Byron L. Zamboanga

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Verified

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• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor at University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Objective: Playing drinking games (DGs) is a common, socially-interactive risky drinking activity. During the pandemic, many students either returned home to live with their parents or remained on campus. Because DGs often require social interaction, playing DGs in-person can increase students' risk for COVID-19 exposure. Thus, we examined whether...

Gender-specific norms are learned, which can influence social norms, attitudes, and behaviors in specific situations. For example, men who conform to certain masculine norms/ideals may express their masculinity by drinking alcohol. Recent research examining the association between endorsement of alcohol-specific masculine norms and men’s risk for h...

Research shows the impact of cultural stressors (e.g. perceived discrimination, bicultural stressors, negative context of reception) on adolescents' psychosocial outcomes. Given the presence of multiple cultural stressors in many Hispanic adolescents' lives, it is essential to examine the (a) developmental sequencing of cultural stressors among rec...

Playing drinking games (DGs) in person during a pandemic is risky, given the contagious nature of viruses. We explored the number and nature of data-derived subgroups of students based on their demographics and reported levels of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) concerns/cognitions. We then examined differences across subgroups in DG participati...

Social anxiety symptoms may increase risk for heavy drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences during pregaming (drinking before a social event); efforts to identify malleable psychosocial risk factors are needed. This study examined cross-sectional relationships between social anxiety symptoms, pregaming behaviors, negative alcohol-related...

The goal of the current study is to examine the moderating role of public and altruistic prosocial behaviors on the associations between motivation/beliefs and alcohol use among college students. Data were collected as part of the Acculturation and Substance Use Research Team (ASURT) Study, and participants include 8040 college student drinkers (Ma...

Objectives: Our aim was to identify the influence of heritage cultural factors and mainstream Australian cultural norms on young culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) immigrants’ alcohol and other drug (AOD) use attitudes, motives for use, and behaviors. Method: We conducted nine focus groups with 55 youth (aged 16–30; 22 female, 33 male). P...

Objective: Underage drinking disengagement (UDD; cognitive restructuring/minimizing agency) measures attitudes about the acceptability and responsibility of drinking. We examined demographic correlates of UDD, as well as the moderating effects of legal drinking status on the association between UDD and drinking. Participants: College student dri...

The present study examines the extent to which culturally stressful experiences may predict impaired well-being, increased internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety), and increased externalizing problems (social aggression, physical aggression, and rule breaking) among a sample of Hispanic college students in Miami across a 12-day period. The...

Aim Participating in a drinking game (DG) is common practice among university students and can increase students’ risk for heavy drinking. Given the theoretical link between motivations to drink and alcohol use, careful consideration should be given to students’ motivations to play DGs. In this study, we examined the factor structure, internal cons...

Undergraduates with higher levels of social anxiety may be motivated to participate in high-risk drinking events (e.g., playing drinking games [DG]) as a way to “fit in” or facilitate socialization with peers), putting them at an elevated risk of experiencing alcohol-related negative consequences (e.g., blacking out). The present study sought to te...

Background: Many university students pregame or drink before a social event. Pregaming carries some risk due to its link to heavy drinking. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was limited access to many drinking venues (e.g., bars/clubs). Moreover, universities shifted to a virtual format and imposed restrictions on in-person gatherings resulting i...

Objective: A drinking game (DG) is a risky social drinking activity that is prevalent among university students and promotes rapid alcohol consumption. We examined university students' DG behaviors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Students (N = 368; Mage=21.12; women = 72.6%; Hispanic = 44.7%) from seven universities completed an on...

Objective: Among college students, student-athletes are at increased risk for heavy alcohol consumption, participation in risky drinking practices (e.g., playing drinking games [DG]), and adverse alcohol-related consequences relative to non-student-athletes. Within the student-athlete population, level of sports participation (e.g., recreational o...

