The influence of gender roles in alcohol consumption: a qualitative study of adolescents and young adults in Asturias.

Despite the implementation of prevention policies aimed at addressing alcohol consumption among both adolescents and young adults, there has been a considerable increase in those who abuse alcohol in Spain over the last decade. Official surveys on this phenomenon show that both the prevalence and risky consumption of men and women are reaching similar levels, with even higher figures for these behaviours in the case of girls at the end of adolescence. The aim of this article is to understand the influence of gender roles in the consumption of alcohol among adolescents and young adults. To this end, focus groups have been employed to identify similarities and differences both in drinking patterns and alcohol abuse among young males and females, as well as in the social meaning that both groups attribute to these practices.   The results obtained show that the variables gender and age act in a combined way on the learning of alcohol consumption, as well as on the motivations and expectations that adolescents and young adults have regarding these practices. In addition, in this study three differentiated stages are identified: in the first, gender roles are clearly defined; in the second, there is a certain transgression of these roles mainly by young women, and in the third, there is a return to traditional gender roles.