Sex Differences in Attitudes and Experiences with Alcohol Rachel Fischer, Carissa Gutsmiedl, Kelsey Rolefson, and Sara BaDour Faculty Mentor: Dr. David S. Leland Psychology Department  University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Discussion Main Findings:  No sex differences in drinking intensity, consistent with our previous sample.  Women seem to be more concerned about being sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, or physically assaulted when they dink.  Women in our previous study may have shown higher Beta to alcohol beverages due to associating alcohol with risk of being sexually assaulted, sexually harassed, or physically assaulted. Additional Findings:  Some of the trends we found with the CAPS items were also found in a similar survey study on alcohol drinking patterns and preferences performed in our lab in  Drinking intensity and times blacked out were associated with unplanned/unprotected sex and illegal activity due to alcohol use.  Feeling bad about oneself was associated with drinking due to peer pressure and concerns about social embarrassment when drinking. Method Participants  147 UWEC students  Sex: 120 female, 27 male  Age: M = 20, SD = 2.90  Awarded 1 credit for participating through the SONA system if their professor gave extra credit Materials  Online Qualtrics Survey Pink: significant at alpha =.05 Blue: significant with Bonferroni corrections; α = for t-tests and α = for correlations Yellow: Pearson correlation >.3 Background Previous Research: We conducted an EEG study where participants looked at different types of alcohol beverages or a control beverage and found that:  Men and women have the same drinking intensity (number of drinks per session) and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores.  Women, but not men, showed more Beta power (an EEG indicator of attention/arousal) to alcohol stimuli than control stimuli.  Women, but not men, showed a positive correlation between AUDIT scores and difference in Beta between alcohol vs. control stimuli. Current Research:  We developed a survey to help us interpret the sex differences in attention/arousal found in our previous research.  We compiled a list of alcohol related attitudes and associations that might differ between sexes.  Some differences we considered: 1.Women might be more concerned about negative consequences of drinking. 2.Women might have less overall experience with alcohol and therefore be less desensitized to it than men. 3.Women might feel more awkward about alcohol in an academic setting (as with our prior study) than men. Results ( Bonferroni-adjusted α =.0003) Alcohol Drinking Patterns:  Women like wine (p <.001) and drink wine (p <.001) more often than men.  Men like beer more than women do (p =.032).  Women like alcohol as much as men (p =.338), but men show higher drinking intensity than women ( p =.002).  However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines binge drinking as men drinking 5 or more, and women drinking 4 or more drinks in two hours. When the number of drinks were normalized according to this definition (men/5, women/4) there was no significant difference between men’s and women’s drinking intensity (p =.30). Alcohol related attitudes:  No differences between men and women for craving alcohol in a school setting (p =.64), or comfort looking at alcohol in a school setting (p =.65). Our Items Comparison of Means CAPS Due to Alcohol, how often do you … How effective is alcohol at grabbing your attention Comfort looking at alcohol in school setting Rating of craving of alcohol in school setting Normalized amount drank in 2 hour period in last 6 months Times blacked out in past 6 months Age drinking alcohol regularly How enjoyable is drinking alcohol How often do you drink alcohol to cope with stress How often do you drink alcohol to cope with loneliness How often do you drink alcohol to be more social How often do you drink alcohol due to peer pressure How often do you drink alcohol to get drunk When drinking alcohol, how concerned are you about….. MenWomenp-value social embarrassment about making bad decisions legal consequences being physically assaulted being sexually harassed being sexually assaulted feel sad, blue, or depressed r p-value < feel nervousness, irritability r p-value < feel bad about yourself r p-value < < < have problems with appetite or sleeping r p-value < engage in unplanned sexual activity r p-value< < < < drive under the influence r <.01 p-value < < not use protection when having sex r p-value < < < partake in illegal activities associated with drug use r p-value < Men Women p-value <.001