Alcohol consumption, locus of control, and self-esteem of high school and college students

An Alcohol Consumption Questionnaire was designed to investigate 104 high school and 104 college students' drinking patterns in actual and hypothetical pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral situations. Students were also given Rotter's I-E Locus of Control Scale and Rosenberg's Self-esteem Inventory. College students drank significantly more than high school students after experiencing hypothetical pleasant events. Both groups drank more after hypothetical pleasant events than hypothetical unpleasant events and hypothetical neutral events. There were no significant group differences after experiencing hypothetical unpleasant events or neutral events. Students with high scores on locus of control tended to have higher self-esteem, greater drinking after hypothetical unpleasant events, hypothetical and actual pleasant events, and hypothetical and actual pleasant events, and hypothetical and actual neutral events. Frequencies of actual drinking and hypothetical drinking were highly correlated.