Abstract:
Binge drinking involves the consumption of 4 drinks by a woman or 5 drinks by a man in the course of about two hours. Could inducing anticipated regret-imagining wishing that one had decided to act differently-reduce binge drinking among university students? Undergraduate participants (N = 241) were randomly assigned to complete a measure at Time 1 that either did or did not include items assessing anticipated regret (AR) for not avoiding binge drinking. One month later, at Time 2, participants reported on their binge-drinking activity over the previous month. Contrary to predictions, Time 1 results indicated that participants exposed to the AR items reported significantly weaker intentions to avoid binge drinking. Self-reported binge drinking levels at Time 2 did not differ significantly between conditions. Results suggest caution in designing AR interventions to reduce binge drinking.
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Erika Koch, Ph.D.
