High- and low-dose alcohol-related expectancies and the differential associations with drinking in male and female adolescents and young adults.

A Dutch questionnaire was developed consisting of positive and negative expectancies relating to low and high doses of alcohol. The associations of these four types of expectancies with current alcohol consumption were investigated in three samples: secondary school pupils of 11-15 years old, secondary school pupils of 16 and older, and university undergraduate students (total n = 554). Using restrictive factor analyses, a common factor-model of the expectancies was shown to fit adequately across subgroups. Which expectancies were associated with current alcohol consumption varied substantially across the subgroups. As expected from previous research, inclusion of high dose expectancies did not substantially improve the prediction of drinking in university students. However, positive and negative high-dose expectancies were found to be powerful predictors of current alcohol consumption in secondary school boys of 16 and older, the subgroup with the highest average alcohol consumption on each occasion. Possible implications are discussed for future research and interventions.