Relative importance of behavior-specific determinants of heavy episodic drinking among U.S. young adults

The study examined the relative importance of heavy episodic drinking (HED)-specific determinants on past 2-week HED status among White, Black, and Hispanic young adults. Analyzing data from the wave III binge sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, the study found that the relevance of HED-specific beliefs/expectancies, injunctive and descriptive norms, social images/prototypes, self-efficacy, and anticipatory emotions may vary within and across these construct domains, and by race and ethnicity. These findings highlight the need for alcohol prevention programs tailored by demographic characteristics such as race and ethnicity to enhance intervention effects. Larger-scale studies are necessary to confirm these results.