Development of alcohol expectancies and early alcohol use in children and adolescents: A systematic review

Koen Smit; Carmen Voogt; Marieke Hiemstra; Marloes Kleinjan; Roy Otten; Emmanuel Kuntsche

doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2018.02.002

Development of alcohol expectancies and early alcohol use in children and adolescents: A systematic review

Clin Psychol Rev. 2018 Mar:60:136-146. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2018.02.002. Epub 2018 Feb 6.

Authors

Koen Smit¹, Carmen Voogt², Marieke Hiemstra³, Marloes Kleinjan⁴, Roy Otten⁵, Emmanuel Kuntsche⁶

Affiliations

¹ Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, P.O. Box 725, 3500 AS Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: ksmit@trimbos.nl.
² Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, P.O. Box 725, 3500 AS Utrecht, The Netherlands.
³ Tranzo, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Postbus 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands.
⁴ Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, P.O. Box 725, 3500 AS Utrecht, The Netherlands; Utrecht University, Department of General Social Sciences, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁵ Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Pluryn, Research & Development, P.O. Box 53, 6500 AB Nijmegen, The Netherlands; REACH Institute, Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA.
⁶ Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia; Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.

PMID: 29449029
DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2018.02.002

Abstract

Purpose: Developmental changes in alcohol expectancies (AE) have been proposed to lead to alcohol use initiation and later alcohol use in adolescence. This systematic review aims to provide longitudinal evidence of the development of AE and the relation of AE to alcohol outcomes from childhood to late adolescence (4-18 years old).

Methods: A computer-assisted search of relevant articles identified 1602 studies, of which 43 studies (conducted between 1996 and 2016) were selected.

Results: First, negative AE decline and positive AE increase in early adolescence. Moreover, alcohol use (initiation) seems to strongly influence changes in AE. Second, AE predict alcohol use initiation and drinking patterns over time. Third, longitudinal predictors of AE could be divided into individual predictors (i.e., alcohol-related cognitions, psychopathology, and genetics) and environmental predictors (i.e., family, peer, and media influences). Lastly, the results indicated that AE function as mediators of the relations between the various individual and environmental predictors and adolescent's alcohol use.

Conclusions: Alcohol expectancies form an important framework through which drinking behavior can be explained over time. Due to the diverse findings on the predictors of AE, future longitudinal studies should further clarify the factors that are essential in the development of AE and adolescent's later alcohol use.

Keywords: Adolescents; Alcohol expectancies; Alcohol use; Children; Development; Systematic review.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior / psychology
Alcohol Drinking / psychology*
Child
Child Behavior / psychology
Cognition*
Humans
Peer Group*