Drinking Trajectories in US and Sweden Young Adults : Patterns and Predictor

Purpose: Alcohol use reaches its peak during young adulthood. The current study examined transitions in drinking status across a one year period in Swedish and American young adults while also examining the association between country of origin, educational status, tobacco use, andmarijuana use on the probabilities of heavy drinking and transitions in heavy drinking over time. Methods: Young adults (N=3342; mean age=17.7 (SD=0.53; 56.6% female) were recruited from Sweden (n=2171) and US (n=1181) schools and assessed prospectively at 6- and 12-months following the baseline assessment. The Daily Drinking Questionnaire was used to assess changes in the quantity and frequency of alcohol use. Educational status, tobacco use, andmarijuana use were also assessed prospectively at 6- and 12-months. Results: Latent Markov models were used to examine changes in alcohol use from baseline to the 12-month follow-up, as well as cross-sectional and cross-lagged associations between heavy drinking and educational status, tobacco use, and marijuana use over time. The “low drinking class” had, on average, <1 drink per peak drinking occasion, <1 drinking per typical drinking occasion, and <1 drinking day per week. The “moderate drinking class” had, on average, 7 drinks per peak occasion, 5 drinks on a typical occasion, and drank on <2 days per week. The “heavy drinking class” had, on average, 17 drinks per peak occasion, 13 drinks on a typical occasion, and 2+ days per week. Country and gender were significant predictors of drinking at all time points with Swedishmales most likely to be classified as the heaviest drinkers. Cigarette use predicted the heaviest drinking and transitions to heavier drinking across time, whereas individuals who did not smoke cigarettes or usemarijuana were most likely to be in the lowest drinking class. Being enrolled as a student was a significant predictor of likely membership in the moderate drinking class, and a significantly lower probability of being in the low or heavy drinking classes. Conclusions: Some young adults engage in extremely heavy drinking, which tended to decrease over a 12-month period. Swedishmales and those who smoked cigarettes were at greatest risk of heavy drinking, whereas being enrolled as a student and abstinence from marijuana and cigarettes significantly reduced the probability of heavy drinking

Changes in Alcohol Expectancies, Drinking and Alcohol-Related Negative Consequences in the Transition out of High School

The transition fromadolescence to emerging adulthood is a period of increased risk for heavy drinking behavior. Prior research has found that college students drink more and experience more consequences than their non-college counterparts. However, sparse research has examined whether students who are college- versus work-bound show differences in drinking and related consequences in high school (HS) as well. In addition, little research has explored whether alcohol expectancies also change over time as a function of selection into college versus non-college environments. The current study examined whether alcohol-related expectancies, consequences, and drinking changed over the course of a year as a function of whether participants transitioned into a four-year university (UNI), community college/trade school (CC), or workforce setting (WF). Participants (N=848) were HS seniors (mean age=17.5 years; 37%male, 73%Caucasian) taking part in a larger study examining alcohol use trajectories.Measures included alcohol expectancies (CEOA), drinking (DDQ), and alcohol-related problems (RAPI) assessed during their senior year and one year later. Repeatedmeasures ANOVAs revealed significant main effects for time, indicating increases in drinks per week F(1, 807)=19.18, p>0.001 and alcohol-related problems F(1, 808)=8.78, p>0.01 and a decrease in alcohol expectancies F(1, 808)=14.35, p>0.001 from baseline to 12 month follow-up. Results also found a main effect for group, indicating UNI students held higher expectancies F(2, 808)=8.15, p>0.001 and drank more F(2, 807)=6.26, p>0.01 than other participants. A significant time9group interaction showed that whereas UNI-bound students drank less thanWF-bound students in HS, the roles reversed one year later with UNI students drinking more thanWF students F (2, 807)=27.56, p>0.001. Similarly, WF-bound students had more alcohol-related problems in HS followed by CC-bound students and UNI-bound students, but one year later the order reversed with UNI students exhibiting the most alcohol-related problems F(2, 807)=5.21, p>0.01. Results indicate that whereas UNI-bound seniors exhibit the highest expectancies, drink less, and experience fewer problems during HS, upon entry into UNI, they experience more problems and out-drink their CC andWF counterparts. These results highlight the importance of prevention strategies, including an expectancy challenge component, especially for UNI-bound HS seniors