McBride, N., Barrett, B., Moore, K., and Schonfeld, L. (2014) The role of positive alcohol expectancies in underage binge drinking among college students. American Journal of College Health. Epub ahead of print. DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2014.907297.

Objective: This study explored associations between positive alcohol expectancies, demographics, as well as academic status and binge drinking among underage college students. Participants: A sample of 1,553 underage college students at three public universities and one college in the southeast who completed the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey in the spring 2013 semester. Methods: A series of bivariate analyses and logistic regression models were used to examine associations between demographic and academic status variables as well as positive alcohol expectancies with self-reported binge drinking. Positive alcohol expectancies were examined in multivariable models via two factors derived from principal component analyses. Results: Students who endorsed higher agreement of these two emergent factors (Sociability; Sexuality) were more likely to report an occurrence of binge drinking in the past two weeks. Conclusions: Study results document associations between positive alcohol expectancies and binge drinking among underage students; implications for prevention and treatment are discussed.