Editorial Board:
Editor:
George H. Conklin,
 Emeritus, North Carolina
 Central University

Robert Wortham,
 Associate Editor,
 North Carolina
 Central University

Board:
Rebecca Adams,
 UNC-Greensboro

Bob Davis,
 North Carolina
 Agricultural and
 Technical State
 University

Catherine Harris,
 Wake Forest
 University

Ella Keller,
 Fayetteville
 State University

Ken Land,
 Duke University

Steve McNamee,
 UNC-Wilmington

Miles Simpson,
 North Carolina
 Central University

William Smith,
 N.C. State University

Editorial Assistants

John W.M. Russell,
 Technical
 Consultant

® 

Volume 10, Number 1

Spring/Summer 2012
 

An Exploratory Study of Gender and Changes in Alcohol Consumption: 
A Qualitative Approach

by

Susan Bullers 

University of North Carolina Wilmington

Background

    One of the most consistent findings in alcohol research is that men drink more, and more often, than women and that women report higher rates of abstention from drinking than do men (Dawson et al. 1995; Fillmore et al. 1997; NIAAA 2009; Wilsnack et al. 2009).   Although these gender differences are found across virtually all US ethnic groups and cohorts, there is evidence of a convergence pattern in which the gender gap is gradually narrowing (McPherson et al. 2004; NIAAA 1994; NIAAA 2009; Wallace et al. 2003). Empirical findings suggest that this convergence is created largely by decreases in men's drinking, rather than increases in women's drinking (NIAAA 2009; Wilsnack et al. 2006).   In addition, there are consistent findings regarding ethnic differences in drinking rates; whites have the highest rates, followed by Hispanics and then African Americans who report the lowest rates among these three groups. Studies also reveal that the gender gap is widest among Hispanics and narrowest among African Americans (Johnson et al. 1998; NIAAA 2009). 

    Explanations for gender differences tend to focus on changing attitudes about the acceptability of women's drinking and changes in women's work/family roles.  Most studies do find that employment is associated with increased drinking frequency among women.  Using role overload explanations, Fillmore et al. (1997) argued that adding employment roles to women's traditional family roles would result in increased distress, resulting in higher alcohol use.  However, the role/stress literature finds consistently that an increase in the number of roles tends to reduce women's stress, and that woman's family roles are more likely to be the source of stress than employment roles (Hammer and Valgum 1989; Mirowsky and Ross 1989; Wilsnack and Cheloha 1987; Wilsnack and Wilsnack 1992).  Critics of the stress argument state that despite a lack of empirical evidence, these explanations persist because of traditionally gendered beliefs that women are more suited for family roles and that employment roles are inherently more stressful than family roles.  Alternative explanations suggest that the increased social networks and income provided by employment are responsible for increased drinking among employed women (Ames and Rebhun 1996; Caetano and Clark 1999; Waterson 2000; Wilsnak and Cheloha 1987). 

    Family roles have also been found to affect drinking. Previous research finds that married men and women drink less than their single, divorced, or widowed counterparts (Fillmore et al. 1997, Leonard and Rothbard 1999).  This literature generally focuses on problem drinking and offers several explanations for the marriage effect including the self-selection of problem drinkers out of marriage, drinking to cope with the stresses of the single status, and the protective effects of marriage wherein spouses provide social support and actively discourage their partners' heavy drinking. Parental status has also been found to decrease drinking but more so for women than men (Christie-Mizell and Peralta 2009; Fillmore et al. 1997).  This may be due to gender differences in parental roles where women typically spend more time on child care (Cunningham 2007), limiting opportunities to engage in drinking activities. 

    Alcohol consumption itself is deeply embedded in a gendered belief system.  Goffman (1963) originally defined stigma as "…an attribute that extensively discredits an individual, reducing him or her from a whole and usual person to a tainted, discounted one" (p. 3) and more recently Crocker (2005) defined stigmatization as when "…a person possesses (or is believed to possess) some attribute or characteristic that conveys a social identity that is devalued in a particular social context" (p. 505).  Throughout western history, drinking among women has been stigmatized and is often perceived to be associated with sexual promiscuity, lack of self-worth, negligence of family responsibilities and generally inappropriate gender-role behavior (Bergmark, 2004; Fillmore et al. 1997;  Huselid and Cooper 1991; Morgan 1987; Robbins and Martin 1993; Room 1996; Trotter 1985; Waterson 2000).  On the other hand, drinking is often viewed as an acceptable way for men to have fun, "cut loose" and gain social acceptance.  Among young men especially, heavy drinking can serve as a culturally recognized symbol of masculinity (Peralta 2007; Peralta et al 2010).  Although heavy drinking among young women has increased, Robbins and Martin (1993) explain that even at similar levels of intoxication, women exercise more behavioral constraint than men, essentially making stronger efforts to maintain composure to avoid the stigma associated with drunkenness. 

