title: Modifying alcohol expectancies of Hispanic children: examining the effects of expectancy-targeted, developmentally congruous prevention videos.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Children's expectations about the effects of alcohol consumption are known to predict the amount of alcohol they consume as adults. Previous research has used videotaped interventions to modify children's alcohol expectancies and found that puppet actors had the expected effect of decreasing children's positive alcohol expectancies, whereas adult actors did not. The current study sought to enhance the methods and outcomes of previous research by developing brief prevention videos that focus on pre-selected negative and sedating alcohol expectancies and include youth actors and age-relevant scenarios.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a 2 × 2 factorial design (actor's age [youth or adult] × scenario relevance [youth or adult]), we examined the alcohol expectancies of 183 Hispanic third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students (50% girls) in a public school setting. Expectancies were assessed before, immediately following the intervention, and 1 month later. The intervention consisted of four 8-minute videos based on beliefs associated with expectancies related to low alcohol consumption and a control group video about school bus safety.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Positive alcohol expectancies were significantly lower directly after the intervention than at baseline. At 1-month follow-up, this effect decreased but was still significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study adds to existing findings that expectancies can be modified in children, using interventions that are extremely brief, low-cost, and linked to research in children's cognitive and social development. In addition, it appears that children of different ages and genders respond differently to varying components of prevention media.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weinstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, The State University of NewYork, Binghamton, New York.
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lisman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, The State University of NewYork, Binghamton, New York.
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings; D011336:Probability; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*