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Adolescents’ Positive and Negative Affect and Relations With Alcohol Use: A Weekly Study

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Abstract

Drawing from a positive perspective on psychology, this study sheds light into the phenomena of alcohol abuse among adolescents. It aimed at understanding the patterns of positive and negative affect over a normal and full week of a group of adolescents that report using alcohol (users) and not using alcohol (non-users). 142 students attending secondary school (10th, 11th and 12th grades), 54.2 % females, age mean of 16,76 years old, participated in the study. Data was drawn making use of the Experience Sampling Method and a questionnaire for the evaluation of patterns of alcohol use. We aimed at studying the patterns of positive and negative affect of adolescents during a complete week of their lives. Results showed significant differences in positive and negative affect between weekdays versus weekend pointing to a weekend effect. Non-users show lower levels of negative affect over the weekend and higher levels of positive affect as compared to their user peers. No significant results were found between groups or days when considering the week as a whole. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of bringing about positive development trajectories and contribute to the development of healthier life-styles and preventive behaviours.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ruth T Naylor, MBA, PhD, for improving the use of English in the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Teresa Freire & João Gomes

  2. Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, University Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal

    Carla Fonte

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  1. Teresa Freire
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  2. João Gomes
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  3. Carla Fonte
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Correspondence to Teresa Freire.

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This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662/2013), University of Minho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653).

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Freire, T., Gomes, J. & Fonte, C. Adolescents’ Positive and Negative Affect and Relations With Alcohol Use: A Weekly Study. Child Ind Res 10, 525–543 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-016-9394-y

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