International Journal of the Addictions
ISSN: 0020-773X (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/isum19
Attitudes toward Alcohol as Predictors of SelfEstimated Alcohol Consumption in College Students Robert B. Huebner, Robert E. Slaughter, Roy D. Goldman & Glenn R. Caddy To cite this article: Robert B. Huebner, Robert E. Slaughter, Roy D. Goldman & Glenn R. Caddy (1976) Attitudes toward Alcohol as Predictors of Self-Estimated Alcohol Consumption in College Students, International Journal of the Addictions, 11:3, 377-388, DOI: 10.3109/10826087609056157 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/10826087609056157
Published online: 03 Jul 2009.
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Citing articles: 5 View citing articles
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Date: 16 March 2016, At: 07:20
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The International Journal of the Addictions, 11(3), pp. 377-388, 1976
Attitudes toward Alcohol as Predictors of Self-Estimated Alcohol Consumption in College Students Robert B. Huebner Robert E. Slaughter
Roy D. Goldman Glenn
R. Caddy
University of California Riverside, California
Abstract
The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the relationship between attitudes toward alcohol use and selfestimated drinking behavior. The results indicated that attitudes can reliably predict variations in self-reported drinking behavior. The implication of these findings for treatment and future research is discussed. 377 Copyright 0 1976 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Neither this work nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
378
HUEBNER ET AL.
Past studies have sought to explain differences in the drinking behavior of both normal and hospitalized populations by a variety of complex indices. The extensive use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Hampton, 1953; Hoyt and Sedleck, 1958; MacAndrews and Geertsma, 1963) and, more recently, the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (Fitzgerald et al., 1967; Reiter, 1970) points to the emphasis on personality variables. Likewise, investigators with a social-psychological orientation have elucidated the contribution of various demographic, sociocultural, and economic variables to variations in drinking behavior (Knupfer and Room, 1970; Bailey et al., 1965; Cahalan et al., 1969; Cahalan, 1970). Recent research, however, has demonstrated the importance of another independent variable-namely, attitudes toward alcohol use (Cahalan, 1970). We believe that attitudes toward alcohol use can serve to reliably predict differences in self-estimates of alcohol consumption and perhaps facilitate further insight into the constellation of intervening variables involved in the serious problem of alcoholism. Early investigations of attitudes toward alcohol use and drinking behavior found that “personal definitions” of alcohol, e.g., “the meaning of alcohol to a person,” were useful social-psychological measures for interpretation of variations in drinking behavior (Mullford and Miller, 1960a, 1960b). More specifically, Kane and Patterson (1972), in a survey of high school students, noted that nondrinkers personally disapproved of alcohol consumption while more frequent drinkers approved. Similarly, Knupfer and Room (1970), using projective-type questions, suggested that nondrinkers saw nothing good about alcohol and denied the values of relaxation and fellowship that alcohol provides for drinkers. More recently, Cahalan (1970) has analyzed national survey data and found, of the many contributing variables, attitudes toward alcohol use accounted for a “lions share of the variance” (p. 155). Finally, these attitudes can be considered to be multidimensional in nature (Hoffman et al., 1971). Research on the attitudes of the college population toward alcohol and alcoholism has been far from exhaustive. This is particularly true when it comes to the specific issue of the relationship of attitudes to drinking behavior. The majority of studies have concentrated on “preprofessionals,” e.g., medical and nursing students (Chodorkoff, 1967, 1969; Ferneau, 1967). There are, however, exceptions to this (Mueller and Ferneau, 1971; Goldman et al., 1974). Briefly, these investigations reported that students viewed alcoholism as caused by something other than a weakness of volition, felt drinkers had a degree of control over their behavior, and believed that alcohol use should be a matter of personal
ATTITUDES TOWARD ALCOHOL
379
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
choice. Although these studies shed light on how students feel about alcohol, none attempt to effectively relate attitudes-toward-alcohol with drinking behavior. The present investigation sought to examine, by multiple regression techniques, the magnitude of the relationship between attitudes-towardalcohol and various self-estimates of drinking behavior, and to provide an example of the heuristic uses of multiple regression for future research.
