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

Abstract

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