RESTRAINT & ATTRIBUTIONS--RISK FACTORS IN ALCOHOL ABUSE

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This proposal includes three studies designed to assess aspects of the role of drinking restraint (preoccupation with controlling alcohol consumption), and attributional style (optimism vs. pessimism), in drinking behavior. All three studies are organized within a conceptual framework based on the abstinence violation effect (AVE), a reaction precipitated by the violation of the voluntary commitment to limit consumption. Study 1 employs a multivariate correlational design to assess relationships among two measures of optimism/pessimism, drinking attributional style, drinking practices, depression, and demographic variables (e.g., gender, age), and the dependent variable of drinking restraint. A related goal is to choose one of the measures of optimism/pessimism for use in subject selection in subsequent research. Study 2 employs a 2 (high vs. low restraint) X 2 (optimism vs. pessimism) factorial design to assess reactions to the violation of self-imposed drinking limits. Dependent variables include behavioral responses (the choice to continue consuming alcohol) and negative affective responses (depression, anxiety, hostility, and self-esteem). Modeling of alcohol consumption will be used to elicit the violation of limits in moderate/heavy drinking young men. Study 3 employs the same 2 X 2 design and subject population, to test whether changes in the self-monitoring of drinking behavior is a mechanism for the violation of limits. Subjects will participate in the taste-rating task, an obtrusive measure of alcohol consumption, after which perceived vs. actual consumption and sip frequency will be assessed. This study will provide information on the impact of restraint and optimism/pessimism on the accuracy of self- monitoring, as well as on patterns of drinking behavior. The research outlined in this proposal provides, a conceptually derived and methodologically rigorous, assessment of drinking restraint and attributional style, as related to the move from moderate/controlled to excessive/uncontrolled consumption. The latter consumption pattern placing the individual at risk for alcohol abuse. The results of this research has implications for the identification of such high risk individuals, as well as for the development of prevention and treatment strategies related to changing levels of drinking restraint and attributional style.