Psychometric validation of the Positive Drinking Consequences Questionnaire in adolescents.

BACKGROUND: The Positive Drinking Consequences Questionnaire (PDCQ) was developed to measure positive consequences of alcohol use endorsed by college drinkers. Efforts to assess positive drinking consequences experienced by adolescents have been much more limited. The aim of the present study was to advance the psychometric testing and evaluation of the factor structure of the PDCQ in adolescents. METHODS: The current sample consisted of 173 adolescents at T1 (mean age = 15 years, range = 13-17; 61% female) who reported alcohol use in the past 12 months. Data were collected at two time points over a 12-month interval in the United States. Confirmatory factor analyses, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and discriminant, concurrent, predictive, and incremental validity were tested. RESULTS: Our analyses supported four factors of positive alcohol-related consequences: sociability, liquid courage, sexual enhancement, and tension reduction. Internal consistency was moderate to high (α = 0.78-0.94, ω = 0.86-0.91 at T1; α = 0.59-0.93, ω = 0.85-0.93 at T2). Test-retest reliability was fair to good (ICC = 0.46-0.55). The PDCQ total and subscale factor scores demonstrated discriminant validity from negative alcohol expectancy. PDCQ total and subscale factor scores were positively associated with current alcohol consumption (ρs = 0.19-0.50 at T1; ρs = 0.17-0.46 at T2), indicating concurrent validity. Predictive validity analyses showed that the overall PDCQ scale score and the sociability subscale positively predicted maximum drinks 1 year later (ρs = 0.18-0.22). However, the sexual enhancement subscale was negatively predictive of typical drinking frequency 1 year later. Finally, the PDCQ showed incremental validity for concurrent alcohol consumption beyond that for alcohol expectancies and drinking motives. CONCLUSION: The present findings support for the reliability and validity of PDCQ for use in adolescents where it may have utility as an assessment tool for characterizing various aspects of positive drinking.

Evaluation of Flavor Effects on Oral Nicotine Liking and/or Disliking Using the Taste Reactivity Test in Rats.

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco product flavors may change the sensory properties of nicotine, such as taste and olfactory cues, which may alter nicotine reward and aversion and nicotine taking behavior. The hedonic or aversive value of a taste stimulus can be evaluated by examining affective orofacial movements in rodents. AIMS AND METHODS: We characterized taste responses to various oral nicotine concentrations using the taste reactivity test in rats. We also evaluated the impact of menthol and benzaldehyde (cherry, almond) flavorants on both ingestive and aversive responses to oral nicotine. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 5-10 per sex per group) were implanted with intraoral catheters and received 20 infusions (200 µl/ea). Nicotine (1-100 µg/mL) was evaluated in taste reactivity test to determine taste responses to nicotine. Later, the effects of menthol (50 µg/mL) and benzaldehyde (100 µg/mL) on the taste responses to nicotine were determined. RESULTS: Nicotine at low concentrations (3 µg/mL in males, 1 µg/mL in females) elicited significantly greater ingestive responses compared with water, whereas higher nicotine concentrations (≥30 µg/mL in males, ≥10 µg/mL in females) elicited significant aversive reactions. Thus, intraoral nicotine induced both hedonic and aversive responses in a concentration- and sex-dependent manner. Females were more sensitive to nicotine's concentration. The addition of menthol or benzaldehyde significantly increased the hedonic responses to nicotine, and significantly decreased the aversive nicotine responses. CONCLUSIONS: Oral nicotine induces both hedonic and aversive taste responses, which may represent liking and disliking. Menthol and benzaldehyde can alter the orosensory experience of nicotine, which may influence nicotine's abuse liability. IMPLICATIONS: Our work represents a model to study impact of flavors on oral nicotine liking and disliking responses in rats. Moreover, our findings show that menthol and benzaldehyde alter the orosensory experience of nicotine, suggesting that both could influence nicotine's abuse liability.

Conceptualizing protective family context and its effect on substance use: Comparisons across diverse ethnic-racial youth.

Background: Although family behaviors are known to be important for buffering youth against substance use, research in this area often evaluates a particular type of family interaction and how it shapes adolescents' behaviors, when it is likely that youth experience the co-occurrence of multiple types of family behaviors that may be protective. Methods: The current study (N = 1716, 10th and 12th graders, 55% female) examined associations between protective family context, a latent variable comprised of five different measures of family behaviors, and past 12 months substance use: alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and e-cigarettes. Results: A multi-group measurement invariance assessment supported protective family context as a coherent latent construct with partial (metric) measurement invariance among Black, Latinx, and White youth. A multi-group path model indicated that protective family context was significantly associated with less substance use for all youth, but of varying magnitudes across ethnic-racial groups. Conclusion: These results emphasize the importance of evaluating psychometric properties of family-relevant latent variables on the basis of group membership in order to draw appropriate inferences on how such family variables relate to substance use among diverse samples.