Abstract
Personalized feedback interventions (PFIs) to reduce drinking in college students often provide feedback about negative alcohol-related consequences experienced by students to motivate them to drink less. Yet, there is evidence which suggests that not everyone perceives consequences as negative and raises questions regarding the utility of consequence-specific feedback for some individuals. The purpose of the current study was to extend this research to examine salience of consequences among both college and non-college emerging adults, differences in ratings by sex, age, and frequency of experiencing consequences, and the relationship between salience measured in emerging adulthood and drinking patterns in young adulthood. Data were from an accelerated cohort study of males and females (N = 1,308), who were either age 18, 21, or 24 years at the time of consequence evaluation and followed-up 7 years later. Most experienced consequences were rated as at least a little bothersome. Regression analyses indicated that females, older participants, and those who experienced a consequence more often evaluated consequences as more bothersome but there were no differences by college status. Mean ratings of bother did not predict quitting drinking or alcohol problems 7 years later, whereas the number of consequences experienced did. Overall, the results suggest that most consequences are rated similarly by emerging adults regardless of college attendance but that feedback on consequences may be more salient for females and older emerging adults. PFIs may need to differ in the types of feedback they provide depending on demographic characteristics and baseline level of alcohol problems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Borsari, B., & Carey, K. B. (2000). Effects of a brief motivational intervention with college student drinkers. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 728–733. doi:10.1037/0022-006x.68.4.728.
Carey, K. B., Scott-Sheldon, L. A. J., Carey, M. P., & DeMartini, K. S. (2007). Individual-level interventions to reduce college student drinking: A meta-analytic review. Addictive Behaviors, 32, 2469–2494. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2007.05.004.
Collins, S. E., Carey, K. B., & Sliwinski, M. J. (2002). Mailed personalized normative feedback as a brief intervention for at-risk college drinkers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63, 559–567.
Cronce, J. M., & Larimer, M. E. (2012). Brief individual-focused alcohol interventions for college students. In H. R. White & D. L. Rabiner (Eds.), College student drinking and drug use (pp. 161–183). New York: Guilford Press.
Gaher, R. M., & Simons, J. S. (2007). Evaluations and expectancies of alcohol and marijuana problems among college students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 21, 545–554. doi:10.1037/0893-164X.21.4.545.
Horwitz, A. V., & White, H. R. (1991). Becoming married, depression and alcohol problems among young adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 3, 221–237.
Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2012). Monitoring the future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2011: Volume I, Secondary school students. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan.
Labouvie, E. (1996). Maturing out of substance use: Selection and self-correction. Journal of Drug Issues, 26, 457–476.
Laforge, R. G., Borsari, B., & Baer, J. S. (2005). The utility of collateral informant assessment in college alcohol research: Results from a longitudinal prevention trial. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 66, 479–487.
Larimer, M. E., Turner, A. P., Anderson, B. K., Fader, J. S., Kilmer, J. R., Palmer, R. S., et al. (2001). Evaluating a brief alcohol intervention with fraternities. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 62, 370–380.
Larimer, M. E., Lee, C. M., Kilmer, J. R., Fabiano, P. M., Stark, C. B., Geisner, I. M., et al. (2007). Personalized mailed feedback for college drinking prevention: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75, 285–293. doi:10.1037/0022-006x.75.2.285.
Lee, C. M., Neighbors, C., Lewis, M. A., Tollison, S. J., & Larimer, M. E. (2010). Exploring the role of positive and negative consequences in understanding perceptions and evaluations of individual drinking events. Addictive Behaviors, 35, 764–770. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.03.003.
Lee, C. M., Maggs, J. L., Neighbors, C., & Patrick, M. E. (2011). Positive and negative alcohol-related consequences: Associations with past drinking. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 87–94. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.01.009.
Logan, D. E., Henry, T., Vaughn, M., Luk, J. W., & King, K. M. (2011). Rose-colored beer goggles: The relation between experiencing alcohol consequences and perceived likelihood valence. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26, 1–7. doi:10.1037/a0024126.
Mallett, K. A., Bachrach, R. L., & Turrisi, R. (2008). Are all negative consequences truly negative? Assessing variations among college students’ perceptions of alcohol related consequences. Addictive Behaviors, 33, 1375–1381. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2008.06.014.
