Being female and less deviant: the direct and indirect effects of gender on alcohol abuse and tobacco smoking.

We explored the deviance gender gap in relation to alcohol abuse and tobacco smoking with a national sample of adults. Sex role theory inspired the hypotheses that much of the influence of gender on deviance is conveyed through the relationship of gender to social bonds and to the experience of physical violence in childhood. Our results indicated that being female was positively associated with belief and attachment bonds that inhibited alcohol abuse and smoking and negatively associated with the experience of physical violence as a child, which promoted alcohol abuse and smoking.