Main description:

This Handbook provides a broad and comprehensive overview of psychological research on alcohol consumption. It explores the psychological theories underpinning alcohol use and misuse, discusses the interventions that can be designed around these theories, and offers key insight into future developments within the field.

A range of international experts assess the unique factors that contribute to alcohol-related behaviour as differentiated from other health-related behaviours. They cover the theory and context of alcohol consumption, including possible implications of personality type, motivation and self-regulation, and cultural and demographic factors. After reviewing the evidence for psychological theories and predictors as accounts for alcohol consumption, the book goes on to focus on external influences on consumption and interventions for reducing alcohol consumption, including those based on purchasing and consumption behaviour, technologies such as personalised feedback apps, and social and media phenomena such as "Dry January" and "Hello Sunday Morning". It brings together cutting-edge contemporary research on alcohol consumption in childhood and adolescence, including topics such as managing offers or drinks, "pre-drinking", online identities, how children develop their beliefs about alcohol and how adolescents discuss alcohol with their parents. The book also offers a rounded presentation of the tensions involved in debates around the psychological impacts of alcohol use, discussing its role in helping people to socialise and unwind; as well as recognising the possible negative impacts on health, education and relationships.

This book will be of interest to academics, policymakers, public health officials, practitioners, charities and other stakeholders interested in understanding how alcohol affects people psychologically. This book will also be a key resource for students and researchers from across the social sciences.

Contents:

1.Psychological Perspectives on Alcohol Consumption Section I.Psychological Theories and Predictors 2.Psychological Theories of Alcohol Consumption 3.Drinking beyond intentions: The prototype willingness model and alcohol consumption 4.Psychological Predictors of Alcohol Consumption 5.Personality Traits and Alcohol Use and Misuse Section II .Social Contextual Factors 6.The Social Contexts of Alcohol Use 7.Cultural Differences in Alcohol Consumption: The State of the Art and New Perspectives on Drinking Culture Research 8.Alcohol Use and Problems at the Event Level: Theory, Methods, and Intervention 9.The Contextual Milieu of Alcohol Consumption 10.Altering Choice Architecture to Alter Drinking Behaviour: Evidence from Research on Lower Strength Alcohol Labelling and Glass Design Section III.Drinking Identities 11.Young Adults and Online Drinking Identities 12.Deconstructing the Alcohol-Sport Paradox: Why Do Student Athletes Misuse Alcohol and How Can We Change Behaviour? 13.Determinants and Effects of Pre-drinking 14.Strategies for Managing Alcohol Intake and Refusing Offers of Alcoholic Drinks Section IV.Developmental Trajectories for Alcohol Use 15.Alcohol-Related Cognitions among Children Aged 2-12:Where Do They Originate From and How Do They Develop? 16.Adolescent Perceptions of Alcohol Consumption: A Cultural Approach 17.Parental Communication About Alcohol Consumption 18.Adolescent Alcohol Use and Development: Layered Ecological Contexts and Agents for Change Section V.Interventions to Reduce Alcohol Consumption 19.Alcohol Labelling: Evidence for Product Information Interventions 20.Electronic Brief Personalised Feedback Interventions for Alcohol Use 21.Motivational and Self-Regulatory Interventions to Reduce Alcohol Consumption 22.Does Cognitive Bias Modification Reduce Alcohol Consumption? 23.Psychological Perspectives on Alcohol: Visions for the Future