MU LTIPLE REGRESSION The increasing complexity of the relationship between attitudes-towardalcoholism and drinking behavior demands more use of explanatory statistical analyses. In a recent study of abstainers, Knupfer and Room (1970) have emphasized this point: “Merely to replicate the existence of a statistical association between abstainers and such variables (attitudes) would hardly be of great theoretical moment. Rather, we are concerned with the magnitude of the associations and their causative implications” (p. 109). Clearly, some form of multiple prediction would provide a more comprehensive index to the relationship under study. Multiple regression analysis is well suited for this task. Briefly defined, multiple regression is a method for linear prediction in which a criterion (dependent) variable is predicted by two or more independent variables. This analysis provides two kinds of information : predictive and explanatory (see Kerlinger and Pedhazur, 1973). The first, R,is an index of the strength of the association between the criterion and the set of predictors, while the second, B (standardized regression weights), yields an index to the relative importance of each of the independent variables in the overall regression equation. More specifically, multiple regression goes beyond traditional “univariate” research that examines the relationship between one independent variable and one dependent variable or the relationship between one dependent variable and several uncorrelated independent variables. The importance of this is summarized by Kerlinger and Pedhazur: “One cannot simply understand and explain phenomena in this way because of the complex interaction of independent variables as they impinge on the dependent variables” (p. 4). The present study utilized a multiple regression technique called stepwise multiple regression. Basically, the method is a technique for adding predictor variables into overall regression equation, one at a time, such that the independent variable added yields the largest possible increase in R. With each new predictor, nonredundant information is added to the
380
HUEBNER ET AL.
prediction. This increase has been termed “usefulness” (Darlington, 1968). Within the context of the present investigation, certain items were entered into the regression equation by virtue of their predictive strength. Subsequent items that added to the strength of the prediction did so by adding only new information to the variance accounted for.
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
METHOD Subjects The Ss used in this study included 296 college students (146 male and 150 female) enrolled in undergraduate upper and lower division psychology courses at the University of California, Riverside. The Ss were obtained from three psychology classes (total enrollment 310) and asked to complete the Alcohol Attitude Questionnaire. From the 3 10 students sampled, 296 or 95.48% returned a completed questionnaire. Questionnaire In order to measure the relationships between alcohol attitudes and self-estimated drinking behavior, the Alcohol Attitude Questionnaire (AAQ), developed by Caddy et al. (1974), was used. The AAQ includes 66 Likert-style statements which basically examine three domains of alcohol attitudes. These include Model, Cost, and Treatment. For further descriptions of these domains refer to Caddy et al. (1974) and Goldman et al. (1974).* Table 1 briefly summarizes these investigations. In addition to the 66 questionnaire items, the AAQ includes eight demographic variables. These are : age, sex, marital status, educational background, occupation, drinking behavior (self-estimated), and two questions relating to the existence or nonexistence of an alcoholic family member or an alcoholic friend. *The discriminant validity of the AAQ, as a whole, seems quite good. Goldman et al. found highly reliable response differences among AA members, college students, and members of a nondrinking religious group. These differences were significant beyond the .0001 level. It is somewhat misleading to discuss AAQ reliability as the instrument has not yet been divided into criterion-referenced clinical scales. Caddy et al. found internal consistency reliabilities in the .65 to .70 range. While this is weak reliability, Caddy’s “domains” are much broader than “scales,” and hence more heterogeneous.
ATTITUDES TOWARD ALCOHOL
381
Table 1 Previous Investigations Using the Alcohol Attitudes Questionnaire (AAQ)
Authors
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
1. Caddy et al. (1974)
Subjects College students. N = 296
General findings AAQ items from three domains (cost, etioloRy, and trentment of alcoholism) were investigated by canonical correlation. While domains were associated, these associations were logically inconsistent. Hence public attitudes toward alcoholism may form a complex but illogical network.
2. Goldman et aL(1974) AA member, college AAQ items sharply discrimistudents, members nated among these three of a nondrinking groups. The groups seemed to religious sect. differ along two independent N = 373 dimensions: ( I ) restriction vs freedom of alcohol use, or (2) presumed volitional control vs no control over drinking. The AA and religious groups were quite similar on the first dimension but extremely different on the second. College students occupied an intermediate position on both dimensions.
Questionnaire Administration
The questionnaire was presented to each class along with written instructions, an answer sheet, and an anonymous biographical data sheet which contained the eight demographic variables. Design
The variable “Drinking Behavior” (DRINK) served as the major independent variable in this study. Responses to this variable were selfestimated and were arranged as follows: (1) Abstainer, (2) Light Drinker, (3) Moderate Drinker, and (4) Excessive or Heavy Drinker. In this way,
HUEBNER ET AL.
382
Table 2 Predictors of Variable DRINK after Removing the Variance of Age and Sex
RZ Beta
Hem #
-.01 .03 -.13
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
Age Step 1 Sex
People should be permitted to drink as .10 much as they want.
2
12
3
4
4
26
Given the choice, most alcoholics would .I7 prefer to be able to drink moderately than completely abstain.
5
59
Alcoholics can be cured only by .I9 hanging the society in which they live.
