Expectancies for negative mood regulation, coping, and dysphoria among college students.

Participants (N?=?222) completed measures of negative mood regulation (NMR) expectancies, negative life events, coping responses, dysphoria, and somatic symptoms. After 6 to 8 wks, they completed the same questionnaires except that daily hassles in the previous month were assessed instead of negative life events. In cross-sectional analyses and with stable variance in coping and symptoms controlled, NMR expectancies were positively related to active coping and negatively related to avoidant coping and symptoms. Changes in NMR expectancies and dysphoria were correlated. Time 1 dysphoria was positively related to daily hassles at Time 2, which in turn was associated with changes in coping and dysphoria from Time 1 to Time 2. Implications for counseling and stress-management interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hassles, coping, and depressive symptoms in an elderly community sample: The role of mood regulation expectancies.

To extend research on the role of expectancy in coping, 96 individuals aged 65 yrs or older (M?=?74.46, SD?=?6.28) from non-nursing-home residential communities and organizations completed measures of daily hassles, situational coping responses, depressive symptoms, and generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation, defined as beliefs about one's ability to alleviate a negative mood. Scores from the Negative Mood Regulation Scale (S. J. Catanzaro and J. Mearns, 1990) were negatively associated with avoidant coping and depressive symptoms, independent of hassles and coping responses. As in college student samples, active coping was positively related to depressive symptoms, but only when negative mood regulation expectancies were controlled. The relations of hassles and expectancies with coping responses were weaker than those found previously in younger samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mood regulation expectancies, coping responses, depression, and sense of burden in female caregivers of Alzheimer's patients

This study focused on the role of generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation in coping among caregivers to Alzheimer's disease patients. Self-report measures were used to obtain information on expectancies, hassles, coping strategies, depressive symptoms, and sense of burden from 73 female primary caregivers in support groups. Stronger expectancies for negative mood regulation were associated with less severe depressive symptoms, even with stress levels and coping responses controlled. These expectancies were also associated with less avoidant coping, but were unrelated to active coping. Burden and depressive symptoms were strongly related, but correlated differently with other variables.     

Cigarette smoking under stress: the role of coping expectancies among smokers in a clinic-based smoking cessation program

This study examined 2 expectancies to explain smoking under stress: smokers' expectations about their ability to cope with stress while remaining abstinent and their expectations about the stress-ameliorating and coping benefits of smoking under stress. The interaction of the expectancies concurrently predicted smoking urge under stress, which, in turn, predicted subsequent smoking. The interaction of posttreatment expectancies prospectively predicted smoking status 3 months after treatment, although the coping benefits of smoking expectancy effect was reversed. Expectations about coping ability increased and expectations about the coping benefits of smoking decreased as a function of participating in a smoking cessation program. The discrepant concurrent and prospective findings, reasons that coping expectancies are associated with smoking under stress, and treatment implications are discussed.     

Coping and physical health during caregiving: The roles of positive and negative affect.

The associations among coping, mood, and health variables were examined prospectively over 2 years in 86 HIV positive (HIV+) and 167 HIV negative (HIV-) gay men undergoing the stress of AIDS-related caregiving. Path models suggested that including both positive and negative mood and the men's associated coping strategies increases understanding of why some people suffer adverse health effects during times of stress. Among the HIV- caregivers, higher levels of social coping predicted increases in positive affect, which in turn resulted in lower levels of physical symptoms. In contrast, higher levels of cognitive avoidance predicted increases in negative affect, which in turn resulted in higher levels of physical symptoms. Self-injurious forms of avoidance coping predicted higher levels of physical symptoms independent of mood among the HIV+ caregivers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When expectancy meets desire: Motivational effects in reconstructive memory.

Investigated, in 2 studies with 326 undergraduates, the effects of motivational factors on expectancy use in reconstructive memory. Ss were given a target's midterm grades for later recall; expectancies about the target's future performance were then manipulated. Ss' desires to see their expectancies confirmed were manipulated by making the target likable or unlikable. It was hypothesized that when expectancy and liking "matched," Ss would give significant weight to their expectancies at retrieval, resulting in expectancy-congruent distortion of the midterm grades. However, when expectancy and liking were "mismatched," expectancies would be discounted, and Ss would show little or not expectancy-congruent distortion. Results supported these predictions. Study 2 varied the order of the expectancy and liking information. Order affected the process by which mismatch Ss discounted their expectancies. Results demonstrate that motivations not only may bias memory search but also may affect the reconstruction of existing memory traces. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mood-Induced Increases in Alcohol Expectancy Strength in Internally Motivated Drinkers.