The present study examines the extent to which culturally stressful experiences may predict impaired well-being, increased internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety), and increased externalizing problems (social aggression, physical aggression, and rule breaking) among a sample of Hispanic college students in Miami, across a 12-day period. The...

Qualitative work suggests that young people’s motives for playing drinking games (DGs) extend beyond those assessed in the Motives for Playing Drinking Games (MPDG) measure. Using a mixed-methods approach, we tested whether the 7-factor model of the MPDG would emerge among university students from Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina, and whether...

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep disturbances, and problematic alcohol use are frequently comorbid. Research shows that individuals with more PTSD symptom severity and poorer sleep are highly susceptible to drinking alcohol to cope with negative affect. The current study examined the number and nature of different subgroups o...

The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have only recently begun to be explored. Among college students, who were faced with sudden and unprecedented changes and challenges, it is likely that COVID-19 detrimentally impacted the establishment of a sense of self, a key developmental task of the college years. However, no research has examined...

Participation in sports can increase young adults’ risk for heavy alcohol use and related consequences. Among student-athletes, more men report heavy drinking than women. These gender differences may reflect men’s expression of masculinity which can encompass excessive consumption. While a growing body of research indicates that general masculine n...

Background: Pregaming, or drinking before going out, is a commonly practiced risky behavior. Drinking motives are well-established predictors of alcohol use and negative alcohol consequences. Given the influence of context on drinking practices, motives specific to pregaming may affect pregaming behaviors and outcomes above and beyond general drin...

Objective: We examined the role of personal identity vis-à-vis COVID-related outcomes among college students from seven U.S. campuses during spring/summer 2021. Participants: The present sample consisted of 1,688 students (74.5% female, age range 18-29). The sample was ethnically diverse, and 57.3% were first-generation students. Procedures: Studen...

Objective To adapt an existing measure of underage drinking disengagement among adolescents for use with university students and establish convergent validity. Method University students who drank or used a substance in the past month (n = 893) from 12 U.S. universities (Mage=19.48, age range 18–25; White = 74.1%; Female = 68.1%) completed an onli...

Predrinking and drinking games (DGs) are common risky drinking practices among adolescents and young adults in many different countries around the world. However, most studies on these behaviors have been conducted with university student samples in a limited number of countries. Despite the risks of negative alcohol-related consequences associated...

Explored the experiences of public university students (N = 1,573) in five domains (e.g., mental health, remote learning) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether these experiences differed as a function of college generation status. Mental health challenges were observed, with first-generation students reporting higher depressio...

Background: Most research on drinking games (DG) behaviors and cognitions has been conducted among university students from the United States. Understanding why DGs are played, consequences and protective behavioral strategies (PBS) to reduce negative consequences is needed among Australian students. Objectives: In Australia, five focus groups (n=3...

Introduction: The Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised Short Form (DMQ-R-SF) is widely used among alcohol researchers studying adolescents and young adults. The psychometric properties of the DMQ-R-SF have been examined among university students in many countries, but to our knowledge, not in Australia, New Zealand or Argentina. We sought to exa...

A drinking game (DG) is a widely practiced social activity that tends to encourage rapid alcohol consumption. While social restrictions during the pandemic (COVID-19) academic year were implemented as a health measure across many colleges/universities, the extent to which college student drinkers continued to play DGs in-person is not well understo...

Background The present study evaluated the two-factor structure of the Protective Behavioral Strategies for Marijuana Scale (PBSM-SF) Short-Form, a 13-item measure of harm reduction behaviors related to cannabis use. Additionally, the PBSM was evaluated for measurement invariance based on sex and state cannabis legalization status. Method Particip...

College students have shown elevated mental distress during the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). The extent and persistence of mental distress as COVID-19 restrictions have continued is unclear. This study used latent profile analysis to identify student mental health risk subgroups and to evaluate subgroups in relation with substance use. A...

