Alcohol Expectancies among Hispanics and Non-Hispanic Whites: Role of Drinking Status and Acculturation

A random sample of 1,740 San Francisco residents were interviewed over the telephone. Of these, 1,204 were Hispanics (43.5% were males) and 536 were non-Hispanic Whites (48.6% males). Consumption and expectancies on the use of alcoholic beverages were measured. In a multivariate analysis of variance, ethnicity of the respondents produced a significant main effectfor the responses to the Emotional and Behavioral Impairment and Social Extroversion Scales whereby the Hispanic respondents were more likely to expect those results. Post-hoc comparisons among Hispanic respondents show that abstainers differedfrom moderate and heavy drinkers. The more acculturated Hispanics tended to respond similarly to the non-Hispanic White respondents and to be less likely to expect the effects included in the Emotional and Behavioral Impairment and Social Extroversion Scales. There were no differences in the expectations held by Mexican-Americans and Central American respondents.