“I like to be different from how I normally am”: Heavy alcohol consumption among female Spanish adolescents and the unsettling of traditional gender norms

Abstract

Public debate on the consumption of alcohol by adolescents has grown over recent years. It has intensified in Spain after epidemiological reports of a significant increase in alcohol consumption among adolescent girls. We designed this study to gain insights into this new trend from a gender perspective. The objective was to understand the meanings and motivations attributed to alcohol consumption by female adolescents. A qualitative study was undertaken with 96 female and male adolescents aged between 14 and 17 years, using focus groups and in-depth individual interviews. The analysis presented in this paper is based largely on the female sample. We subjected their narratives to summative content analysis. The results show how the attributed meanings of disinhibition and having a good time may be contributing to the generation of new expectations and demands in relation to codes of femininity and breaks with the gender system. We discuss the results in terms of the implications for preventive interventions with a gender perspective.

Keywords:

• Alcohol
• adolescents
• gender
• gender identity
• qualitative study
• Spain

Declaration of interest

None declared.

Additional information

Funding

The data presented are framed in the Investigation “Género, vulnerabilidad y prácticas de riesgo en el consumo de alcohol en menores”, financed by the Spanish Ministry of Health Social Services and Equality through the Government Delegation for the National Drug Plan (PNSD) in the drug dependency research call of 2013 [Reference number 20131042].