The moderating effects of gender and ethnicity on the relationship betweeneffect expectancies and alcohol problems

Objective: Research has demonstrated that alcohol outcome expectancies mode rate the relationship between psychological states such as stress and negat ive affect and alcohol use. This study examined whether the relationship be tween expectancies and alcohol problems would be moderated by gender and et hnicity. Method: Using a household survey format, personal interviews were conducted with Puerto Rican and Irish American men and women. The final sam ple consisted of 412 (231 male) Puerto Ricans and 476 (252 male) Irish Amer icans. Alcohol expectancies were measured with the Effects of Drinking Alco hol Scale. All subjects resided in the New York metropolitan area. The orig inal study was designed to compare the drinking behaviors and alcohol-relat ed beliefs of groups with varied drinking practices and distinct drinking b eliefs. Results: Both gender and ethnicity moderated the links between aggr essive and self-control expectancies and drinking problems. For example, an ticipated loss of control from drinking was morenegatively related to Puert o Rican and female alcohol problems than it was to Irish and male problems. Conclusions: The present findings suggest that whether an outcome expectan cy is associated with more alcohol problems depends upon the particular mea ning of the outcome. This meaning, in turn, depends upon an individual's pa rticular sociocultural perspective which is associated with such personal c haracteristics as gender and ethnicity.