Alcohol outcome expectancies and coping styles as predictors of alcohol use in young adults

This study was designed to examine the pattern and strength of relationships among coping styles and alcohol outcome expectancies with regard to drinking behavior in young adult social drinkers. Quantity and frequency of weekly consumption were used as criterion measures, and alcohol outcome expectancies/valences (CEOA: Fromme, Stroot & Kaplan, 1993) and coping styles (COPE: Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989) were used as predictor variables. For males, the expectancy of risk and aggression, and the valence of cognitive and behavioral impairment, were predictive of drinking behavior. For females, sociability valence and the expectancy of negative self-evaluation positively predicted the alcohol-use measures. With regards to coping styles, alcohol and drug disengagement and suppression of competing activities uniquely predicted alcohol use in males, whereas alcohol and drug disengagement, turning to religion, and behavioral disengagement were predictive of female alcohol use. In general, coping styles were more predictive of the alcohol-use measures than were alcohol-outcome expectancies. Practical implications of these results are highlighted.