6
25
7
F
p
ISSN: 0020-773X (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/isum19
Attitudes toward Alcohol as Predictors of SelfEstimated Alcohol Consumption in College Students Robert B. Huebner, Robert E. Slaughter, Roy D. Goldman & Glenn R. Caddy To cite this article: Robert B. Huebner, Robert E. Slaughter, Roy D. Goldman & Glenn R. Caddy (1976) Attitudes toward Alcohol as Predictors of Self-Estimated Alcohol Consumption in College Students, International Journal of the Addictions, 11:3, 377-388, DOI: 10.3109/10826087609056157 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/10826087609056157
Published online: 03 Jul 2009.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 13
View related articles
Citing articles: 5 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=isum19 Download by: [RMIT University Library]
Date: 16 March 2016, At: 07:20
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
The International Journal of the Addictions, 11(3), pp. 377-388, 1976
Attitudes toward Alcohol as Predictors of Self-Estimated Alcohol Consumption in College Students Robert B. Huebner Robert E. Slaughter
Roy D. Goldman Glenn
R. Caddy
University of California Riverside, California
Abstract
The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the relationship between attitudes toward alcohol use and selfestimated drinking behavior. The results indicated that attitudes can reliably predict variations in self-reported drinking behavior. The implication of these findings for treatment and future research is discussed. 377 Copyright 0 1976 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Neither this work nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
378
HUEBNER ET AL.
Past studies have sought to explain differences in the drinking behavior of both normal and hospitalized populations by a variety of complex indices. The extensive use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Hampton, 1953; Hoyt and Sedleck, 1958; MacAndrews and Geertsma, 1963) and, more recently, the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (Fitzgerald et al., 1967; Reiter, 1970) points to the emphasis on personality variables. Likewise, investigators with a social-psychological orientation have elucidated the contribution of various demographic, sociocultural, and economic variables to variations in drinking behavior (Knupfer and Room, 1970; Bailey et al., 1965; Cahalan et al., 1969; Cahalan, 1970). Recent research, however, has demonstrated the importance of another independent variable-namely, attitudes toward alcohol use (Cahalan, 1970). We believe that attitudes toward alcohol use can serve to reliably predict differences in self-estimates of alcohol consumption and perhaps facilitate further insight into the constellation of intervening variables involved in the serious problem of alcoholism. Early investigations of attitudes toward alcohol use and drinking behavior found that “personal definitions” of alcohol, e.g., “the meaning of alcohol to a person,” were useful social-psychological measures for interpretation of variations in drinking behavior (Mullford and Miller, 1960a, 1960b). More specifically, Kane and Patterson (1972), in a survey of high school students, noted that nondrinkers personally disapproved of alcohol consumption while more frequent drinkers approved. Similarly, Knupfer and Room (1970), using projective-type questions, suggested that nondrinkers saw nothing good about alcohol and denied the values of relaxation and fellowship that alcohol provides for drinkers. More recently, Cahalan (1970) has analyzed national survey data and found, of the many contributing variables, attitudes toward alcohol use accounted for a “lions share of the variance” (p. 155). Finally, these attitudes can be considered to be multidimensional in nature (Hoffman et al., 1971). Research on the attitudes of the college population toward alcohol and alcoholism has been far from exhaustive. This is particularly true when it comes to the specific issue of the relationship of attitudes to drinking behavior. The majority of studies have concentrated on “preprofessionals,” e.g., medical and nursing students (Chodorkoff, 1967, 1969; Ferneau, 1967). There are, however, exceptions to this (Mueller and Ferneau, 1971; Goldman et al., 1974). Briefly, these investigations reported that students viewed alcoholism as caused by something other than a weakness of volition, felt drinkers had a degree of control over their behavior, and believed that alcohol use should be a matter of personal
ATTITUDES TOWARD ALCOHOL
379
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
choice. Although these studies shed light on how students feel about alcohol, none attempt to effectively relate attitudes-toward-alcohol with drinking behavior. The present investigation sought to examine, by multiple regression techniques, the magnitude of the relationship between attitudes-towardalcohol and various self-estimates of drinking behavior, and to provide an example of the heuristic uses of multiple regression for future research.
