Gender differences in alcohol beliefs and usual blood-alcohol concentration

The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate how males and females express alcohol-related beliefs differently, and (2) to assess, by gender, whether particular beliefs are associated with levels of blood-alcohol concentration. Fifty-nine male and 65 female high school students from a rural Michigan county were interviewed in the winter of 1995 and oral accounts of their beliefs about moderate and heavy drinking and their usual blood-alcohol concentration (per typical drinking episode) were obtained. Results indicate that most heavy-drinking males believe that alcohol makes them lose physical and emotional control but a few believe they are in control of their behavior regardless of heavy drinking. Females who abstain or are light drinkers believe heavy alcohol use will lead to negative consequences. Since many of the alcohol beliefs that indicate negative consequences can be interpreted as stereotypically male "acting out" behaviors, males tend to see these negative effects as less consequential than females. Thus, believing that drinking has negative effects is a predictor of a female's drinking status, but not of male drinking status.