Alcohol Expectancies and Drinking Characteristics in Parents of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Alcohol expectancies, drinking characteristics, and their association were examined in 587 adults: 431 parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 156 parents of children without ADHD. In addition to examining both traditional and parenting-specific alcohol expectancies for these adults, risk variables cutting across the two groups were considered: single parenthood and male gender. Few differences in mean expectancy levels were found between parents of children with and without ADHD, between single and married mothers, and between men and women. Furthermore, expectancies did not predict drinking differently across groups. However, there was some support for the utility of assessing parental expectations of alcohol's effects on interactions with children, and there were robust and interesting effects of socioeconomic status on expectancies and drinking. Single mothers also reported consuming higher quantities of alcohol than married mothers. Findings are discussed in terms of the link between ADHD and alcoholism, the ability of alcohol expectancies to explain drinking differences between high risk groups, the effect of socioeconomic status on these variables, and single motherhood as a vulnerability factor for increased drinking.

[1]  T. Babor,et al.  Overview: demography, epidemiology and psychopharmacology--making sense of the connections. , 1994, Addiction.

[2]  G. Jarvis,et al.  Gender and Age Differences in the Drinking Behaviors of University Students , 1994, Psychological reports.

[3]  K. Sher,et al.  Anxiety and drinking behavior: moderating effects of tension-reduction alcohol outcome expectancies. , 1994, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[4]  L. Chassin,et al.  Alcohol expectancies in early adolescents: predicting drinking behavior from alcohol expectancies and parental alcoholism. , 1994, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[5]  R. Kessler,et al.  Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States. Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. , 1994, Archives of general psychiatry.

[6]  G. Connors,et al.  Changes in alcohol expectancies and drinking behavior among treated problem drinkers. , 1993, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[7]  B. Leigh,et al.  Alcohol Outcome Expectancies: Scale Construction and Predictive Utility in Higher Order Confirmatory Models , 1993 .

[8]  M. Goldman,et al.  Expectancy challenge and drinking reduction: experimental evidence for a mediational process. , 1993, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[9]  W. Pelham,et al.  Parental alcohol consumption and deviant child behavior: Laboratory studies of reciprocal effects , 1993 .

[10]  K. Fromme,et al.  Comprehensive effects of alcohol: Development and psychometric assessment of a new expectancy questionnaire. , 1993 .

[11]  J. Halperin,et al.  Methylphenidate response in aggressive and nonaggressive ADHD children: distinctions on laboratory measures of symptoms. , 1992, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[12]  W. Pelham,et al.  Teacher ratings of DSM-III-R symptoms for the disruptive behavior disorders. , 1992, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[13]  M. L. Cooper,et al.  Stress and alcohol use: moderating effects of gender, coping, and alcohol expectancies. , 1992, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[14]  B. Leigh,et al.  On the scope of alcohol expectancy research: remaining issues of measurement and meaning. , 1991, Psychological bulletin.

[15]  M. Goldman,et al.  Alcoholism and memory: broadening the scope of alcohol-expectancy research. , 1991, Psychological bulletin.

[16]  V. Adesso,et al.  Gender differences in using alcohol to cope with depression. , 1991, Addictive behaviors.

[17]  C. Johnston,et al.  Determinants of Parenting Stress: Illustrations from Families of Hyperactive Children and Families of Physically Abused Children , 1990 .

[18]  B. Compas,et al.  Stress, coping, and adjustment in mothers and young adolescents in single- and two-parent families , 1990, American journal of community psychology.

[19]  R. Barkley,et al.  The adolescent outcome of hyperactive children diagnosed by research criteria: I. An 8-year prospective follow-up study. , 1990, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[20]  S. Faraone,et al.  Family-genetic and psychosocial risk factors in DSM-III attention deficit disorder. , 1990, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[21]  W. Pelham,et al.  Normative Data on the IOWA Conners Teacher Rating Scale , 1989 .

[22]  B. Leigh.  In search of the Seven Dwarves: issues of measurement and meaning in alcohol expectancy research , 1989 .

[23]  M H Boyle,et al.  Correlates, associated impairments and patterns of service utilization of children with attention deficit disorder: findings from the Ontario Child Health Study. , 1989, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[24]  M. Sherman,et al.  Relationship between alcohol expectancies and length of abstinence among Alcoholics Anonymous members. , 1989, Addictive behaviors.

[25]  B. Leigh.  In search of the Seven Dwarves: issues of measurement and meaning in alcohol expectancy research. , 1989, Psychological bulletin.

[26]  K. Leonard,et al.  Alcohol expectancies and personality characteristics in young men. , 1988, Addictive behaviors.

[27]  M. Goldman,et al.  The Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire: an instrument for the assessment of adolescent and adult alcohol expectancies. , 1987, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[28]  B. Leigh,et al.  Beliefs about the effects of alcohol on self and others. , 1987, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[29]  L. George,et al.  Alcohol abuse and dependence in the rural South. , 1987, Archives of general psychiatry.

[30]  S. Brown,et al.  Extroversion, anxiety and the perceived effects of alcohol. , 1987, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[31]  G. Connors,et al.  Alcohol expectancies among male alcoholics, problem drinkers, and nonproblem drinkers. , 1986, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[32]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[33]  W. Pelham,et al.  A comparison of objective classroom measures and teacher ratings of attention deficit disorder , 1985, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[34]  D. Rohsenow.  Drinking habits and expectancies about alcohol's effects for self versus others. , 1983, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[35]  R. Milich,et al.  Hyperactivity, inattention, and aggression in clinical practice , 1982 .

[36]  P. Brantley,et al.  Acute alcohol intoxication, negative affect, and autonomic arousal in women and men. , 1982, Addictive behaviors.

[37]  M. Stewart,et al.  Psychiatric disorder in the parents of hyperactive boys and those with conduct disorder. , 1980, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[38]  D. Abrams,et al.  Effects of alcohol on social anxiety in women: cognitive versus physiological processes. , 1979, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[39]  T. Achenbach.  The Child Behavior Profile: I. Boys aged 6--11. , 1978, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[40]  R. Ulrich,et al.  Normative data on Revised Conners Parent and Teacher Rating Scales , 1978, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[41]  M L Selzer,et al.  A self-administered Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST). , 1975, Journal of studies on alcohol.