Alcohol Expectancies among High School Students in China

There is little systematic information on the patterns of Chinese adolescents\u27 alcohol expectancies and the influence of expectancies on drinking behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine Chinese high school students\u27 alcohol expectancies and gender and drinking status (non-drinker, occasional drinker, regular drinker) differences in expectancies. We administered the Chinese Adolescent Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (CAEQ) to 1244 high school students (M = 627; F = 617) in Inner Mongolia, China. We Identified eight expectancy factors three negative (general negative consequences, harm to person/reputation, and negative uses of alcohol) and five positive (general positive perceptions, tension reduction/relaxation, drinking as social courtesy, social facilitation, and beneficial drinking/moderation). MANOVA results indicated that males had higher positive perception expectancies than females. Also, regular drinkers had lower negative consequences and harm to person/reputation expectancies and higher positive perception expectancies than non-drinkers or occasional drinkers. Occasional drinkers had higher beneficial/moderation expectancies than non-drinkers. The findings suggest that Chinese adolescents have some expectancies that are similar to those of U.S. adolescents and some expectancies that show cultural specificity. Expectancies are associated with Chinese adolescents\u27 drinking in ways similar to those found for U.S adolescents