Do Good Things Come to Those Who Drink? A Longitudinal Investigation of Drinking Expectancies and Hazardous Alcohol Use in Female College Athletes

PurposeTo prospectively examine the link between positive and negative drinking expectancies and hazardous alcohol use, and to explore the reciprocal associations between expectancies and hazardous use among female college athletes.MethodParticipants were part of a larger (n = 189), ongoing longitudinal study on female athletes’ socialization experiences and health behaviors from an all-women’s college in the Northeastern United States. The sample for the present study were 85 college-aged (17–22 years) female students (Mean age = 19.6) who indicated alcohol use in the past year and provided data at both time points (baseline and one year later). Respondents completed self-report questionnaires on their age, hazardous alcohol use, and expectations about the effects of drinking.ResultsLogistic regression analyses showed that positive drinking expectancies predicted increased odds of hazardous alcohol use at baseline and one year later (even after controlling for baseline hazardous use). Positive expectancies accounted for a higher proportion of variance in predicting increased odds of hazardous alcohol use at both time points than did negative expectancies. Bivariate correlational analyses examining the bi-directional associations between expectancies and hazardous alcohol use also revealed some indication that positive expectancies were associated with hazardous alcohol use rather than vice-versa. No such relations emerged for negative expectancies.ConclusionsFindings shed light on the utility of positive expectancies in predicting concurrent and subsequent hazardous alcohol use among female student-athletes. Future research directions and potential implications for prevention efforts are discussed.