Altering alcohol expectancies has reduced alcohol use among college students and may lead to successful prevention of alcohol use among high school students. We randomly assigned 379 12th-grade students to an expectancy challenge, traditional alcohol information, or control condition, and used Individual Differences Scaling to map expectancies into memory network format with Preference Mapping to model likely paths of association. After expectancy and traditional alcohol interventions, higher drinking male participants exhibited a greater likelihood to associate alcohol use with negative and sedating consequences and a decreased likelihood to associate alcohol with positive and arousing consequences. Drinking decreases paralleled the magnitude of changes in their likely path of expectancy activation. Children and adults who emphasize negative and sedating effects have been found to be less likely to use alcohol. Therefore, expectancy challenge interventions that have been successful at modifying expectancies and subsequently decreasing alcohol consumption among heavy drinking college students may be useful in the development of prevention curricula for high school students.

The central aim of the present study was to examine the role of expectancies in binge eating behavior. Two distinct statistical techniques were used to accomplish this goal. First, regression analyses were conducted using variables previously identified in the literature, as well as eating expectancies as measured by the Eating Expectancy Inventory (EEI). For both females and males, regression equations including expectancies accounted for a substantial portion of the variance in binge eating behavior. Second, memory modeling techniques were used to model the probable organization of eating expectancies. Memory modeling of hypothetical expectancy networks has lead to successful interventions in alcohol use, and preliminary work in eating revealed a fundamental difference in the way that individuals with high levels of pathology activate and store eating related messages. In the present study, Individual Differences Scaling was used to model the two-dimensional organization of an eating expectancy memory network in relation to binge eating. INDSCAL weights indicated that participants with higher levels of binge eating placed more emphasis on the positive-negative dimension, and examination of group means revealed that high binge eaters expected more change in mood in response to eating. All findings are discussed in terms of implications for enhancing assessment, treatment, and prevention strategies.

Alcohol use has been a longstanding problem on college campuses. Despite the efforts National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the commissioned Task Force on College Drinking (2002), there has been a recent rise in the number of alcohol related arrests and violations on college campuses. Within the high-risk mandated student population, the most successful programs utilize motivational enhancement strategies, such as the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS). Likely due to financial constraints, an important issue that has been raised is the limited availability of validated methods for alcohol prevention and intervention on college campuses. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the digitally assisted Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (ECALC) by direct comparison of the ECALC to an already well-established treatment (i.e., BASICS) in an effort to reduce problematic alcohol use and related negative consequences among mandated college students. The role of the digital enhancements is to decrease time and resources necessary for training facilitators and aid in widespread implementation. Analyses revealed significant reductions on all four positive alcohol expectancies subscales for those in the ECALC condition and a significant intervening effect for the expectancies of Sociability and Liquid Courage. Results also revealed that for both males and females, those in the ECALC condition demonstrated significantly greater reductions in frequency of alcohol use (i.e., number of drinking days per month) and comparable reductions in typical (i.e., mean BAC, average drinks per sitting, average drinks per week) and heavy alcohol use (i.e., peak BAC, peak drinks per sitting, number of binge episodes) at follow-up when compared to those in the BASICS condition.

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In this study, 236 heavy-drinking college students completed measures of self-efficacy for limiting drinking, specific coping skills for limiting drinking, outcome expectancies associated both with expected effects of drinking and expected effects of limiting drinking, and retrospective drinking behavior. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine reliability and validity, as well as serving as a pre-requisite for structural equation modeling (SEM). Results were generally consistent with predictions and supported the distinction between self-efficacy and outcome expectancies. One notable exception was that positive expectancies for limiting drinking did not load heavily on the predicted expectancy construct. Three models predicting drinking were compared utilizing SEM. The first was a model in which all constructs predicted drinking with no indirect effects. The second was based upon the ideas of Kirsch (1995) and predicted that outcome expectancies influence self-efficacy judgments. The third was based upon Bandura's (1986) theory and predicted that self-efficacy judgments would instead influence outcome expectancies. Both the models based on Kirsch and Bandura appeared to better fit the data than the model with no indirect effects. Differences in model-fit between models based on Kirsch and Bandura were not large, but slightly supported the Kirsch model. Additional analyses also supported the importance of outcome expectancies in predicting drinking behavior. Implications for theory and future directions for research are discussed. / Ph. D.