    These attitudes about drinking stem from traditional expectations regarding gender-role attitudes and behaviors in which women are expected to operate in the private sphere of homemaking and childcare. This includes responsibilities for the personal needs and well-being of children and husband. Aside from emphasizing nurturing, obedient, and supportive personality aspects, these attitudes also tend to stigmatize women for behaviors resulting in independence, sexuality, and loss of control. On the other hand men are expected to be acting in the public sphere of paid employment, rewarded with respite and leisure outside of the home (Ames and Rebhun 1996; Gilbert 1985).  In many social and cultural contexts, drinking has been viewed as a right or privilege for men and often serves as a focal point for men's gender-segregated social activities. As gender-role attitudes change from these traditional views toward more egalitarian views, it is assumed that attitudes toward women's alcohol consumption and drinking behaviors will also become more accepting (Bergmark 2004). 

    Although consistent gender differences in drinking patterns have been found in previous quantitative research, few if any have used qualitative methods to explore the beliefs and practices typically used to explain these differences.  Exploratory qualitative analysis can offer a "micro" perspective on the possible attitudes, beliefs, and social interactions that underlie these aggregate findings.  Current social changes regarding both alcohol use and gender roles can be more clearly understood through the contexts and processes uncovered in personal retrospective and inter-generational accounts.  Finally, findings from this type of analysis offer a rich base from which to explore new lines of inquiry and formulate new research questions and analyses.  Using semi-structured interviews with 18 men and women from three ethnic and age groups, this exploratory study will focus on the intergenerational changes in gendered alcohol beliefs and behaviors. 

    This analysis used a purposive sample of 18 participants; six from each of three ethnic groups; African American, white and Hispanic. Each ethnic group included one male and one female from each of three general age groups; 20-30 years, 40-50 years and 60+ years.  Due to recruitment difficulties the Hispanic female ages were 23, 44, and 45, and the African American male in the middle age group was 59 years old. Demographic descriptions of the sample are presented in Table 1. 

    Participants were recruited through word-of-mouth and recruitment efforts at churches, campus organizations and personal contacts of the PI and research assistants.    All of the white and African American participants and one of the Hispanic participants were recruited from a mid-sized Southeastern metropolitan area.  One of the older Hispanic participants (HM, 75) was born in Mexico but had lived in the US for 25 years. All other participants were US born.  All of the Hispanic participants were Mexican-American and because of difficulties in interviewing Hispanic participants in an area with a relatively recent influx of immigrants, the remaining Hispanic participants were recruited from a Midwestern city with a long-established Hispanic presence.

    The semi-structured interviews lasted anywhere from 30 minutes to just over one hour and took place at a location of the participants' choosing.  Most were interviewed in their homes, workplaces, or in quiet public locations such as coffee shops or cafes. Informed consent and training was obtained as per IRB protocol.  Participants did not receive any monetary compensation for participation in the study but each participant was given a $5.00 video rental gift certificate as a token of appreciation.  One interview was conducted over the telephone and all others were audio-recorded. One interview was conducted face-to-face with an informal interpreter of the participants' choosing.  Interviews were conducted by the PI and two trained undergraduate students. All interviewers completed the Institutional Review Board training. 

    These data were part of a larger project on gender, drinking attitudes and media.  Open-ended items included participants' own drinking habits as well as their beliefs about gender and normative alcohol consumption patterns among their own social groups. These items were asked for two different time periods or "eras" in the participants' lives; current, and retrospective from when the participants were in their 20's.  Participants in the younger age group had only one time point but they did volunteer information regarding drinking in high school and earlier. Although it is difficult to distinguish among age, cohort, and individual change effects (see Ryder 1965), this model allows participants in three distinct age cohorts to report on their beliefs about the causes of changes in their own drinking and social norms regarding drinking.  In addition to direct questions about gender and drinking, participants were probed on related gender and ethnicity statements to clarify or elaborate on specific meanings, practices, or influences deemed relevant to the research.

