Miller P M, Smith G T, Goldman M S
Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202.
J Stud Alcohol. 1990 Jul;51(4):343-9. doi: 10.15288/jsa.1990.51.343.
Previous investigations with adolescents (aged 12-19) have shown alcohol-related expectancies to develop in childhood prior to significant drinking experience and to covary directly with drinking behavior. To chart the development of alcohol expectancies in children as young as age 6, a procedure was developed to be as independent as possible of age-related variation in reading and language development. This instrument was administered to 114 elementary school children of both genders, distributed across grades 1 to 5. Psychometric analysis provided evidence of the test's reliability and validity. Evaluation of the developmental pattern produced two primary findings: (1) there was an overall trend of increasingly positive expectancies with age; and (2) strikingly, the bulk of the increase was observed in the third and fourth grades. Children's expectancies may be less differentiated than adolescent or adult expectancies. These findings suggest that the precursors for later alcohol use and abuse are formed in childhood and that prevention efforts may need to begin as early as third grade.
先前针对青少年（12至19岁）的调查显示，与酒精相关的预期在童年时期就已形成，早于大量饮酒经历，且与饮酒行为直接相关。为了描绘6岁儿童酒精预期的发展情况，开发了一种尽可能独立于阅读和语言发展中与年龄相关变化的程序。该工具被应用于114名来自1至5年级的男女小学生。心理测量分析提供了该测试可靠性和有效性的证据。对发展模式的评估产生了两个主要发现：（1）随着年龄增长，预期总体呈越来越积极的趋势；（2）引人注目的是，大部分增长出现在三年级和四年级。儿童的预期可能不如青少年或成年人的预期那样具有差异性。这些发现表明，日后饮酒和酗酒的先兆在童年时期就已形成，预防工作可能需要早在三年级就开始。
