THE ROLE OF GENDER AND ACCULTURATION ON DETERMINING THE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AMONG MEXICAN-AMERICANS AND CENTRAL AMERICANS INTHE UNITED-STATES

This study analyzed the responses of 391 Mexican-Americans (44.9% male s) and 531 Central Americans (40.2% males) who were between 21 and 65 years of age and resided in San Francisco, California. In general, Mex ican-Americans were found to have a lower proportion of abstainers (56 .8%) than Central Americans (64.4%). Mexican-Americans reported drinki ng more often and in greater quantities than Central Americans, and th e proportion of ''high'' drinkers was higher among Mexican-American me n and women than among the Central American respondents. Despite this diversity in the topography of alcoholic beverage consumption between Mexican-Americans and Central Americans, the role of gender and accult uration on shaping those variables was fairly consistent across groups . The acculturation level of the respondents was found to significantl y affect the proportion of abstainers in both groups. Furthermore, gen der was an important determinant of frequency, total number of drinks, and volume of drinking for Mexican-Americans and for Central American s.