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Affiliation
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a Department of Psychology , Loyola Marymount University , Los Angeles , California , USA. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Prepartying, or drinking before an event where more alcohol may or may not be consumed, has been positioned in the literature as a behavior engaged in by heavy drinkers. However, recent findings suggest that prepartying may confer distinct risks, potentially causing students to become heavier drinkers over time.
OBJECTIVES: The goals of this study were to disentangle the longitudinal relationships between prepartying, general and episodic alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related consequences by investigating (1) whether prepartying is associated with future consequences above and beyond current alcohol consumption habits and (2) whether augmentations in approval for alcohol and related increases in drinking mediate this relationship.
METHODS: One-hundred and ninety-five undergraduates completed online questionnaires at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months later.
RESULTS: Prepartying frequency was more strongly related to alcohol-related consequences one year later than was overall or episodic drinking. In addition, a path mediation model confirmed our hypothesis that this relationship is due to gradual increases in drinking which occur as a result of more approving attitudes toward alcohol brought on by exposure to prepartying.
CONCLUSION/Importance: Findings suggest a new model for conceptualizing the relationship between prepartying, drinking, and consequences whereby students who get involved in prepartying may witness slow increases in their approval for alcohol use and, as a result, consumption. Importantly, results suggest that the increases in drinking displayed by prepartiers over the course of a year may account for the strong relationship between prepartying and later consequences. Prevention and intervention initiatives may benefit from directly targeting prepartying as a means of tempering risky alcohol use trajectories during one's college tenure.
Language: en |