This study investigated whether exposure to musical mood induction procedures (MMIP) differentially increases the strength of specific alcohol expectancies for coping motivated (CM) versus enhancement motivated (EM) drinkers. Participants were 86 undergraduates who had elevated scores on either the CM or EM subscale of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (M. L. Cooper, 1994). Participants were randomly assigned to either a positive or negative mood condition. The Alcohol Craving Questionnaire (E. G. Singleton, S. T. Tiffany, & J. E. Henningfield, 1994) was administered at baseline and after MMIP to assess phasic changes in alcohol expectancy strength. Consistent with hypotheses, only CM drinkers in the negative mood condition reported increased relief expectancies, and only EM drinkers in the positive mood condition reported increased reward expectancies. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental alcohol involvement and adolescent alcohol expectancies predict alcohol involvement in male adolescents.

Current models of adolescent drinking behavior hypothesize that alcohol expectancies mediate the effects of other proximal and distal risk factors. This longitudinal study tested the hypothesis that the effects of parental alcohol involvement on their children's drinking behavior in mid-adolescence are mediated by the children's alcohol expectancies in early adolescence. A sample of 148 initially 9–11 year old boys and their parents from a high-risk population and a contrast group of community families completed measures of drinking behavior and alcohol expectancies over a 6-year interval. We analyzed data from middle childhood (M age = 10.4 years), early adolescence (M age = 13.5 years), and mid-adolescence (M age = 16.5 years). The sample was restricted only to adolescents who had begun to drink by mid-adolescence. Results from zero-inflated Poisson regression analyses showed that 1) maternal drinking during their children's middle childhood predicted number of drinking days in middle adolescence; 2) negative and positive alcohol expectancies in early adolescence predicted odds of any intoxication in middle adolescence; and 3) paternal alcoholism during their children's middle childhood and adolescents' alcohol expectancies in early adolescence predicted frequency of intoxication in middle adolescence. Contrary to predictions, child alcohol expectancies did not mediate the effects of parental alcohol involvement in this high-risk sample. Different aspects of parental alcohol involvement, along with early adolescent alcohol expectancies, independently predicted adolescent drinking behavior in middle adolescence. Alternative pathways for the influence of maternal and paternal alcohol involvement and implications for expectancy models of adolescent drinking behavior were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy-value constructs and expectancy violation as predictors of exercise adherence in previously sedentary women.

This prospective study examined effects of expectancy of exercise benefits, value of benefits, expectancy violation, and self-efficacy (SE) on exercise behavior and study dropout in sedentary women (n?=?86). SE predicted exercise for study completers but did not predict study dropout. After 6 and 12 weeks, participants evidenced expectancy violations, particularly for fitness and weight. Initial value, expectancy, and Expectancy?×? Value did not predict exercise for study completers, but dropouts had higher initial positive expectancies than did completers. Expectancy violations produced in Weeks 1–6 did not predict exercise in Weeks 7–12 in study completers, but dropouts in Weeks 7–12 had higher expectancy violations for weight in Weeks 1–6 than did completers. Follow-up revealed that study dropouts stopped exercising. Identifying individuals with high initial expectancies and expectancy violations may improve health behavior intervention and research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive alcohol expectancies and drinking behavior: The influence of expectancy strength and memory accessibility.

College student drinkers (N ?=?314) participated in a health survey in which they (a) completed an alcohol-related memory association task (expectancy accessibility measure), (b) rated their positive expectancies about alcohol use (expectancy strength measure), and (c) reported their level of alcohol involvement. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that both expectancy accessibility and expectancy strength predicted frequency of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Moreover, moderational analyses showed that the association between expectancy strength and frequency of alcohol use was greater for those who generated more alcohol responses on the expectancy association task. These findings, suggest that the outcome association measure and Likert scale ratings of expectancies may assess distinct properties of expectancy representations, which may have independent and interactive effects on different aspects of drinking behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response expectancy as a determinant of experience and behavior.