    Audio recordings were downloaded into digital voice-editing software which allowed for paced playback and segment indexing. Interviews were reviewed first to get descriptive demographic and drinking behavior information for the sample (summarized in Table 1).  Recordings were reviewed repeatedly and organized by content regarding gender and cohort issues related to alcohol use.  Finally, emerging themes were noted and content was re-analyzed and organized with respect to these emerging themes.

    Consistent with the quantitative literature, men drank more than women and women were more likely than men to be abstainers, especially in the retrospective accounts of the older age groups (Table 1).  Participants in the older age groups were also more likely to report gender differences regarding appropriate drinking behavior.  Being in college appeared to influence heavy drinking; three young participants (WF, 20; HF, 23; BF, 29) referred to the peer pressure in the culture of heavy drinking in college and one participant (WM, 24) explained that he left college for a year and drank considerably less during that time than either before or after, when he returned to college. This suggests that the college environment rather than age alone influenced heavy drinking for this student.  Young men and women reported even heavier drinking in high school or younger.

It's all about drinking. You drink as much as you can. I drank every day in high school. (WM, 24) 

When I first moved out (of parents' home) I drank a LOT. (WF, 20-currently drinks every night)

It's more appropriate to be drunk than not.  I try to appear to be drinking heavy but I water a drink all night.  You never leave a drink unfinished.  Being drunk is a laughing matter, nothing to be ashamed of- its bragging rights. (HF, 23)

Retrospective reports from middle age group men (but not women) also involved heavy drinking in their 20's.

Whoa, (we drank) ...anything. (WM, 47) 

Ten beers a day, plus.  (WM, 59)

Women didn't drink then, it was not nice to see a woman drinking. (BM, 56)

It was not becoming of females, it didn't look ladylike. (BF, 59)

When I was coming along it was not socially acceptable for women to drink.  Women didn't do certain things in that era, what you did or who you went with...  (BF, 75)

    There were also reports of the links between heavy drinking and cultural conceptions of masculinity, mainly among the whites and Hispanics.

It's a testosterone thing… competitions…  looks manly. (WF, 20)

Men do it every weekend...  it's what they're supposed to do, like 
sex…  cheating ....  (Somewhat cynically, HM, 44)

Men can have more…  Hispanics…  macho.  (HF,44)

Now it's the same (for men and women),  there are more female alcoholics.   Girls drink more now- they gotta keep up with "Girls Gone Wild."   (WM, 24)

Used to be women were supposed to be "fem" and prissy and not drink. (BF, 29)

(On women being drunk, women are…)… now, not afraid to show that side- it's not just for men. (WF, 20)

    In many cases where women's drinking was stigmatized (especially in the older age groups) there was also a pattern of gender-segregated social activities. In one pattern the men drank together in groups outside of the home and women would accompany their husbands or boyfriends on occasion and drink lightly, if at all. 

Females were rarely around.  Women could take it or leave it. (WM, 47) 

Back then women drank much less- often didn't drink at all. (WM, 59)

Normally guys, sometimes girls would go out too but mostly guys. (WM, 59)

Men got together on their own… go out .. women only when they're with men .(BF, 59)

… there were things you just did not do… unless you were with your husband and his friends. (BF, 75)

The females don't drink around my friends; they drink with their female friends ladies with ladies;  men with men. (BM, 48)

Females drink around people they know. Men can drink at nightclubs or around people they don't know.  Females more at home, guys drink out. (BF, 29)

Men drank at the bar, women at home. (HF, 44)

Women… at home… more relaxed.  Men in groups, around strangers and nightclubs .  Women in groups too…  girls night out.  (BF, 29)

Women drink at family get-togethers. (HM, 44)

My parents would have these huge parties and everybody would drink. (HF, 23)

Men get drunk 70% of the time, women get drunk 20%, no one gets real drunk. (HM, 30)

Younger women, I mean in their early 20's, social drinking is acceptable.  They go out to clubs and drink cocktails, but not the way... (men drink). Single women yes, social drinking but with a family, no. (HM, 44)

I stopped (heavy drinking) in my 30's... I had kids. (HF, 44)

Hispanic women tend to keep the kids…  large families… do housekeeping.  Younger women drink… under 21… unmarried. Don't see too many older women who have families do a lot of drinking.  Singles do… its not looked down on (HM, 44)

