Stress, Coping, and Alcohol Expectancies in Rural African-American Women☆

African-American women report less alcohol and other drug (AOD) use compared with Caucasian women. However, health care professionals cannot afford to dismiss AOD use as a significant problem for some African-American women. Although we know much more about AOD problems in women in general, we still lack information on AOD disorders and associated factors among rural African-American women. This article focuses on examining rural African-American women (n = 142) with and without AOD disorders on the following variables: stressors, uplifts, coping, and alcohol expectancies.