The Normative Underpinnings of Population-Level Alcohol Use: An Individual-Level Simulation Model.

ABSTRACT: Background. By defining what is "normal," appropriate, expected, and unacceptable, social norms shape human behavior. However, the individual-level mechanisms through which social norms impact population-level trends in health-relevant behaviors are not well understood. Aims. To test the ability of social norms mechanisms to predict changes in population-level drinking patterns. Method. An individual-level model was developed to simulate dynamic normative mechanisms and behavioral rules underlying drinking behavior over time. The model encompassed descriptive and injunctive drinking norms and their impact on frequency and quantity of alcohol use. A microsynthesis initialized in 1979 was used as a demographically representative synthetic U.S. population. Three experimen

SUBMITTER: Probst C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7069782 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature