Alan D. Berkowitz

Perceiving the Community Norms of Alcohol Use among Students: Some Research Implications for Campus Alcohol Education Programming"

Data drawn from a comprehensive survey of alcohol use in a college student community (N = 1, 116) show most students holding a moderate personal attitude regarding alcohol use while misperceiving their peer environment as being much more liberal. Drinking behavior is significantly related to gender, type of living unit, personal attitudes toward drinking, and also the degree of consistency/discrepancy between the individuals own attitude and his or her perception of the campus norm regarding drinking. Students who saw the campus norm to be similar to their own attitude were found to drink more heavily, and in more public settings, than students with discrepant attitudes and perceptions. Implications of findings for alcohol abuse prevention programs on college campuses are discussed.

Engaging men as social justice allies in ending violence against women: Evidence for a social norms approach

Abstract The field of sexual assault prevention is shifting attention to educational interventions that address the role of men in ending violence against women. Recent studies document the often-misperceived norms men hold about other mens endorsement of rape-supportive attitudes and behaviors. The authors provide further evidence supporting the design of population-based social norms interventions to prevent sexual assault. Data from this study suggest that men underestimate the importance that most men and women place on consent and willingness of most men to intervene against sexual violence. In addition, mens personal adherence to only consensual activity and their willingness to act as womens allies are strongly influenced by their perceptions of other mens and womens norms. These findings support the proposition that accurate normative data, which counters the misperception of rape-supportive environments, can be a critical part of comprehensive campus efforts to catalyze and support mens development as womens social justice allies in preventing sexual violence against women.

College Men as Perpetrators of Acquaintance Rape and Sexual Assault: A Review of Recent Research

This article reviews literature since 1980 on college men as perpetrators of acquaintance rape and other forms of sexual assault. Topics include (1) the definition and incidence of acquaintance rape and sexual assault; (2) perpetrator characteristics; (3) situations associated with sexual assault; and (4) mens misperception of womens sexual intent. An integrated theory of sexual assault is proposed, along with implications for the development of effective rape-prevention programs for men.

Personality characteristics of children of alcoholics.

This study compared the personality characteristics of late adolescent and young adult children ofalcoholics (COAs) with those of their peers and examined the extent to which personality differencesare gender specific and are related to the gender of the alcoholic parent. Specifically, data derivedfrom an alcohol survey of young college students (N = 860) were used to examine familial alcoholismand personality characteristics, including impulsiveness, self-depreciation, lack of tension, indepen-dence/autonomy, need for social support, directiveness, sociability, and other-directedness. Al-though COA respondents were similar to their peers on most personality measures, they were morelikely to report greater self-depreciation. This difference in self-depreciation between COAs and theirpeers was greater for women than men. Women with an alcoholic father were significantly morelikely than women with an alcoholic mother to report greater self-depreciation. Male COAs ratedthemselves significantly higher on autonomy than did their male peers, but the gender of the alcoholicparent had little effect on this variable.Concern about the effect of an alcoholic parent on his or herchildren has been frequently expressed by clinicians and by oth-ers in recent research literature. In a comprehensive review ofthe literature on children of alcoholics (COAs), Russell, Hen-derson, and Blume (1985) concluded that such children are ata particularly high risk for alcoholism and other emotional andbehavioral problems, including difficult social adjustment andsubstance abuse. They also cited studies in which COAs werefound to possess distinctive personality characteristics, includ-ing lower self-esteem and a more external locus of control. How-ever, it has also been suggested that COAs are more resilientthan previous studies have indicated (Werner, 1986).Yet, findings are limited and conclusions based on previousresearch must be qualified. First, the majority of studies onCOAs have utilized research designs biased toward families orchildren who seek treatment or who come to the attention ofthe health and legal systems, thus neglecting other COAs whomay not have behavioral, emotional, or substance-abuse prob-lems (El-Guebaly & Offord, 1977). Second, the predominantfocus on negative aspects of the COA experience has been criti-cized by researchers who suggest that growing up in an alcoholicfamily may encourage adaptive behaviors as well (El-Guebaly& Offord, 1977; Russell et al., 1985). Third, few studies havecompared the experiences of male and female COAs or haveexamined differences relating to the gender of the alcoholic par-ent, although some findings have revealed a greater impact foralcoholic fathers or have suggested that parental alcoholismmay affect sons and daughters differently (Russell et al., 1985).This study addresses these theoretical and methodological is-An earlier version of this article was presented at the National Coun-cil on Alcoholism Forum, San Francisco, April 1986. The authors grate-fully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Christopher D. Smith-ers Foundation i n this research.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to AlanBerkowitz, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York14456.sues by examining the following questions with respect to per-sonality characteristics: (a) Are there particular differences inthe personality characteristics of a nonclinical sample of self-identified COAs and their peers from nonalcoholic families? (b)Are differences in the personality characteristics of COAs andtheir peers gender specific? and (c) Is there a difference in theimpact of alcoholic fathers and alcoholic mothers on the person-alities of their children, and is there an interaction between thegender of the alcoholic parent and the childs gender that mayaffect personality development?Method

Stress among Farm Women: Work and Family as Interacting Systems.

Stress was examined in a sample of dairy farm wives (N = 126) who completed a questionnaire measuring stress symptoms, husband support, farm and home task loads, and perceived role conflict between farm and home responsibilities. A path analysis was utilized to assess the relative contribution to stress of work-related and family-related variables. Role conflict and husband support significantly predicted stress, while the relationships of home and farm task loads to stress were insignificant. Husband support also functioned as a coping mechanism mediating the stressful effects of role conflict. The results indicate that the content of home and work roles per se may not be as important as interpersonal dynamics in rural farm families.

Correlates of Psychosomatic Stress Symptoms among Farm Women: A Research Note on Farm and Family Functioning

The relationship between self-reported psychosomatic stress symptoms and dimensions of family and farm functioning were examined in a sample of New York State dairy farm wives (N = 126). The farm women completed a questionnaire assessing home and farm task loads, farm complexity, intrapersonal role conflict, interpersonal role conflict, husband support, and marital satisfaction. The psychosomatic stress symptoms included nervousness, restlessness, insomnia, shortness-of-breath, and fainting. In general, stress symptoms showed little relationship to task loads, farm complexity, and intrapersonal role conflict. Much stronger relationships were found for interpersonal role conflict, husband support, and marital satisfaction. Thus, these findings point to the greater importance of family relationships in preventing or buffering stress in comparison with simple role-related task expectations of farm systems.