Prepartying, or drinking prior to going out, and playing drinking games (DG) can increase young adults' risk of heavy alcohol consumption. In the present study, we examined whether playing DG as a typical form of prepartying can increase alcohol consumption risk when compared with prepartying alone or with friends, and whether the type of DG played...

Objective: Research indicates that college student-athletes report more alcohol use and negative drinking consequences than non-student-athletes. One drinking practice that has been linked to heavy alcohol use and related consequences is playing drinking games. In the present study, we investigated which segment of the student-athlete population i...

College male alcohol use continues to be a topic of interest due to its prevalence and the nature of consequences reported by this group. Research concerned with prevention and intervention efforts has focused on alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBS) and the subtypes (i.e., manner of drinking, stopping/limiting drinking, and serious harm r...

Background Playing drinking games is associated with increased alcohol consumption and negative consequences. Using protective behavioral strategies while playing drinking games (e.g. alternating alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks) may reduce consumption and consequences. We hypothesized that an injunctive norms intervention, conveying peer approval...

Although prior studies have indicated athletic identity plays a role in alcohol use among college athletes, this research has largely drawn on a unidimensional conceptualization. Addressing this gap, the current study utilized a sample of 8,550 university athletes (Mage = 19.70 years, SD = 1.33, 50.8% men) from 203 U.S. post-secondary institutions...

Background The Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ) was designed to measure alcohol consequences and identify at-risk students. It was developed and originally validated among university students in the United States (U.S.), yet it is widely used in both the U.S. and abroad. Using the alignment method, we tested whether th...

Objective: Athletic involvement is linked to increased risk for heavy alcohol use among college students. We examined whether student-athletes from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds differ with respect to heavy drinking and related consequences. Method: Participants were 15,135 student-athlete drinkers (50.7% female) from 170 NCAA member instituti...

Although there is a substantial body of work focusing on the processes underlying cultural identity in general, less is known regarding how these processes might operate within the context of Latinx families. Moreover, among the limited research that has included the adolescent and caregiver cultural identity, most of the research has primarily foc...

Objective: Research suggests that it is common for emerging adults in the U.S. and other countries to participate in a drinking game (DG). Playing DGs is associated with greater alcohol consumption and increased risk for experiencing alcohol-related harms. Gender differences in emerging adults' DG behavior and negative alcohol-related consequences...

Aims The limited existing research on drinking games and predrinking among university students in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand suggests that participation in these risky drinking practices is relatively widespread among this population. Drinking norms and alcohol use can vary across countries and in different regions of the globe....

Adolescents form perceptions of why their parents and friends drink alcohol that may impact adolescents’ own drinking motives. This study tested whether perceived drinking motives of parents and friends are associated with adolescents’ own drinking motives. Participants included community-recruited adolescents 14–17 years (N = 105; 63.8% female) wh...

Background: Research suggests that adolescent student-athletes are at heightened risk for alcohol consumption. The identification of unique, modifiable risk factors for alcohol use in this population is needed. Purpose/Objectives: Building on previous work highlighting the importance of each of athlete-specific drinking motives and alcohol expectan...

Background Negative Urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly during negative emotional states, is associated with alcohol misuse through various alcohol cognitions; however, these relationships are often examined in isolation and exclude certain alcohol cognitions. Objective: This study simultaneously modeled NU’s association with alcohol-related p...

Hispanic college students at the U.S.–Mexico border are at higher risk for alcohol use and negative drinking consequences relative to their counterparts in non-border areas. Hispanic students at the U.S.–Mexico border (N = 219, M age = 20.14; 71.2% women) completed an online survey. U.S. orientation was negatively associated with alcohol consumptio...

Hispanic college students at the U.S.-Mexico border are at higher risk for alcohol use and negative drinking consequences, relative to their counterparts in non-border areas. Hispanic students at the U.S.-Mexico border (N=219, Mage =20.14; 71.2% women) completed an online survey. U.S. orientation was negatively associated with alcohol consumption....

Los latinxamericanos nacidos en los Estados Unidos corren un mayor riesgo de consumo y abuso de alcohol que sus compatriotas nacidos en el extranjero (i.e., la paradoja de inmigrantes en el uso de alcohol). Para comprender este fenómeno, realizamos un estudio cualitativo con adultos mexicoamericanos de la comunidad para explorar sus perspectivas so...

Native-born Latinx Americans are at greater risk for alcohol use and misuse than their foreign-born peers (i.e., the alcohol immigrant paradox). To understand this phenomenon, we conducted a qualitative study with Mexican American adults in the community to explore their perspectives on reasons that may explain the alcohol immigrant paradox. Commun...

The risk for alcohol misuse among emerging adults can increase by the development of a maladaptive identity structure. Recent research has shown that drinking identity serves as a risk factor for hazardous drinking. Despite this, existing measures have largely relied on unidimensional conceptualizations of drinking identity. Addressing this gap,the...

Objective This study aimed to (1) examine respective associations of acculturation orientations (e.g., U.S. orientation and Hispanic orientation) and domains (e.g., social groundedness and role repertoire) of bicultural self-efficacy, the perceived confidence to function effectively within the receiving culture and the heritage culture, with alcoho...

Background: Moderating effects of alcohol outcome expectancies (AOE) on the social anxiety (SA)-alcohol misuse relationship are mixed. This may be explained by differential relationships between SA and context-specific AOE. Gender may further moderate these associations, as it influences SA, AOE, and drinking behaviors. Objectives: To examine the m...

Background: The Acculturative Process and Context Framework (Ward & Geeraert, 2016) proposes that acculturative stressors influence psychological well-being over time. In fact, extant literature has linked bicultural stress with psychological functioning; yet, no studies have explored the causal dominance of bicultural stress. The purpose of the p...

College student alcohol use and related consequences continue to warrant significant concern. Extant research demonstrates protective behavioral strategies (PBS; self-regulatory strategies that can be employed before, during, or after drinking to prevent intoxication or negative consequences) have promise for preventative interventions. Variations...

Many people from immigrant backgrounds experience intercultural contact and adjustment. Acculturation and enculturation can affect people’s worldviews, including distinct societal scripts on culturally sanctioned behaviors in any given society. In turn, the integration of these cultural scripts can influence people’s behaviors, such as engaging in...

A robust literature suggests men typically engage in more general and heavy alcohol use than women, and that many health disparities related to drinking are more prevalent among Latino men as compared to non-Latino White men. Researchers posit that adherence to masculine gender role scripts may be one reason men choose to drink alcohol. To date, re...

A robust literature suggests men typically engage in more general and heavy alcohol use than women, and that many health disparities related to drinking are more prevalent among Latino men compared with non-Latino White men. Researchers posit that adherence to masculine gender role scripts may be one reason men choose to drink alcohol. To date, res...

Objectives Prior research documents a protective role for parental monitoring and religiosity against adolescents’ hazardous alcohol use, whereas impulsivity tends to function as a risk factor. Alcohol outcome expectancies and valuations may help explain the ways risk and protective factors are associated with adolescents’ hazardous drinking. We th...

Although personal identity development has been conceptualized as a source of psychological stability and protective against depressive symptoms among Hispanic immigrants, there remains ambiguity regarding the directional relationship between identity development and depression. To address this limitation, the current study sought to establish dire...

Drinking game (DG) participation among young adults is widespread. Because heavy alcohol consumption is commonly associated with playing DGs, this activity presents a health risk for those who play. In the present study, we explored the most common negative DG consequences experienced by young adults and how DG consequences differed by gender and c...

Using a relational efficacy framework, we examined the advisory working alliance and its associations with research self-efficacy among clinical and counseling psychology PhD students. Moreover, we examined whether the association between the advisory working alliance was indirectly associated with research self-efficacy by way of relation-inferred...

