Traditional gender roles and the stress-alcohol relationship among Latina/o college students

What is it about?

Stress is often linked to alcohol use, but cultural factors may influence this relationship. Research links adherence to certain traditional gender role values to alcohol use among Latina/os, but the way adherence to these values influences the relation between stress and alcohol use has not been studied. This paper examines that relationship.

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Why is it important?

This study demonstrates the importance of considering the added influence sociocultural context within well-established theories (e.g., the tension reduction hypothesis). Also, to the best of our knowledge, this study was the first to quantitatively examine the link between marianismo and drinking behavior among Latina women. A key finding was that, with a single exception, traditional gender roles influenced the stress-alcohol relationship more when stress levels were low, rather than high.