Reviews research on placebos, hypnosis, and fear reduction that indicates that response expectancies, defined as expectancies of the occurrence of nonvolitional responses, generate corresponding subjective experiences, the genuineness of which has been substantiated by corresponding changes in behavior and physiological function. The means by which response expectancies affect experience, physiology, and behavior are hypothesized to vary as a function of response mode. The generation of changes in subjective experience by corresponding response expectancies is suggested to be a basic psychological mechanism. Physiological effects are accounted for by the mind–body identity assumption that is common to all nondualist philosophies of psychology. It is argued that the effects of response expectancies on volitional behavior are due to the reinforcing properties of many nonvolitional responses. Research also indicates that classical conditioning appears to be one method by which response expectancies are acquired, but response expectancy effects that are inconsistent with a conditioning hypothesis have also been documented. (134 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of handicap and emotional distress in patients with recurrent vertigo: symptoms, coping strategies, control beliefs and reciprocal causation

Factors predicting handicap and distress were examined in a longitudinal study of 101 patients suffering from recurrent vertigo (dizziness). Analysis of a questionnaire assessing coping strategies yielded four distinct individualised coping styles: problem-focused information-seeking; distraction; denial; and relinquishing responsibility. After controlling for the severity of physical and psychological symptoms and distress, handicap was negatively related to internal locus of control and positively correlated with relinquishing responsibility. Symptoms of somatic anxiety predicted an increase in handicap over a 7 month period, while handicap and somatic anxiety symptoms predicted an increase in distress. These results are interpreted in terms of a reciprocal causal relationship between handicap and distress, mediated partly by somatic symptoms. Parallels with pain, panic and phobia suggest that patients with vertigo might benefit from psychological therapies.     

A cross-cultural comparison of alcohol expectancies in Puerto Rico and the United States.

This study compared the alcohol expectancies of 211 (62 men, 149 women) native Puerto Rican and 167 (54 men, 113 women) U.S. college students. Respondents completed a back-translated alcohol expectancy questionnaire. Results were factor analyzed separately by ethnicity. Comparison of factor structures indicated similarities and differences in expectancy structures. Puerto Rican respondents showed a tendency to associate positive aspects of alcohol effects with an expectancy for increased sociability, whereas for U.S. respondents these dimensions appeared to be independent. Puerto Ricans also had expectations of concurrent positive and negative alcohol effects on sexual behavior. A strong relationship between alcohol expectancies and alcohol consumption patterns was observed in both samples. Positive expectancies were better predictors of drinking than negative expectancies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conditioning, Expectancy, and the Placebo Effect: Comment on Stewart-Williams and Podd (2004).

Comments on article by Stewardt-Williams and Podd (2004; see record 2004-11156-007). Classical conditioning is included as a component in the response expectancy model of placebo responding. Though introspectable when attention is drawn to them, expectancies need not be in awareness while guiding behavior. Most placebo effects are linked to expectancies, and classical conditioning is one factor (but not the only factor) by which these expectancies can be produced and altered. Conditioned placebo effects without expectancies exist but are relatively rare in humans. The adaptive advantage of cognition is increased response flexibility. For it to convey that benefit, however, it must be capable of overriding the influence of simpler automatic processes. Thus, the higher up the phylogenetic scale, the smaller the role of nonconscious conditioning processes and the larger the role of cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are alcohol expectancies associations? Comment on Moss and Albery (2009).

Moss and Albery (see record 2009-09537-002) presented a dual-process model of the alcohol–behavior link, integrating alcohol expectancy and alcohol myopia theory. Their integrative theory rests on a number of assumptions including, first, that alcohol expectancies are associations that can be activated automatically by an alcohol-relevant context, and second, that alcohol selectively reduces propositional reasoning. As a result, behavior comes under the control of associative processes after alcohol consumption. We agree with the second but not with the first assumption, based on theoretical and empirical arguments. Although in some cases expectancies may involve a simple association, they are propositional in nature. We demonstrate that this assertion is supported by existing literature cited in Moss and Albery. Moreover, 6 recent studies consistently demonstrated that under circumstances in which executive control is impaired (either as a stable individual difference or under the acute influence of alcohol), associative processes, over and above expectancies, predict alcohol-related behavior. Taken together, the evidence strongly suggests a fundamental distinction between expectancies and associations in memory: Effects of propositional expectancies and executive functions are impaired under the acute influence of alcohol, but memory associations are not. This difference in perspective not only has theoretical implications but also leads to different predictions regarding acute alcohol effects in society. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Husband alcohol expectancies, drinking, and marital-conflict styles as predictors of severe marital violence among newlywed couples.