I had kids, the first at 30. That's when it changed (HF, 44)

Man has the money.. man works.  women at home washing, cleaning, taking care of kids,  didn't have no money,  couldn't go out and buy beer or cigarettes.  (HM, 44) 

I had children- you can't take care of your children.  (BF, 75 on why she quit drinking)

I had a family young- didn't drink much then. (WF, 48)

I was married with children by 21, we drank lemonade (WF, moderate drinker in college) 

Women stayed home barefoot and pregnant; if they drank they drank at home (BM 29)

If you were considered a homemaker, a mother, you stayed home (BF, 75)

(women drink less )… because at this age they take on more responsibility. Girls stay sober to take care of the man if he gets drunk. (BM, 26)

My wife doesn't like to drink if we go out, she feels more comfortable at home, plus we have to drive home…   one of us usually stays...  (WM, 47)

(women) …keep the men straight (HM, 44)

(women) drink less…  more responsible…  women drive home (HM, 30)

    Some men commented that women drink more now because of work stress.

(women)…  faced with more stress, work stress promotes drinking (BM, 26)

… more women under stress, a stressed person will drink (BM, 56)

    The youngest age group argued consistently that everyone, regardless of gender, was responsible for his/her own behavior when drinking and that everyone had to "find their own limits."  This age group routinely elected designated drivers when they drank. These comments suggest a shift away from traditional assumptions that sober women would care for drinking men, toward an expectation that everyone was personally responsible for their own behavior and consequences, regardless of gender.  Although these attitudes of non-gendered personal responsibility for drinking behavior appear to reflect a broader shift toward egalitarian gender role attitudes and responsibilities, this youngest age group had not yet married and did not have children so whether their beliefs about egalitarian roles and responsibilities would apply to their family roles is unknown. 

    Although this was clearly a non-representative sample, some ethnicity patterns emerged which bear further exploration.  The most prominent ethnic differences involved the stigma associated with alcohol use.  African Americans were more likely to stigmatize any alcohol use and their parents and families were more likely to be non-drinkers than were the families of either white or Hispanic participants (Table 1). 

    Stigma associated with women's drinking among African Americans and whites was especially pronounced among the older participants and in retrospective reports.  Among Hispanics there was very little, if any, stigma associated with alcohol use per se but there were strong beliefs about family responsibilities that precluded drinking among women with children. The youngest white age group denied any current stigma regarding women's drinking.

    Questions about religion were not included in the original qualitative design but many participants volunteered information about the associations between religious identification, drinking stigma, and abstinence from alcohol.  Among all ethnic groups, an alcohol-prohibiting religious preference was associated with alcohol abstinence and stigma for drinkers ("prohibiting religion" will refer to identification with a religious preference for a denomination that prohibits, not merely discourages, alcohol use).  Prohibiting religious identity, drinking stigma and abstinence were especially pronounced among African Americans and evident for about half of the white participants; with higher prevalence among older participants in both groups. Only one Hispanic participant, a later-life convert to a prohibiting religion, reported stigma associated with alcohol use per se. 

    For all groups, those who strongly identified with prohibiting religions did not drink. Those who did drink but had friends or family involved in prohibiting religions usually had religion-segregated social networks and drinking patterns.  These participants would drink around their drinking social networks but would maintain the appearance of abstinence around their religious family or church networks. 

I don't drink in front of family…  not comfortable. (WM, 47)

It's different for Black people, there are places I would not touch a glass of wine. I would not drink among certain groups; I would be categorized or stigmatized. (BF, 75)

Absolutely. It's absolutely about religion (WF, 20)

I got married at 22, got religion, quit drinking. I drink socially now.  (WM, 47)

    The over-arching pattern among this group of participants was that younger women drank more than women in older age groups did (or do) and that traditionally gendered attitudes stigmatizing drinking for women have diminished over time.  In addition, three general themes regarding stigma and alcohol use emerged, each with distinct paths and social influences.

