Traditional feminine gender roles, alcohol use, and protective behavioral strategies among Latina college students

Abstract

Objective

Studies conducted with Latina/o populations suggest there are gendered norms surrounding drinking behavior, but research examining alcohol use among Latina college students in the context of traditional feminine gender role (TFGR) norms, is scarce.

Participants and Methods: 405 Latina undergraduates completed a web-based study of sociocultural factors and alcohol use. Path analyses assessed the relation between TFGR , alcohol use, and alcohol-related protective behavioral strategies (PBS).

Results

A dimension of TFGR characterized by purity was related to (a) reduced alcohol use in general, and (b) PBS designed to modify the manner of drinking among drinkers. In turn, this dimension of PBS related to a lower likelihood of experiencing drunkenness.

Conclusions

These findings support the notion that enacting some dimensions of TFGR among Latina college students may limit general alcohol use (directly) and high-risk drinking (indirectly through use of PBS), while enacting other dimensions may place Latinas at risk of alcohol misuse.

Keywords:

• Latina
• marianismo
• alcohol
• protective behavioral strategies
• gender roles

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Michael R. Baumann for his support during data collection, as well as Dr. Byron L. Zamboanga, Ms. Melissa M. Ertl, and Ms. Damaris Ibarra for their respective contributions to early phases of this project.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Additional information

Funding

Jessica K. Perrotte was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Number F31AA026477. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.