Gender patterns in consequences of collegiate alcohol abuse: a 10-year study of trends in an undergraduate population.

Although college men have typically reported significantly more alcohol problems than women, debate about a possible convergence of gender differences has emerged in recent years. Time trend data on gender differences based on consistent measures of alcohol-related problems are scant, however. Another limitation of previous research has been the predominant focus on alcohol problems most common among men. This article provides data on gender differences and trends in several types of negative consequences of student drinking in a collegiate population from four surveys conducted between 1979 and 1989. The data do not support an overall "convergence hypothesis" as men remained much more problematic in several types of consequences-specifically abuse problems that are public, involve legal repercussions, or that endanger others. Consequences that are more personal or less prone to provoke public response reveal little or no gender differences, however, in the most recent collegiate cohorts. Thus, more gender research is needed on types of alcohol problems in campus context.