Social epidemiology of early adolescent alcohol expectancies

Jason M Nagata; Gabriel Zamora; Natalia Smith; Omar M Sajjad; Joan Shim; Kyle T Ganson; Alexander Testa; Dylan B Jackson

doi:10.1186/s12889-023-17434-5

Social epidemiology of early adolescent alcohol expectancies

BMC Public Health. 2023 Dec 13;23(1):2502. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-17434-5.

Authors

Jason M Nagata¹, Gabriel Zamora², Natalia Smith², Omar M Sajjad³, Joan Shim², Kyle T Ganson⁴, Alexander Testa⁵, Dylan B Jackson⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, 4th Floor, Box 0530, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA. jason.nagata@ucsf.edu.
² Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, 4th Floor, Box 0530, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
³ Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, 1 Rope Ferry Rd, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA.
⁴ Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON, M5S 1V4, Canada.
⁵ Department of Management, Policy and Community Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7000 Fannin St, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
⁶ Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 615 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the sociodemographic correlates of alcohol expectancies (i.e., beliefs regarding positive or negative effects of alcohol) in a national (U.S.) cohort of early adolescents 10-14 years old. A second aim was to determine associations between alcohol sipping and alcohol expectancies.

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (N = 11,868; Year 2). Linear regression analyses were conducted to estimate associations between sociodemographic factors (sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, household income, parental education, parent marital status, religiosity) and positive (e.g., stress reduction) and negative (e.g., loss of motor coordination) alcohol expectancies. Additional linear regression analyses determined associations between alcohol sipping and alcohol expectancies, adjusting for sociodemographic factors.

Results: Overall, 48.8% of the participants were female and 47.6% racial/ethnic minorities, with a mean age of 12.02 (SD 0.67) years. Older age among the early adolescent sample, male sex, and sexual minority identification were associated with more positive and negative alcohol expectancies. Black and Latino/Hispanic adolescents reported less positive and negative alcohol expectancies compared to White non-Latino/Hispanic adolescents. Having parents with a college education or greater and a household income of $200,000 and greater were associated with higher positive and negative alcohol expectancies. Alcohol sipping was associated with higher positive alcohol expectancies.

Conclusions: Older age, White non-Latino/Hispanic race, male sex, sexual minority status, higher parental education, and higher household income were associated with higher positive and negative alcohol expectancies. Future research should examine the mechanisms linking these specific sociodemographic factors to alcohol expectancies to inform future prevention and intervention efforts.

Keywords: Adolescent; Alcohol; Alcohol expectancies; Alcohol sipping; Substance use.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Alcohol Drinking* / epidemiology
Black or African American
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Ethnicity*
Female
Hispanic or Latino / psychology
Humans
Male
White

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding