Development and initial validation of the Worry-Reduction Alcohol Expectancy Scale

Abstract Recent research on the relation between generalized anxiety and heavy drinking highlighted a need for a measure of worry-reduction alcohol expectancies. The current study aimed to develop and to assess the psychometric properties of the Worry-Reduction Alcohol Expectancy Scale. The development and initial validation of the WRAES occurred across two phases with two separate non-clinical undergraduate samples. Phase I was focused on scale construction and item selection, while Phase II included an assessment of the WRAES' reliability, validity and cross-validation of factor structure. Results from both study phases support a two-factor model. Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was .96 and Pearson r test–retest reliability was .75. Additionally, the mean correlation between the WRAES and convergent measures was significantly higher than the mean correlation between the WRAES and discriminant measures. Overall, the results provide initial support for the WRAES as a measure of worry-reduction alcohol expectancies.