Expectancies, metacognitive beliefs and alcohol consumption
Gabriele Caselli, Chiara Bortolai, Mauro Leoni, Francesco Rovetto, Marcantonio Spada
The expectancies from alcohol consumption refer to beliefs concerning the positive and negative
effects produced by alcohol. Some research has explored the role of these constructs in continuing
alcohol consumption but results remain unclear. More recent theories suggest that the absence of
a clear distinction between cognitive-social expectancies and metacognitive beliefs concerning the
effects of alcohol on regulating cognizance may be responsible for this ambiguity.
This study explores the association between cognitive-social and metacognitive beliefs concerning
alcohol consumption. A sample of inpatients with diagnosed problem drinking and participants
recruited from the general public were compared in relation to the presence or absence of the different
beliefs via a semi-structured interview based on the metacognitive profi le (Wells, 2000).
The results indicate that the two samples are signifi cantly differed regarding the frequency of
cognitive-social and metacognitive beliefs. In particular, the clinical sample has less negative cognitivesocial
expectancies in relation to health damage due to alcohol consumption, more frequent positive
metacognitive beliefs (relating to cognitive effi ciency, thought control, switching attention and losing
consciousness) and negative metacognitive beliefs concerning the loss of executive control over
cognizance and behaviour.
The clinical implications of these fi ndings are discussed.
Keywords
Alcohol consumption, metacognition, beliefs.