General stigma for alcohol use; religion and ethnicity

    The first stigma theme in this analysis revealed a stigma for alcohol use in general, regardless of gender.  This pattern was linked to identification with religious denominations that prohibited alcohol use.  For both men and women, such religious beliefs or identification had a strong influence on abstinence.  In some cases, social networks were segregated by drinkers and abstainers. Those participants from abstainer religious backgrounds, who did drink, often maintained the appearance of abstention around their abstainer network members. Prohibiting religious identity and alcohol stigma varied by ethnicity in this sample; both were highest among African Americans and lowest among Hispanics.  In fact, there was very little evidence of alcohol stigma among the Hispanic participants, either currently or retrospectively.  With the exception of a stigma for drinking among mothers with young children, this group viewed drinking as an acceptable activity for men and women, in public and at home.  Aggregate trends in the US show that Hispanics are predominantly catholic, a religious not typically associated with prohibition of alcohol consumption (Kosmin and Keysar 2009).  Only one Hispanic participant in this sample discussed religion and he was a later-life convert to a prohibiting religion (Southern Baptist) and was abstinent.  Again, this sample is not representative but findings may reflect another aspect of the influence of religion on drinking and drinking stigma. 

    The analysis of ethnicity and religion in this study does not cover the large body of literature on the cultural, political, and historical aspects of ethnicity, religion and drinking (Bales 1946; Christmon 1995; Collins and McNair 2004; Gilbert 1991; Gordon 1985; Herd 1985; Rebach 1992).  The effects of ethnicity on drinking examined in large-scale survey studies generally attribute any unexplained variation among ethnic groups to "culture."  However, several researchers have suggested that there is an over-reliance on cultural explanations for ethnic differences in drinking patterns that can otherwise be explained by social structural factors (Darrow et al. 1992; Gilbert and Collins 1997; Guttmann 1999; Hunt and Barker 2001; Nielsen 2000; Nyaronga et al. 2009).  Findings here showed that some African American women reported a clear link between Black culture, drinking stigma and prohibiting religious identity.  However, a similar association between prohibiting religious identity and drinking stigma was found among some whites and the absence of both prohibiting religious identity and stigma was found among Hispanics.  Whether the association between religion and abstinence differs qualitatively among ethnic groups is unclear.  "Culture" may just reflect a differential distribution of prohibiting religious identity among these ethnic groups. 

Stigma for women's drinking; gender roles and social networks

    The second stigma pattern, in which drinking is stigmatized for women but not for men, reflects traditional gender-role attitudes that define drinking as an appropriate masculine-typed activity but an inappropriate behavior for women. These themes were discussed in some detail in both older men's and women's retrospective accounts.  In these accounts, women who drank were seen as "not nice," sexually promiscuous and, especially among the African American participants, of low social class. The associations among gender, social class, and drinking stigma suggest an intersectionality in gender and ethnicity that deserves more scrutiny in the alcohol literature.

    Patterns of more egalitarian attitudes toward drinking and less gender-segregated drinking activities were found among the younger participants. One of the strongest themes to emerge in this analysis was the increasingly gender-integrated leisure and employment networks among the younger participants.  The younger participants suggested that there was no longer a stigma regarding drinking for women. Two women referred to currently marketed "feminine" drinks that further reduced the gap between beliefs about proper feminine behavior and drinking.  The male participants acknowledged the "masculine" connotations of drinking and drunk behavior but the youngest participants generally referred to it as an outdated concept or one to which they did not personally adhere. 

    While older participants discussed (retrospectively) strictly gender-segregated leisure activities and traditionally gendered work/family roles that discouraged or precluded drinking among women, the youngest participants reported mixed-gender drinking in college and after-work adult social drinking.  Older women's retrospective accounts rarely included public group leisure activities.  When they did, the women were seen as "guests" of a male group member and they drank very little, if any, alcohol.  Causal order in the associations among increased gender integration, egalitarian gender role attitudes, and diminishing stigma for women's drinking are complex and embedded in the literature on social change; specifically regarding the effects of changing roles on attitudes and the effects of attitudes on role changes.  Despite speculations on the process through which roles and attitudes have changed women's drinking behaviors, the effects of changing roles and attitudes on men's drinking behaviors are largely ignored.  Aside from some mention of decreased drinking among men at time of marriage, the influence of gender-integrated social networks on men's drinking was not evident in either current or retrospective reports. 

Stigma for mothers; family roles and responsibility

    The last stigma theme revealed a drinking stigma specifically for mothers of young children.  Although this stigma was found for all groups, among Hispanic participants it was not accompanied by a general stigma for alcohol use or a stigma for drinking among women who did not have children.  Regardless of any other accompanying stigmas, this pattern reflects beliefs that women's traditional family roles are incompatible with drinking.  Both men and women reported that women with young children did not drink and/or should not drink.  One aspect of this theme revolved around gendered beliefs about family roles and responsibilities.  Women's traditional family roles involved around-the-clock responsibilities for the personal welfare of children and household. The constant nature of these roles, as opposed to the time-limited nature of most paid employment, limited women's ability to engage in adult leisure pursuits, especially those that would involve drinking.  Drinking was associated with distraction from caretaking duties and possible neglect of role responsibilities.  On the other hand employment roles were seen as compatible with after-work leisure and respite from responsibilities. Gendered beliefs regarding alcohol and responsibility extended beyond actual child-care duties.  Several participants in the two older groups (retrospective and currently) noted that women's family responsibilities extended to caring for drinking husbands or partners. By staying sober, driving home, or watching children while men drank, women's caretaking responsibilities were not only extended their to cover their husbands' leisure behavior but the women themselves were deprived of leisure and respite from family roles. 

    Although the youngest participants did not have children or spouses, their general expressed attitudes about drinking and personal responsibility contrasted starkly with those of the older participants. This group frequently reported that everyone should "know their own limits" with regard to drinking and drunken behavior, regardless of gender.  This group also reported that they frequently elected a "designated driver" when they drank and they usually drank in mixed-gender groups with minimal gender distinction in drinking behavior. 

    The current literature tends to focus on the influence of changing work/family roles on increases in women's drinking.  However, the effects of increasingly egalitarian gender roles and gender role attitudes on men's drinking are rarely explored.  Aside from the clear trend in which drinking went down as age increased for men and women, this analysis revealed few reports of generational changes in men's drinking patterns.  Despite increasing employment rates among women, the traditionally gendered public/private spheres and household responsibilities remain entrenched.  Previous literature shows that men's involvement in parental responsibilities is much lower than women's but is increasing (Bianchi et al. 2000; Coltrane 2000) and that parental status is associated with decreased drinking for both men and women (O'Malley 2004). The current analysis revealed no evidence of men's increasing family responsibilities between the oldest and middle age groups and the youngest participants had not yet started families, making attitudes and behaviors regarding gendered family responsibilities difficult to ascertain. 

    Among participants in this study there was a general intergenerational decrease in stigma for alcohol use and increased drinking among younger women.  Alcohol stigma was organized in three patterns; general stigma for alcohol use, stigma for alcohol use among women, and stigma for alcohol use among mothers.  Religion and ethnicity appeared to influence the first stigma pattern; college, employment, age, and gender-role attitudes influenced the second pattern; and family roles and responsibilities appeared to influence the third pattern.  Intergenerational changes in gendered drinking stigmas may be operating through increasingly gender-integrated social networks, changing work/family roles,  and emerging attitudes regarding individual rather than gendered personal responsibility for one's own drinking behavior. 

Limitations 

    Limitations for this exploratory analysis include the lack of generalizability typical of qualitative analyses and non-representative samples.  Although purposive sampling was used to incorporate age, gender and ethnic diversity in the sample, it cannot be interpreted as representative of any larger group or groups.  In addition, this sample included White and African American participants residing in the US South and Hispanic participants drawn largely from a larger metropolitan area in the Midwest.  Findings regarding ethnicity, religion and drinking may be further influenced by region of the Country and metropolitan vs. rural residence.

Future research

    The findings from this exploratory analysis may help to inform future research regarding aggregate drinking rates.  Current research suggests that drinking rates are decreasing and that men's and women's drinking rates are converging, due largely to decreases in men's drinking rates.  Findings from this study could be explored with a representative data set to determine the population distribution of characteristics and relationships found among this sample.  For example, findings regarding the influences of ethnicity, religion, age, and work/family roles on drinking stigma and behavior could inform current demographic trends regarding changing drinking rates.  An aging population (US Bureau of the Census 2011a), an increasing proportion of ethnic minorities (US Bureau of the Census 2011b), relative increases in prohibiting religious denominations (Kosmin and Keysar 2009) and increases in men's household responsibilities (Bianchi et al. 2000; Coltrane 2000) may play a role in decreasing drinking rates.  Finally, increasingly gender-integrated home, work, and leisure spheres are likely to impact both men's and women's behaviors through changes in actual role constraints and opportunities, as well as through the social influence of changing norms associated with diverse social networks. 

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