Causal Attribution of Drinking Antecedents in American Indian and Caucasian Social Drinkers

Sixty-five American Indian and 100 Caucasian college students were tested with Beckman’s rating scale for antecedents of drinking. ¹ Subjects were social drinkers who had had no previous alcohol-related problems (arrests, accidents, etc.). They were matched on age, education, and drinking history. The scale addresses beliefs about drinking and its related causes—internal and external. Results indicate only one major difference between Indians and Caucasians (alcoholism as an illness was rated higher by Indians), while similarities in rating patterns were found in comparing our college sample to college students from the Los Angeles area tested by Beckman. American Indian college students were significantly different in their casual attribution of drinking problems from white college students in Los Angeles.