Subjective effects of alcohol: the influence of setting and individual differences in alcohol expectancies.

Contemporary theorists view many alcohol effects as complex functions of a number of interacting variables ranging from pharmacological factors (e.g., limb of the blood alcohol curve), environmental factors (e.g., setting) and dispositional factors (e.g., individually held expectations concerning the effects of alcohol). To examine this general model, the joint effects on subjective state of beverage (alcohol vs placebo), of setting (alone vs group) and of individual differences in alcohol expectancies were examined in a sample of 98 men social drinkers. Assessment of subjective state included measures of both mood and perceived physical sensations. The results demonstrated the complex determinants of subjective effects of alcohol and illustrated the difficulty of making strong generalizations concerning the subjective effects of alcohol. Alcohol consumption, alcohol expectancies and setting appear to have both independent and interacting effects on subjective state. These effects appear to vary in importance across the types of effects considered and the time since drinking.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes