Spanish adaptation of the Expectancy Questionnaire (EQ) about alcohol effects in adolescents.

BACKGROUND Alcohol-related expectancies are especially relevant in relation to alcohol consumption during adolescence. The main aim of this study was to adapt and translate into Spanish (Castilian) the Expectancy Questionnaire (EQ), and to study its psychometric properties in adolescents. METHOD The sample was composed of 514 adolescents (57.20% female, mean age = 15.21; SD = .63) who completed the EQ and the alcohol consumption questionnaire AIS-UJI. RESULTS Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that an eight-factor model, grouped into two general factors of positive and negative expectancies, had acceptable fit indices. Cronbach's alphas ranged from .75 to .96. Finally, the structural equation model showed that positive expectancies were positively related to alcohol use, whereas negative expectancies were negatively related to drinking. CONCLUSIONS Results showed that the Spanish version of the EQ for adolescents is a valid and reliable questionnaire to measure expectancies about alcohol effects.