Gender-specific normative perceptions of alcohol-related protective behavioral strategies.

Abstract

The present research aimed to (1) determine if students underestimate gender-specific descriptive normative perceptions for protective behavioral strategies; (2) to evaluate the relationships among perceived gender-specific descriptive and injunctive drinking norms and perceived gender-specific descriptive norms for protective behavioral strategies; and (3) to examine whether normative perceptions for protective behavioral strategies relate to use of these strategies when controlling for relevant drinking behavior factors (i.e., alcohol consumption, negative consequences, and attitude toward drinking behavior) and social norms factors (i.e., perceived descriptive and injunctive norms). Students (N = 666; 56.6% male) completed measures assessing drinking behavior and attitudes toward drinking, perceived descriptive and injunctive norms, perceived protective behavioral strategies, and protective behavioral strategies. Findings demonstrated that students consistently underestimated the use of strategies for the typical male student, whereas results were less consistent for the typical female student. In addition, results indicated that same-sex normative perceptions for protective behavioral strategies were associated with personal use of these strategies, even when controlling for relevant drinking behavior and social norms factors. Results stress the importance of evaluating factors that are associated with use of protective behavioral strategies. Implications for social norms preventative interventions are discussed. Keywords normative perceptions; social norms; alcohol; protective behavioral strategies Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) for drinking are behaviors that individuals engage in to reduce or limit alcohol consumption and related negative consequences, such as alternating alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks (Glassman, Werch, & Jobli, 2007;Martens et al., 2004Martens et al., , 2005Martens, Pederson, LaBrie, Ferrier, & Cimini, 2007;Werch, 1990;Werch & Gorman, 1988). While research has found that more frequent use of PBS is negatively associated with drinking behavior (Martens et al., 2004(Martens et al., , 2005 and that increasing use of PBS can reduce alcohol consumption , few studies have examined factors related to the use of PBS. Understanding why students use PBS may aid in developing efficacious preventative interventions to increase the use of these strategies. Specifically, the present study expands previous research by determining if college students misperceive the use of PBS for gender-specific normative referents, and whether these normative perceptions relate to genderspecific descriptive and injunctive drinking norms. Additionally, this research will aid in determining whether normative perceptions for PBS relate to personal use of strategies when controlling for gender, drinking behavior factors (i.e., alcohol consumption, negative consequences, and attitude toward drinking behavior), and social norms factors (i.e., genderspecific descriptive and injunctive drinking norms).Prior...

A Multiple Replication Examination of Distal Antecedents to Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies

“…Similar results have been found when examining the role of PBS use as a statistical mediator between more proximal antecedents and alcohol-related outcomes including drinking motives (Bravo et al, 2015;Ebersole et al, 2012;LaBrie et al, 2011;Martens et al, 2007) and perceived norms of PBS use (Benton et al, 2008;Lewis et al, 2009;Ray et al, 2009). Importantly, all of these studies suggest that PBS use accounts for reductions in alcohol-related problems even when controlling for a wide range of other risk/ protective factors.…”

Alcohol Consumption and Negative Sex-Related Consequences among College Women: The Moderating Role of Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies

“…Considering that a paired sample t-tests revealed that our sample relied more on serious harm reduction strategies than on controlled consumption strategies, these findings may demonstrate an acute awareness among our participants of the importance of protecting themselves against serious harm (e.g., negative sex-related consequences) when they choose to drink. Delva and colleagues (2004) suggested that women tend to socialize in groups that promote the use of protective strategies, and that women have more of a need to specifically protect themselves from unwanted sexual behavior (Lewis, Rees, & Lee, 2009;Lewis et al, 2010). It is possible then, that women are socialized to not just protect themselves in the general sense (e.g., to avoid academic or legal repercussions from drinking, or to avoid a hangover), but to specifically protect themselves from alcohol-related sexual victimization (e.g., verbal or physical threat, coercion, or force), which may contribute to more effective use of serious harm reduction and controlled consumption strategies.…”

Trait mindfulness and protective strategies for alcohol use: Implications for college student drinking

“…For example, based on the relationship between descriptive drinking norms and alcohol outcomes (Borsari & Carey, 2003), two studies evaluated whether descriptive norms for PBS predicts PBS use (Benton, Downey, Glider, & Benton, 2008;Lewis, Rees, & Lee, 2009) and found evidence that descriptive norms of PBS do predict individual PBS use. Other PBS belief studies examined PBS attitudes, self-efficacy, perceived effectiveness of PBS (Ray, Turrisi, Abar, & Peters, 2009), and PBS intention (Neighbors, Lee, Lewis, Fosses, & Walter, 2009), and found that these variables were positively correlated with PBS use and, in some cases, negatively correlated with alcohol outcomes.…”