The relationships between alcohol use, trait aggression, and the alcohol-aggression outcome expectancy in male students

Variations in aggression after drinking are attributable to a range of factors, one of which is the alcohol-aggression outcome expectancy. The contribution of the alcohol-aggression outcome expectancy in explaining actual alcohol-related aggression is a topic of some debate. Investigation of the effects of the alcohol-aggression outcome expectancy on actual aggression depends upon adequate measurement of the construct. This study aims to examine the relative contribution of alcohol use and dispositional aggressiveness to the alcohol-aggression outcome expectancy as measured by the Alcohol-Related Aggression Questionnaire-Alcohol Aggression scale (ARAQ-AA) to advance our knowledge about the construct validity of the ARAQ. The hypotheses were that drinking and dispositional aggressiveness would both predict ARAQ-AA, but that AQ would be the stronger predictor, and that an interaction between drinking and aggressiveness would be the strongest predictor of ARAQ-AA. Participants were 122 male students who completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), and the ARAQ-AA. The AUDIT and the AQ both significantly predicted ARAQ-AA and the AQ was the stronger predictor. The interaction between AUDIT and AQ scores was as good a predictor as AQ alone, but no better. These results support the hypotheses and also accord with others' findings; therefore, it is likely that the ARAQ-AA is a valid measure of the alcohol-aggression outcome expectancy. The ARAQ-AA may be of value in studying the impact of the alcohol-aggression outcome expectancy on actual aggression and violence.