The Moderating Role of PBS in the Relationship Between Positive Expectancies and Alcohol-Related Negative Consequences

Hazardous drinking college students have become an increasingly focused upon group within alcohol research, especially considering the extent of negative consequences they experience. Recently, increased positive expectancies has been identified as an influential contributor to increased hazardous drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. However, more comprehensive evaluation of the domains of positive expectancies (e.g., sociability, tension reduction, sexual enhancement, liquid courage) is warranted to ascertain which types are more salient in predicting hazardous drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. Further, research has yet to explore how protective behavioral strategies (PBS) affect the strength of the associations between specific positive expectancies and alcohol-related negative consequences. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to investigate the moderating role of PBS in the relationship between the domains of positive expectancies and alcohol-related negative consequences in a sample of hazardous drinking college students. Using moderated multiple regression, significant positive associations were observed for liquid courage and sexual enhancement positive expectancies whereas an inverse association for PBS-Serious Harm Reduction (SHR) emerged. But, no moderating effects for PBS were found in any of the analyses. These results suggest that liquid courage and sexual enhancement positive expectancies may be more salient in predicting alcohol-related negative consequences. Clinical and empirical implication, limitations, and future research directions are discussed