title: A beverage-specific measure of expectancies for malt liquor: development and initial testing.
abstract: Malt liquor (ML) is a unique, high alcohol content beverage marketed to encourage heavy drinking. We developed the Malt Liquor Expectancy Questionnaire (MLEQ), a beverage-specific measure of alcohol expectancies, and examined its association with typical weekly ML use, typical weekly alcohol use, and alcohol problems. Forty positive and 40 negative expectancy items were administered to a sample of 639 young adults who regularly consumed ML. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses led to the development of the 30-item MLEQ. The MLEQ consists of two positive (i.e., Social Facilitation and Enjoyment, Enhanced Sexuality) and two negative factors (i.e., Aggression and Negative Consequences; Impairment and Physical Symptoms) that possess good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity. The psychometrically sound MLEQ contributes to the limited research on beverage-specific expectancies and heavy drinking.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14214-8028, USA. lcollins@buffalo.edu
authors.forename: R Lorraine
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: Paula C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Vincent
authors.forename: Clara M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bradizza
authors.forename: Audrey J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Kubiak
authors.forename: Diana L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Falco
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000374:Aggression; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000523:psychology; D001515:Beer; D002648:Child; D003469:Culture; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012718:Set, Psychology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012932:Social Facilitation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult