Gender-related differences in circumstances surrounding initiation and escalation of alcohol and other substance use abuse

We estimate a series of multivariate logistic regression models specifying the effects of gender and other variables on the initiation and escalation of alcohol and other substance use/abuse in a sample of young adults from a general population. After controlling for race, ethnicity, father's education, and a tendency to over- or underendorse statements, effects of gender an circumstances surrounding initiation/escalation of binge drinking, marijuana use, and use of other illicit drugs were observed to be congruent with the literature on gender-related sociodevelopmental processes and empirical studies of the circumstances surrounding substance use. Among substance users/abusers, gender was implicated in self-reports of the relevance of peer influence, needs to enhance self-importance and a sense of power, conflictive consequences, sensation-seeking, and reduction of distress in the processes surrounding initiation and escalation of use.