The prospective effects of husband drinking, husband alcohol expectancies, and couple's marital-conflict style on husband alcohol-related aggression and severe violence in the 1st year of marriage were examined. Drinking predicted alcohol-related aggression, but husband's expectancy that alcohol causes aggression did not. Alcohol expectancies did predict severe violence in the marriage; however, the husband's belief that alcohol causes aggression was negatively related to the amount of severe violence. Alcohol expectancies interacted with marital conflict such that high amounts of severe violence were associated with men in high conflict marriages who did not have the expectancy that alcohol causes aggression. Additionally, in high conflict marriages, husband drinking was related to the amount of severe violence. Results are discussed in terms of alcohol-expectancy measures tapping general constructs of tolerance and attitudes toward antinormative behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Same wording, distinct concepts? Testing differences between expectancies and motives in a mediation model of alcohol outcomes.

Per definition, alcohol expectancies (after alcohol I expect X), and drinking motives (I drink to achieve X) are conceptually distinct constructs. Theorists have argued that motives mediate the association between expectancies and drinking outcomes. Yet, given the use of different instruments, do these constructs remain distinct when assessment items are matched? The present study tested to what extent motives mediated the link between expectancies and alcohol outcomes when identical items were used, first as expectancies and then as motives. A linear structural equation model was estimated based on a national representative sample of 5,779 alcohol-using students in Switzerland (mean age = 15.2 years). The results showed that expectancies explained up to 38% of the variance in motives. Together with motives, they explained up to 48% of the variance in alcohol outcomes (volume, 5+ drinking, and problems). In 10 of 12 outcomes, there was a significant mediated effect that was often higher than the direct expectancy effect. For coping, the expectancy effect was close to zero, indicating the strongest form of mediation. In only one case (conformity and 5+ drinking), there was a direct expectancy effect but no mediation. To conclude, the study demonstrates that motives are distinct from expectancies even when identical items are used. Motives are more proximally related to different alcohol outcomes, often mediating the effects of expectancies. Consequently, the effectiveness of interventions, particularly those aimed at coping drinkers, should be improved through a shift in focus from expectancies to drinking motives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication during marital conflict: When couples alter their appraisal, they change their behavior.

In a sample of 77 recently married couples, within-person variance in cognitive appraisal was expected to predict corresponding within-person variance in communication behavior during conflict. Three types of appraisal were considered: expectancies of partner understanding, expectancies of partner negative communication, and attributions. Couples were observed in 4 different conflict conversations, completed during 2 assessment sessions, and appraisals were assessed prior to each conversation. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze within-person effects. Changes from one conversation to the next in all 3 types of appraisal predicted corresponding within-person change in communication, and many effects were larger for wives than for husbands. Results were strongest for expectancies of partner understanding. Expectancies predicted change in one's own behavior after controlling for the accuracy of the expectancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactive effects of alcohol outcome expectancies and alcohol cues on nonconsumptive behavior.

Experimental research and popular belief suggest that, among its many effects, alcohol consumption reduces tension and facilitates aggression. Such observations could result from direct, pharmacological effects of alcohol on neural control of behavior but also may be accounted for by positing that drinking behavior activates mental representations of relaxation-related or aggression-related alcohol expectancies in long-term memory. Building on this latter view, in 2 experiments, the authors investigated whether rudimentary drinking-related cues, which presumably activate encoded alcohol expectancies, facilitate tension reduction and hostility in the complete absence of actual or placebo alcohol consumption. In Experiment 1, following contextual exposure to alcohol-related words, individuals with stronger expectancies that drinking reduces tension showed an increased willingness to meet with an opposite-gender stranger under relatively anxiety-provoking circumstances, suggesting that they experienced less apprehension regarding the meeting. Analogously, in Experiment 2, following near-subliminal exposure to alcohol-related words, individuals with stronger expectancies that drinking fosters aggression showed greater hostility toward a target person following an experimentally engineered provocation. Neither of the latter effects was obtained following exposure to nonalcoholic beverage words, which presumably did not activate alcohol outcome expectancy representations in long-term memory. Moreover, the strength of relevant, content-specific expectancies (i.e., for tension reduction or aggression, respectively) moderated alcohol cue exposure effects, but the strength of other expectancies (e.g., for sociability or sexual arousal) did not. Together, these findings demonstrate that exposure to rudimentary alcohol cues independently engenders expectancy-consistent behavior, thereby attesting to the remarkable breadth and subtlety of the behavioral impact of alcohol expectancy activation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)