Lowering risk for early alcohol use by challenging alcohol expectancies in elementary school children

Altering alcohol expectancies has reduced alcohol use among young adults and may lead to successful prevention of early alcohol use. The authors randomly assigned 216 4th-grade children to an expectancy challenge or control condition and used individual-differences scaling to map expectancies into memory network format, with preference mapping to model likely paths of association. After expectancy intervention, children exhibited a greater likelihood to associate alcohol use with negative and sedating consequences and a decreased likelihood to associate alcohol with positive and arousing consequences. Children and adults who emphasize negative and sedating effects have been found to be less likely touse alcohol. Therefore, expectancy challenge interventions that have been successful at modifying expectancies and subsequently decreasing alcohol consumption of adults may be useful in reducing the likelihood of early alcohol use among children.