Situational correlates of adolescents' alcohol outcome expectancies in daily life.

OBJECTIVE

Alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs), formed in early childhood, are correlates of future alcohol consumption and related problems. Social-cognitive theories suggest that AOEs become activated in specific social and physical location contexts. Prior research, primarily among university students, has aimed to identify situational influences on specific AOEs, as indexed by reports of AOEs in hypothetical drinking scenarios. This study aims to deepen understanding of AOE activation in real-world settings by examining social and physical situational correlates of AOE activation among adolescents ages 15-17 in daily life.

METHOD

Adolescents (evaluable = 102) reporting any drinking in the past month completed smartphone reports for 24 days. Adolescents indicated their social setting (e.g., solitary, peers, family), physical location (e.g., home, friend's place, elsewhere), and strength of AOEs (tension reduction, enhancement, sociability) just prior to drinking in daily life.

RESULTS

Adolescents' AOE activation prior to drinking was associated with their immediate social context and physical location. Specifically, drinking with peers present was associated with higher ratings of enhancement and sociability AOEs. In contrast, drinking with family members present and drinking at home were associated with lower ratings of enhancement and sociability AOEs.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings provide new information about social-contextual correlates of specific AOE domains in naturalistic settings among adolescents. Identifying situational relations with AOE activation in daily life is important to build social-cognitive models of alcohol-consumption behavior, particularly during adolescence as drinking experiences broaden. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).