The purpose of this study was to assess measurement equivalence of the 15-item Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS) across White and Black college students. Results partially supported measurement equivalence across racial groups. Clinicians and researchers should be cautious in using the PBSS to make comparisons between White and Black st...

Alcohol is considered an integral part of the college life; students who hold stronger college alcohol beliefs typically consume more alcohol and experience more negative drinking consequences. Asian Americans are increasingly at risk for hazardous alcohol use, yet little research has focused on whether college alcohol beliefs are conceptualized si...

Alcohol is considered an integral part of the college life; students who hold stronger college alcohol beliefs typically consume more alcohol and experience more negative drinking consequences. Asian Americans are increasingly at risk for hazardous alcohol use, yet little research has focused on whether college alcohol beliefs are conceptualized si...

Research indicates alcohol use among Latinas/os occurs within a gendered context. Scholars surmise this is due to traditional gender roles (TGRs) of Latina/o culture, but without an analysis of the literature these assertions are unclear. Thus, this article provides a narrative review of the extant TGRs and alcohol use literature among Latinas/os....

Alcohol outcome expectancies (i.e., expectancies) are important predictors of drinking that may vary according to drinking context. However, links between context-specific expectancies, drinking behavior, and hazardous alcohol use remain unexplored. To address this gap, we examined how context-specific expectancy subtypes were associated directly a...

Rationale: Student-athletes are at risk for engaging in drinking games and pregaming. Research suggests that brief motivational and alcohol education intervention approaches designed to reduce harmful drinking behaviors may not be effective in lowering students' participation in drinking games or pregaming. Method: We evaluated the effects of my...

There is a growing recognition for the need for research to explore the unique and interactive effects of acculturation and sociocultural stress on alcohol initiation. Building on this research agenda, the current study sought to explore the independent and interactive effects of acculturation (i.e., heritage and U.S. cultural practices and identif...

Hazardous alcohol use is associated with deleterious health effects and social consequences, reduced work productivity, and increased medical and criminal justice expenditures. Research has consistently shown not only ethnic differences in prevalence rates of drinking behaviors and alcohol use disorders but also negative alcohol-related consequence...

We examined two conceptualizations of bicultural identity – the Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) framework (cultural identity blendedness-distance and harmony-conflict) and cultural hybridizing and alternating (mixing one’s two cultural identities and/or switching between them). Utilizing data from a 12-day diary study with 873 Hispanic colleg...

Relations among gender, ethnicity, athlete seasonal status, alcohol consumption, and protective behavioral strategies were examined among student-athletes. The national sample (N = 670, Mage = 18.90) included Black (n = 199), Hispanic (n = 236), and White (n = 235) college student-athletes who use alcohol. There were significant gender and ethnic d...

Although studies have explored how cultural identity impacts young people’s daily lives, these studies have exclusively focused on daily variability in cultural identity salience, overlooking daily variability in the underlying developmental processes. In the present study, we used a 12-day daily assessment conducted with 873 Hispanic college stude...

Drinking games (DGs) participation is prevalent among college-attending emerging adults. Research also suggests that student-athletes play DGs more frequently than non student-athletes, but what motivates student-athletes to participate in DGs is not well understood. Using data from a larger longitudinal study with Division III female athletes, we...

Introduction: The relationship of social anxiety with alcohol use/problems has been examined among college student samples, but the relevance of findings to drinking game (DG) consumption/gaming consequences is not well understood due to a paucity of research. Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 224 Australian university students aged 18-25 yea...

Acculturation has been studied as one key sociocultural determinant that helps explain ethnic disparities in alcohol use outcomes among Hispanic Americans. Primary studies and other systematic reviews have found between‐study inconsistencies regarding the extent to which acculturation is associated with alcohol use outcomes among Hispanic Americans...

Acculturation consists of multiple domains (i.e., cultural practices, identifications, and values). However, less is known about how acculturation processes influence each other across multiple domains of acculturation. The present study was designed to investigate transition patterns of acculturative processes within and across domains in a sample...

