Problematic drinking is recurrent among college students and is associated with a variety of negative consequences. Therefore, it is important to understand risk factors for this phenomenon. The present study assessed the relationship between expectations over alcohol effects and risk drinking pattern among college students. Participants were 165 college students with average age of 22 years old (dp= 2,5) who responded to the AUDIT and IECPA inventories. Results indicated that 44% of the participants were risk consumers and 48% had high positive expectations, among them facilitation of social interaction, decrease and/or escape of negative emotions, enhanced sexual pleasure, positive effects on activity, mood and self evaluation. There was a correlation between problematic drinking and positive expectations. To investigate the relationship between pattern of use and expectations over alcohol effects favours planning of therapeutical interventions and more precise preventive strategies aiming at reducing the risks of problematic drinking among college students.
alcohol; expectations; college students
