The objectives of the University Life Transitions (ULTRA) Project are to improve understanding of: (1) the natural ecology of late adolescent students' experiences with alcohol and its consequences; and (2) the role played by alcohol expectancies and consequences in alcohol use decisions. Based on an active organism model and alcohol expectancy theory, this application seeks funds for data analysis of questionnaires collected at university freshman orientation (n=943) plus a series of 10 weekly telephone interviews on a targeted sub-sample (n=202, M=1 8.8 years, SD=.4).
Specific aims are:
Aim 1 : Model intra-individual variability in alcohol expectancies, alcohol use, and positive and negative drinking consequences. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) of the intensive repeated measures interview data will be used to describe fluctuations, rhythms, and patterns of alcohol consumption across an academic semester.
Aim 2 : Test theoretically based hypotheses about reciprocal within-person through-time co-variation of alcohol expectancies, use, and consequences. Based on alcohol expectancy theory, positive and negative alcohol expectancies are hypothesized to predict alcohol use; alcohol use is hypothesized to predict positive and negative consequences; and positive (but not negative) consequences are hypothesized to predict within-person changes in expectancies.
Aim 3 : Identify between-person psychosocial predictors of within-person variation and co-variation in alcohol expectancies, use, and consequences. Individual differences in family history of alcohol problems, personality, goals, adjustment, alcohol and other drug use history, perceived alcohol use norms, and activities (Greek system, honors program, Spring break vacations) will serve as between-person predictors of within-person variation and co-variation as modeled by Aims 1 and 2.
Aim 4 : Examine within-person co-variation of positive and negative affect with alcohol use. The study will model whether positive and negative affect co-vary with alcohol use within persons. In addition, between-person moderators and differential links between alcohol use and consequences by drinking motivated by social enhancement vs. tension reduction will be examined.
These aims will be addressed by conducting analyses of the ULTRA Project's Orientation Survey and Telephone Interview Study. This intensive repeated measures design following students through their first year of college permits the examination of between-person differences in within-person through-time variation and Co. variation in alcohol expectancies, use, consequences, and affect using HLM.