Social anxiety is widely thought to be positively associated with alcohol use. However, these studies rely primarily on self-report of drinking behavior. This research aimed to further explore this research by assessing blood alcohol concentration (BAC), a physiological measure of alcohol intoxication, as the dependent measure in naturalistic settings (i.e., fraternity parties). Results from Study 1 suggest a weak relationship between self-reported anxiety levels and BAC. Study 2 was based on Burke and Stephen's (1999) proposed social cognitive model in which alcohol expectancies and drink-refusal self-efficacy act as moderators of the relationship between dispositional social anxiety and alcohol consumption. Analyses (n=86) did not support a relationship between social anxiety and alcohol use, nor the moderating effects of alcohol expectancies and drink-refusal self-efficacy. Implications for this type of research and possible future directions are discussed. / Master of Science

Over the past two decades, cigarette smoking has decreased among teenagers and young adults, but nicotine vaping has increased dramatically. Liquid vape products contain harmful chemicals ingested when vapor is inhaled, and vaping is associated with lung damage and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There has been relatively little research on nicotine vaping and effective prevention and intervention methods have yet to be developed. Changing expectancy processes has been successful in preventing early alcohol use and cigarette smoking, but little is known about nicotine vaping expectancies. An appropriately developed nicotine vaping expectancy measure is necessary to better understand vaping behavior and to provide a foundation for the development of effective prevention and intervention methods. In the present study, the Nicotine Vaping Expectancy Questionnaire (NVEQ) was developed using items collected from 8th graders, 12th graders, and college students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and Rash analysis were used to select items and create subscales. The NVEQ was found to have good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been the third leading cause of death in Puerto Rico (PR) since 1989. According to the PR Diabetes Center for Data Management, the prevalence of complications associated with diabetes in PR include: ischemic heart disease, renal failure and cerebro-vascular events, among others. Although physical activity has been identified as an integral part of preventing diabetes disease and complications in people already diagnosed, only 32.6% of the population engages in 30 minutes of moderate physical activity daily.The purpose of this descriptive-correlational study was to explore physical activity self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies (perceived physical activity benefits and barriers) as possible factors that affect physical activity level in Puerto Rican adults diagnosed with type 2 DM. The guiding theoretical foundation was Self-efficacy-Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). An exploratory data analysis was conducted to determine the effects of socio-demographic variables on the principal variables. The contribution of socio-demographic factors, body mass index and the medical diagnosis to the prediction of principal variables were also explored.A sample of 110 Puerto Rican men and women between 40-60 years of age, with a mean of 52.2 years were recruited from four settings. Data was collected through a Demographic Data Questionnaire, Exercise Self-efficacy Scale, Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale and International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Qualitative data were gathered to identify additional benefits and barriers that were not included in the questionnaire.The median for the moderate to vigorous physical activity reported by the sample was 82.5 minutes per week. The relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and physical activity was significant but moderate (rs=.32, p = .001). No significant association was observed between perceived benefits and physical activity (rs =.09, p = .38). Also, no significant association was observed between perceived barriers and physical activity level (rs = -.17, p = .07). The correlation between self-efficacy beliefs and perceived benefits was significant and moderate (rs = .46, p < .001). The correlation between self-efficacy beliefs and perceived barriers was significant, moderate and negative (r= -.40, p <.001). Self-efficacy was the only significant predictor of physical activity.The low physical activity and the high rate of overweight and obesity are significant risk factors for the development of chronic complications and low quality of life that threaten Puerto Rican adults with type 2 DM. Physical activity is an essential component of a healthy life-style and important to achieve a better self-management of diabetes disease. Self-efficacy had relevance to the enhancement of physical activity in this population. The research findings support the importance of SCT in both nursing research and practice. SCT is important in future research because, as exemplified in this study, it provides an approach to explain physical activity behavior. SCT is important for practice; because addressing principal variables of the theory can promote the development of innovative interventional programs for Puerto Rican adults with type 2 DM.