Caffeine is the most widely available and consumed psychoactive substance in the United States. Extant work indicates that across substances, use expectancies play a marked role in the development and maintenance of consumption patterns. Despite a burgeoning line of etiological and intervention-oriented research focused on expectancies (e.g., alcoh...

Drinking motives have been theorized as “the final common pathway” to alcohol use, and have been found to be associated with certain drinking patterns and related outcomes. Given the importance of the context in which people drink, researchers have also begun to pay close attention to motives that are specific to participation in a drinking game. T...

Background Pregaming is a common, high‐risk drinking activity among college students that has been largely unchangeable despite targeted intervention approaches. Therefore, identifying profiles of pregamers could enhance understanding of the risks associated with this practice and inform intervention development. Methods This study identified subt...

Acculturative stress and alcohol-related cognitions have been examined as determinants of hazardous alcohol use among college students from immigrant backgrounds. Yet it remains unclear how multiple dimensions of religiousness and acculturation affect the associations among acculturative stress, alcohol-related cognitions, and hazardous alcohol use...

The social and political climate regarding marijuana use has been changing in the US over the past decade. Research suggests that many adolescents report relatively easy access to marijuana and perceptions that recreational use involves minimal harm despite a growing body of research implicating the deleterious effects of use on cognitive and psych...

Among ethnic minority groups, Latina/o emerging adults are most likely to engage in pregaming, a risky drinking practice. This study examined how U.S. acculturation and enculturation are associated with pregaming and the extent to which gender moderates this relation in a sample of 312 Latina/o emerging adults (18 – 25 years of age). Results indica...

Acculturation has been considered a key sociocultural factor that helps explain Asian American’s mental health outcomes, including alcohol use. Yet, findings on the degree to which acculturation is directly linked to alcohol use have been mixed. The present meta-analysis reviewed original studies published since 1979, and tested the association bet...

Ethnic identity formation is a central developmental task that can become challenging when adolescents face a salient stressor, such as ethnic discrimination. Although ethnic identity and experiences with ethnic discrimination are thought to be associated, the temporal order of these constructs is unclear. In the current study, we examined (1) the...

Mentoring during graduate training confers a multitude of benefits. However, despite these benefits, health service psychology subfields (e.g., counseling/clinical psychology) could benefit from additional attention to mentoring and associated outcomes. Although the field of health service psychology has examined advising during graduate training,...

The goal of this investigation was to determine whether various cultural stressors (bicultural stress, perceived discrimination, and perceived negative context of reception [PNCR]) predict positive and negative substance use attitudes, directly and indirectly through personal identity, in a sample of immigrant Hispanic adolescents. Data on cultural...

This study examined longitudinal effects of adolescent and parent cultural stress on adolescent and parent emotional well-being and health behaviors via trajectories of adolescent and parent family functioning. Recent immigrant Latino adolescents (Mage = 14.51) and parents (Mage = 41.09; N = 302) completed measures of these constructs. Latent growt...

Presentation of the highlights of a narrative review concerning masculinity and alcohol use. Project synthesizes both qualitative and quantitative findings.

Researchers have demonstrated mixed associations between acculturative stress and prosocial behaviors (actions intended to benefit others) among Latino/a adolescents and emerging adults. The current study aimed to examine the relations between acculturative stress and Latino/a young adults’ prosocial behaviors via familism values and emotion reappr...

This study was part of a symposium presentation on acculturation and alcohol use among Latina/os. Using pilot data for a current project, this study examined the potential mediating role of marianismo in the relationship between general acculturation and alcohol use (i.e., general quantity of consumption and heavy drinking). Citation for symposium:...

Research on acculturation and alcohol use has yielded mixed findings. Studies have indicated that stresses associated with acculturation—acculturative stress—have been shown to predict greater alcohol (mis)use, but little is known about whether acculturation and acculturative stress uniquely relate to alcohol use outcomes and how they may interact...