Relations Between Exceeding Planned Intoxication, Alcohol Consequences, and Next-Event Drinking Plans and Behavior

Behavioral intentions are strong determinants of behavior and are one of the strongest predictors of acute drinking behavior in naturalistic settings. Exceeding one’s intentions for intoxication has been considered an event-level method of studying impaired control over alcohol use. While we know that event-level impaired control is associated with negative outcomes, little is known regarding if/how experiencing impaired control informs drinking cognitions and behaviors during subsequent use episodes. One possibility may be that, if an individual exceeds their intended intoxication levels during a given use episode, then they adapt their intentions during the next episode, increasing their intended intoxication and therefore increasing heaviness of subsequent drinking as a result. However, another possibility may be that individuals self-correct their intentions in the future (i.e., decreasing their intended intoxication) and therefore drink less alcohol. However, such event-to-event relation may be dependent upon consequences experienced when exceeding one’s intoxication. That is, if individuals experience positive consequences when they exceed their intended intoxication, then they may be more likely to increase their subsequent intoxication intentions to meet prior-event intoxication levels that led to appetitive outcomes. On the contrary, if individuals experience negative consequences when they exceed their intended intoxication, then they may be more likely to decrease their subsequent intoxication intentions to compensate for prior aversive outcomes. The current study seeks to fill the gap in our knowledge regarding how exceeding intended intoxication levels and experiencing alcohol consequences impacts next-event intentions and behavior.