Research in gender role identity indicates that youth differ in the degree to which they internalize gender-specific constructs and expectations, thereby making gender identity rather than biological sex a better predictor for alcohol involvement (Chomak & Collins, 1987). Socialization process models argue that girls and boys face different punishment and reinforcement from parents and teachers across adolescence, which in turn, shape their gender-appropriate attitudes and behavior (Maccoby, 1988). Adolescents then internalize these beliefs and encourage each other to behave in accordance. For instance, girls are more likely than boys to pressure same-sex friends not to drink (Keefe, 1994). Over time, it appears that the continued reinforcement across contexts of these drinking-related gender roles may contribute to the diverging trajectories observed later in young men and women. In a study examining adolescent beliefs about stopping or reducing alcohol use, girls had more positive cessation expectations than boys, even when controlling for drinking frequency and quantity (Metrik, McCarthy, Frissell, MacPherson, & Brown, 2004). These gender differences may contribute to the diverging drinking trajectories in late adolescence; girls start to believe in the