Marlatt, G. A., Baer, J. S., Kivlahan, D. R., Dimeff, L. A., Larimer, M. A., Quigley, L. A., et al. (1998). Screening and brief intervention for high-risk college student drinkers: Results from a 2-year follow-up assessment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 604–615. doi:10.1037/0022-006x.66.4.604.
Martens, M. P., Neighbors, C., Dams-O’Connor, K., Lee, C. M., & Larimer, M. E. (2007). The factor structure of a dichotomously scored Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 68, 597–606.
Merrill, J. E., Read, J. P., Barnett, N. P. (2012, September 17). The way one thinks affects the way one drinks: Subjective evaluations of alcohol consequences predict subsequent changes in drinking behavior. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0029898
Miller, E. T., Neal, D. J., Roberts, L. J., Baer, J. S., Cressler, S. O., Metrick, J., et al. (2002). Test–retest reliability of alcohol measures: Is there a difference between internet-based assessment and traditional methods? Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16, 56–63.
Murphy, J. G., Benson, T. A., & Vuchinich, R. E. (2004). A comparison of personalized feedback for college student drinkers delivered with and without a motivational interview. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 65, 200–203.
Muthén, B. O., & Muthén, L. K. (2000). The development of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems from ages 18 to 37 in a US national sample. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 61, 290–300.
Pandina, R. J., Labouvie, E. W., & White, H. R. (1984). Potential contributions of the life span developmental approach to the study of adolescent alcohol and drug use: The Rutgers Health and Human Development Project, a working model. Journal of Drug Issues, 14, 253–268.
Patrick, M. E., & Maggs, J. L. (2008). Short-term changes in plans to drink and importance of positive and negative alcohol consequences. Journal of Adolescence, 31, 307–321. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2007.06.002.
Patrick, M. E., & Maggs, J. L. (2011). College students’ evaluations of alcohol consequences as positive and negative. Addictive Behaviors, 36, 1148–1153. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.07.011.
Read, J. P., Wardell, J. D., & Bachrach, R. L. (2012). Drinking consequence types in the first college semester differentially predict drinking the following year. Addictive Behaviors, 38, 1464–1471.
Schulenberg, J., & Patrick, M. E. (2012). Historical and developmental patterns of alcohol and drug use among college students. In H. R. White & D. L. Rabiner (Eds.), College drinking and drug use (pp. 13–35). New York: Guilford.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1981). Current population survey on money, income and property status of families and persons in the United States: 1980 Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 127. Washington, DC: U.S. government Printing Office.
Walters, S. T., & Neighbors, C. (2005). Feedback interventions for college alcohol misuse: What, why and for whom? Addictive Behaviors, 30, 1168–1182. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2004.12.005.
White, H. R. (2006). Reduction of alcohol-related harm on United States college campuses: The use of personal feedback interventions. The International Journal on Drug Policy, 17, 310–319. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2006.02.006.
White, H. R., & Labouvie, E. W. (1989). Towards the assessment of adolescent problem drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 50, 30–37.
White, H. R., & Labouvie, E. W. (2000). Longitudinal trends in problem drinking as measured by the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 24, 76.
White, H. R., & Rabiner, D. L. (2012). College student drinking and drug use. New York: Guilford Press.
White, H. R., Filstead, W. J., Labouvie, E. W., Conlin, J., & Pandina, R. J. (1988). Assessing alcohol problems in clinical and nonclinical adolescent populations. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 12, 328.
White, H. R., Labouvie, E. W., & Papadaratsakis, V. (2005). Changes in substance use during the transition to adulthood: A comparison of college students and their noncollege age peers. Journal of Drug Issues, 35, 281–306. doi:10.1177/002204260503500204.
White, H. R., Mun, E. Y., Pugh, L., & Morgan, T. J. (2007). Long-term effects of brief substance use interventions for mandated college students: Sleeper effects of an in-person personal feedback intervention. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 31, 1380–1391. doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2007.00435.x.
White, H. R., Mun, E. Y., & Morgan, T. J. (2008). Do brief personalized feedback interventions work for mandated students or is it just getting caught that works? Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 22, 107–116. doi:10.1037/0893-164x.22.1.107.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Preparation of this paper was supported, in part, by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01 AA 019511) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01 DA03395). The authors thank Eun-Young Mun and Su-Young Kim for their suggestions on this manuscript
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
White, H.R., Ray, A.E. Differential Evaluations of Alcohol-Related Consequences among Emerging Adults. Prev Sci 15, 115–124 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0360-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0360-8