) completed measures of drinking motives (Time 1) and alcohol use and problems one month later (Time 2). RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses corroborated the four-factor (social, enhancement, conformity, and coping motives) and five-factor (each item double loading on general motives and a specific motives factor) measurement structures, but the latter rendered stronger fit indices. Structural equation models revealed that lower social motives, higher enhancement motives, and higher coping motives prospectively contributed to alcohol use. Furthermore, lower social motives, higher conformity motives, higher coping motives, and greater alcohol use contributed to alcohol problems. DISCUSSION: The same set of paths emerged as significantly predictive in both models, but general motives additionally explained alcohol use and problems in the five-factor model. The incremental contribution of general motives (beyond the specific motives) on alcohol intake and detrimental consequences supports the predictive validity of the drinking reasons paradigm embodied by the inclusion of a global factor.

Babies and math: A meta-analysis of infants' simple arithmetic competence.

Wynn's (1992) seminal research reported that infants looked longer at stimuli representing "incorrect" versus "correct" solutions of basic addition and subtraction problems and concluded that infants have innate arithmetical abilities. Since then, infancy researchers have attempted to replicate this effect, yielding mixed findings. The present meta-analysis aimed to systematically compile and synthesize all of the primary replications and extensions of Wynn (1992) that have been conducted to date. The synthesis included 12 studies consisting of 26 independent samples and 550 unique infants. The summary effect, computed using a random-effects model, was statistically significant, d = +0.34, p < .001, suggesting that the phenomenon Wynn originally reported is reliable. Five different tests of publication bias yielded mixed results, suggesting that while a moderate level of publication bias is probable, the summary effect would be positive even after accounting for this issue. Out of the 10 metamoderators tested, none were found to be significant, but most of the moderator subgroups were significantly different from a null effect. Although this meta-analysis provides support for Wynn's original findings, further research is warranted to understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for infants' visual preferences for "mathematically incorrect" test stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record