NCJ Number
190029
Journal
Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education Volume: 45 Issue: 3 Dated: Spring 2000 Pages: 47-56
Date Published
2000
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined how alcohol "expectancies" (beliefs about the effects of alcohol) of women were related to how they coped with a hypothetical male significant-other problem drinker.
Abstract
The study hypothesized that positive alcohol expectancies for drinking may be linked to more acceptance of problem drinking by significant others. Eighty college women (46 Mexican-Americans and 34 non-Hispanic whites) were recruited from introductory psychology classes to fulfill a course requirement. Over 90 percent were between the ages of 18 and 22, with the oldest being 32. Participants were administered the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire, which consisted of 90 items that dealt with 6 types of alcohol expectancies. They were also administered the Significant Other Coping Scale, a 24-item scale that used four-point ratings. The respondent was asked to answer each of the items in relation to how they would feel or act toward someone with whom they had a personal intimate relationship (boyfriend or husband) if the significant other had a drinking problem. The study found that women with higher positive alcohol expectancies were associated with lower tendencies to support the sobriety of the significant other. More active withdrawal from the drinker was less likely to be used in dealing with the significant other by women with higher positive alcohol expectancies. Punishment of the significant other for drinking was generally unrelated to most alcohol expectancies for both groups. The only area where ethnic differences appeared was in the tendency to withdraw from the significant other. For non-Hispanic white women, higher alcohol expectancies lessened the likelihood of this strategy; whereas, for Mexican-American women, there was no relationship between withdrawal from the significant other and their alcohol expectancies. 1 table and 19 references