Faculty Collaboration Database

Resolving an identity crisis: Implicit drinking identity and implicit alcohol identity are related but not the same. Addict Behav 2017 Sep;72:41-44

Date

04/04/2017

Pubmed ID

28366723

Pubmed Central ID

PMC5490364

DOI

10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.03.014

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85016419396 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   9 Citations

Abstract

Two variations of the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the Drinking Identity IAT and the Alcohol Identity IAT, assess implicit associations held in memory between one's identity and alcohol-related constructs. Both have been shown to predict numerous drinking outcomes, but these IATs have never been directly compared to one another. The purpose of this study was to compare these IATs and evaluate their incremental predictive validity. US undergraduate students (N=64, 50% female, mean age=21.98years) completed the Drinking Identity IAT, the Alcohol Identity IAT, an explicit measure of drinking identity, as well as measures of typical alcohol consumption and hazardous drinking. When evaluated in separate regression models that controlled for explicit drinking identity, results indicated that the Drinking Identity IAT and the Alcohol Identity IAT were significant, positive predictors of typical alcohol consumption, and that the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, was a significant predictor of hazardous drinking. When evaluated in the same regression models, the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, was significantly associated with typical and hazardous drinking. These results suggest that the Drinking Identity IAT and Alcohol Identity IAT are related but not redundant. Moreover, given that the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, incrementally predicted variance in drinking outcomes, identification with drinking behavior and social groups, as opposed to identification with alcohol itself, may be an especially strong predictor of drinking outcomes.

Author List

Ramirez JJ, Olin CC, Lindgren KP

Author

Cecilia C. Olin PhD, MS Assistant Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Alcohol Drinking
Female
Humans
Identity Crisis
Male
Northwestern United States
Students
Surveys and Questionnaires
Word Association Tests