CHILDRENS BELIEFS ABOUT DRINKING

This paper reports the results of a study in which age (grade level), racial/ethnic, and gender differences in beliefs and perceived norms a bout drinking were examined in a multi-ethnic urban sample of 4th thro ugh 7th grade children. Results showed that older children held belief s and perceived norms that were more favorable toward drinking than yo unger children. The major difference between older and younger childre n lay in their differential estimates of the likelihood of certain con sequences occurring and not in their evaluation of these consequences of drinking. Further, older children not only displayed less motivatio n to comply with their parents and greater motivation to comply with t heir peers, but they also perceived their parents, as well as their pe ers, as less disapproving of drinking than did younger children. There were few gender or race/ethnicity differences at these ages in childr en's beliefs and perceived norms about drinking.