Gender, styles of deviance, and drinking problems

The analyses reported here draw on recent work on gender and deviance to derive hypotheses concerning sex differences in drinking behavior, reactions of significant others to male and female intoxication, and the psychological consequences of drinking experiences. The hypotheses are evaluated in structural equation models with recent national data on drinking behavior and consequences. Consistent with the gendered deviance perspective, the results suggest that sex differences in style as well as frequency of intoxication mitigate the adverse consequences of female drinking commonly presumed on the basis of biological vulnerability or societal disapproval of female drunkenness. Compared to males, females become intoxicated less frequently and are less likely to abandon personal control while drinking (as indicated by aggression, blackouts, and rapid ingestion). As expected, these sex differences in drinking behavior are smaller among adolescents than among adults. Partly as a result of this different drinking style, significant others are no more likely to criticize girls or women for their drinking than they are to criticize boys or men. Two hypotheses concerning the greater psychological vulnerability of females to depression as a result of drinking or criticism of drinking by significant others are supported among youths but not among adults.