As relações entre pessoas e organizações podem ser baseadas em aprendizagem organizacional e, a partir das teorias sobre gestão do conhecimento, clima organizacional e expectativas, este estudo procurou analisar tais relações. Para cumprir com esse objetivo, foram identificados o grupo das pessoas mais motivadas por aprendizado e o grupo das organizações mais fortemente orientadas para promover desenvolvimento e aprendizagem. Buscou-se também saber se as características desses grupos podem ser consideradas diferenciadas quanto ao perfil das pessoas e das organizações. Do ponto de vista metodológico, foi realizada uma pesquisa descritiva com métodos estatísticos para processamento e análise quantitativa dos dados, que foram coletados por meio de dois formulários de pesquisa: 1) numa amostra de 124.635 empregados que atuam em 488 empresas brasileiras, foram identificados os indivíduos que privilegiam expectativas de aprendizado nas suas relações organizacionais, e 2) dentre essas empresas todas candidatas a um prêmio anual dado às de melhor clima organizacional , foram selecionadas aquelas que estabelecem relações de trabalho baseadas em aprendizagem com seus empregados. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, por um lado, o perfil que caracteriza o grupo de indivíduos é de: mulher, da geração Y (até 30 anos de idade), com até um ano de tempo de casa, com ensino superior incompleto, sem filhos, não-branco, no cargo de vendedor e com remuneração de até dois salários mínimos. Por outro lado, não foi possível identificar o perfil das organizações que mais satisfazem as expectativas de aprendizagem, pois foi apenas destacado que empresas públicas e com poucos locais de trabalho são características que não viabilizam ambiente mais propício para a aprendizagem. Dessa maneira, esperou-se contribuir para a evolução do tema da aprendizagem organizacional, que vem sendo tratado pela literatura de forma não específica, portanto, abrindo caminhos para futuros trabalhos nessa área. Como contribuição para os gestores de empresas, destaca-se que as organizações dependentes de conhecimento intensivo podem contar com o perfil do indivíduo mais adequado para seu quadro de empregados, facilitando a busca de profissionais pró-ativos na absorção de novos conhecimentos e que se desenvolveriam com mais facilidade, por, realmente, terem expectativas baseadas em aprendizagem. / Relationships between people and organizations can be based on organizational learning and, using knowledge management, organizational climate and expectancy theory as theoretical pillars, this study tried to analyze those relationships. To attain to this goal, two major groups were identified: the first is composed by people motivated to learn, and the second by organizations tightly oriented to foster development and learning. This work also tried to determine whether features of these groups can be considered differentiated according to people\'s and organizations\' profiles. The methodological approach included a descriptive research with Statistical methods to process and to quantitatively analyze data, which were collected in two research forms: 1) in a sample with 124,635 employees from 488 Brazilian companies, individuals that privilege learning expectancies in their relationship with the companies were identified, and 2) within the companies all candidates in an annual award granted to companies with the best organizational climate indexes , those that establish working relationships with their employees were also identified. According to results, on the one hand, the profile of an individual may be so described: woman, from the Y generation (up to 30 years old), up to one year in the company, incomplete undergraduation, no children, non-white, employed as a salesperson, and earning up to two minimum wages. On the other hand, results failed to show the profile of organizations that better fulfill learning expectancies. The main finding on organizations refers to the fact that public companies with few sites do not have a favorable environment to learn. Hence, this work tried to contribute to the organizational learning topic, which has been treated as a non-specific subject; as a result, several avenues for future researches in this area are being set. For practitioners, it is important to highlight that the intensive-learning dependent organizations may identify the most appropriate individual profile, and this facilitates the search for pro-active professionals seeking new knowledge. These professionals would find a more appropriate environment because they do have expectancies based on learning.