Descriptive Drinking Norms: For Whom Does Reference Group Matter?

Objective: Perceived descriptive drinking norms often differ from actual norms and are positively related to personal consumption. However, it is not clear how normative perceptions vary with specificity of the reference group. Are drinking norms more accurate and more closely related to drinking behavior as reference group specificity increases? Do these relationships vary as a function of participant demographics? The present study examined the relationship between perceived descriptive norms and drinking behavior by ethnicity (Asian or White), sex, and fraternity/sorority status. Method: Participants were 2,699 (58% female) White (75%) or Asian (25%) undergraduates from two universities who reported their own alcohol use and perceived descriptive norms for eight reference groups: typical student ; same sex, ethnicity, or fraternity/sorority status; and all combinations of these three factors. Results: Participants generally reported the highest perceived norms for the most distal reference group (typical student), with perceptions becoming more accurate as individuals\u27 similarity to the reference group increased. Despite increased accuracy, participants perceived that all reference groups drank more than was actually the case. Across specific subgroups (fraternity/sorority members and men) different patterns emerged. Fraternity/sorority members reliably reported higher estimates of drinking for reference groups that included fraternity/ sorority status, and, to a lesser extent, men reported higher estimates for reference groups that included men. Conclusions: The results suggest that interventions targeting normative misperceptions may need to provide feedback based on participant demography or group membership. Although reference group-specific feedback may be important for some subgroups, typical student feedback provides the largest normative discrepancy for the majority of students

Understanding parental vaccine refusal: Implicit and explicit associations about vaccines as potential building blocks of vaccine beliefs and behavior.

ObjectiveA movement of parents refusing vaccines for their children has contributed to increasingly large outbreaks of diseases that are preventable by vaccines. Research has identified multiple factors that relate to parents' vaccination behaviors (i.e., whether not they vaccinate their children), including their beliefs about vaccines' safety and utility and their trust in those who recommend vaccines. Here we examine the role of more fundamental psychological processes that may contribute to multiple vaccine-related beliefs and behaviors: cognitive associations.MethodsUsing a large sample of U.S. parents (pre-COVID-19), we investigated parents' associations between vaccines and helpfulness/harmfulness, as well as between the self and vaccines (vaccine identity), and their relation to parents' beliefs about vaccine safety and utility, trust in authorities' vaccine recommendations, and prior vaccination refusal for their children. To capture a more complete understanding of people's associations, we examined both explicit associations (measured via self-report) and implicit associations (measured by the Implicit Association Test).ResultsBoth implicit and explicit associations correlated with beliefs, trust, and vaccination refusal. Results from structural equation models indicated that explicit vaccine-identity and vaccine-helpfulness associations and implicit vaccine helpfulness associations were indirectly related to vaccination refusal via their relation with vaccine beliefs.ConclusionsCollectively, study findings suggest that vaccine associations-especially those related to helpfulness/harmfulness-may serve as psychological building blocks for parental vaccine beliefs and behaviors

Readiness to Change Drinking Behavior in Female College Students*

Objective: Motivational interviewing (MI) therapies are effective in reducing high-risk drinking in college populations. Although research supports efficacy of MI prevention strategies in reducing alcohol use, there are little data examining readiness to change (RTC), the underlying theoretical model of MI interventions. The purpose of the present study was to explore RTC variability and drinking behavior and whether MI increases RTC in an intervention group compared with controls. Method: Two-hundred eighty-five first-year female college students participated in the study. Present analyses focused on those students who consumed alcohol in the month before the study (n = 182). RTC was measured using the Readiness to Change Ruler. Results: Analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modeling. There was significant variability in RTC: 71.86% of variance in RTC was between- person differences, and 28.14% was within-person differences. Higher RTC was associated with lower intentions to drink and future drinking behavior. However, in weeks in which students drank more, they experienced a decrease in RTC. Based on the significant cross-level interaction, the intervention group had significantly higher RTC than controls. Conclusions: These results provided partial support for our hypotheses. The overall theoretical construct of RTC varies both across and within individuals. These results also offer support for the utility of MI-based prevention strategies in increasing RTC within individuals. However, we did not consistently find that these changes related to drinking changes. Findings provide support for both the construct of RTC and utility of MI interventions in changing these beliefs in female college students

Impact of hazardous alcohol use on intensive PTSD treatment outcomes among veterans

Background: Intensive treatment programmes (ITPs) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) produce large symptom reductions and have generally higher completion rates compared to traditional weekly care. Although ITPs do not appear to increase substance use, it has yet to be determined whether their effectiveness differs for veterans with and without hazardous alcohol use (HAU). Objective: This study examined the effectiveness of a 3-week Cognitive Processing Therapy-based ITP for 538 veterans with PTSD (66.0% male; mean age = 41.22 years) and with (n = 193) or without HAU (n = 343) for reducing PTSD and depression symptoms. Method: Veterans’ PTSD (PCL-5) and depression (PHQ-9) symptoms were assessed at pre-treatment, during treatment, and at post-treatment. HAU (AUDIT-C total score ≥4 for males; ≥3 for females) was measured at intake. Results: Treatment completion rates were high for both individuals who endorsed HAU (92.68%) and those who did not (93.37%), likely due to veterans being housed near the treatment facility. Mixed effects regression models revealed a significant time by alcohol use interaction when predicting both PCL-5 (p < .001) and PHQ-9 (p = .003), suggesting time-trends over the course of the ITP differed based on alcohol use. Veterans who endorsed HAU improved to a statistically significantly lesser extent. However, endpoint differences between groups for both outcomes were small (Cohen’s ds between 0.15 and 0.20). Conclusions: Veterans with and without HAU reported significant reductions in PTSD and depression symptoms and completed the ITP at comparably high rates. Findings support the effectiveness of intensive PTSD treatment programmes for individuals with PTSD and HAU. Future studies should utilize controlled designs to evaluate whether intensive PTSD treatment can reduce HAU