The Predictive Utility of Drinking Refusal Self-efficacy and Alcohol Expectancy: a Diary-based Study of Tension Reduction

The potential tension reduction effects of alcohol may be most appropriately tested by examining the role of alcohol related beliefs regarding alcohol's anxiolytic properties. The relationship between affective change drinking refusal self-efficacy, tension reduction alcohol expectancies, and ongoing drinking behavior was examined amongst 57 regular drinkers. Alcohol consumption, antecedent, and consequent mood states were monitored prospectively by diary, Social learning theory hypothesizes that low drinking refusal self-efficacy when experiencing a negative mood state should be associated with more frequent drinking when tense. Strong alcohol expectancies of tension reduction were hypothesized to predict subsequent tension reduction. Contrary to this hypothesis, the present study found that alcohol expectancies were more strongly related to antecedent mood states. Only a weak relationship between drinking refusal self-efficacy and predrinking tension, and between alcohol expectancy and subsequent tension reduction, was evident.