MU LTIPLE REGRESSION The increasing complexity of the relationship between attitudes-towardalcoholism and drinking behavior demands more use of explanatory statistical analyses. In a recent study of abstainers, Knupfer and Room (1970) have emphasized this point: “Merely to replicate the existence of a statistical association between abstainers and such variables (attitudes) would hardly be of great theoretical moment. Rather, we are concerned with the magnitude of the associations and their causative implications” (p. 109). Clearly, some form of multiple prediction would provide a more comprehensive index to the relationship under study. Multiple regression analysis is well suited for this task. Briefly defined, multiple regression is a method for linear prediction in which a criterion (dependent) variable is predicted by two or more independent variables. This analysis provides two kinds of information : predictive and explanatory (see Kerlinger and Pedhazur, 1973). The first, R,is an index of the strength of the association between the criterion and the set of predictors, while the second, B (standardized regression weights), yields an index to the relative importance of each of the independent variables in the overall regression equation. More specifically, multiple regression goes beyond traditional “univariate” research that examines the relationship between one independent variable and one dependent variable or the relationship between one dependent variable and several uncorrelated independent variables. The importance of this is summarized by Kerlinger and Pedhazur: “One cannot simply understand and explain phenomena in this way because of the complex interaction of independent variables as they impinge on the dependent variables” (p. 4). The present study utilized a multiple regression technique called stepwise multiple regression. Basically, the method is a technique for adding predictor variables into overall regression equation, one at a time, such that the independent variable added yields the largest possible increase in R. With each new predictor, nonredundant information is added to the
380
HUEBNER ET AL.
prediction. This increase has been termed “usefulness” (Darlington, 1968). Within the context of the present investigation, certain items were entered into the regression equation by virtue of their predictive strength. Subsequent items that added to the strength of the prediction did so by adding only new information to the variance accounted for.
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
METHOD Subjects The Ss used in this study included 296 college students (146 male and 150 female) enrolled in undergraduate upper and lower division psychology courses at the University of California, Riverside. The Ss were obtained from three psychology classes (total enrollment 310) and asked to complete the Alcohol Attitude Questionnaire. From the 3 10 students sampled, 296 or 95.48% returned a completed questionnaire. Questionnaire In order to measure the relationships between alcohol attitudes and self-estimated drinking behavior, the Alcohol Attitude Questionnaire (AAQ), developed by Caddy et al. (1974), was used. The AAQ includes 66 Likert-style statements which basically examine three domains of alcohol attitudes. These include Model, Cost, and Treatment. For further descriptions of these domains refer to Caddy et al. (1974) and Goldman et al. (1974).* Table 1 briefly summarizes these investigations. In addition to the 66 questionnaire items, the AAQ includes eight demographic variables. These are : age, sex, marital status, educational background, occupation, drinking behavior (self-estimated), and two questions relating to the existence or nonexistence of an alcoholic family member or an alcoholic friend. *The discriminant validity of the AAQ, as a whole, seems quite good. Goldman et al. found highly reliable response differences among AA members, college students, and members of a nondrinking religious group. These differences were significant beyond the .0001 level. It is somewhat misleading to discuss AAQ reliability as the instrument has not yet been divided into criterion-referenced clinical scales. Caddy et al. found internal consistency reliabilities in the .65 to .70 range. While this is weak reliability, Caddy’s “domains” are much broader than “scales,” and hence more heterogeneous.
ATTITUDES TOWARD ALCOHOL
381
Table 1 Previous Investigations Using the Alcohol Attitudes Questionnaire (AAQ)
Authors
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
1. Caddy et al. (1974)
Subjects College students. N = 296
General findings AAQ items from three domains (cost, etioloRy, and trentment of alcoholism) were investigated by canonical correlation. While domains were associated, these associations were logically inconsistent. Hence public attitudes toward alcoholism may form a complex but illogical network.
2. Goldman et aL(1974) AA member, college AAQ items sharply discrimistudents, members nated among these three of a nondrinking groups. The groups seemed to religious sect. differ along two independent N = 373 dimensions: ( I ) restriction vs freedom of alcohol use, or (2) presumed volitional control vs no control over drinking. The AA and religious groups were quite similar on the first dimension but extremely different on the second. College students occupied an intermediate position on both dimensions.
Questionnaire Administration
The questionnaire was presented to each class along with written instructions, an answer sheet, and an anonymous biographical data sheet which contained the eight demographic variables. Design
The variable “Drinking Behavior” (DRINK) served as the major independent variable in this study. Responses to this variable were selfestimated and were arranged as follows: (1) Abstainer, (2) Light Drinker, (3) Moderate Drinker, and (4) Excessive or Heavy Drinker. In this way,
HUEBNER ET AL.
382
Table 2 Predictors of Variable DRINK after Removing the Variance of Age and Sex
RZ Beta
Hem #
-.01 .03 -.13
Downloaded by [RMIT University Library] at 07:20 16 March 2016
Age Step 1 Sex
People should be permitted to drink as .10 much as they want.
2
12
3
4
4
26
Given the choice, most alcoholics would .I7 prefer to be able to drink moderately than completely abstain.
5
59
Alcoholics can be cured only by .I9 hanging the society in which they live.
6
25
7
F
p
