Harms related to alcohol are also decreasing among adolescents, withdifferential patterns by gender. Although alcohol-related ED visits declined overallthrough 2014 (Naeger, 2017; White et al., 2018), girls aged 12 to 14 visited the ERfor alcohol-related incidents more frequently than boys the same age (Naeger, 2017). There is no known safe amount of alcohol consumption for women who are pregnant or might become pregnant.
The hidden risks of drinking
This means that after a woman and a man of the same weight drink the same amount of alcohol, the woman’s blood alcohol concentration (the amount of alcohol in the blood) will tend to be higher, putting her at greater risk for harm. For example, research suggests that women are more likely than men to experience hangovers and alcohol-induced blackouts at comparable doses of alcohol.5,6 Other biological differences may contribute as well. For a long time, professionals believed that women with substance abuse problems were less likely than men to recover from them.
Historical trends in gender differences in drinking: Potential mechanisms
It also has resources to help those looking to change their drinking habits. Drinking alcohol is so common that people may not question how even one beer, cocktail, or glass of wine could impact their health. Alcohol is a part of cultural traditions all around the world…and it’s also a drug that chemically alters the body.
The health consequences of alcohol abuse in women
Out of all four approaches, this fourth approach provides the most leveragefor determining age by cohort interactions, and in turn age by cohort by genderinteractions. (2013; 2015) and Patrick et al., (2019) that utilized data fromMTF are examples of studies using this fourth approach. Found a cohort by age interaction, with the decline in binge drinking among USadolescents during the 1980s, 1990s, and the early 2000s counterbalanced with afaster acceleration or rate of growth in drinking during the transition to adulthoodthrough age 26 (Jager et al., 2015, 2013). Further, exemplifyingthe insights that can be gained from this approach, Patrick et al., (2019) also documented historical shifts in peak ages ofbinge drinking as well as gender differences in those shifts.
- Although alcohol-related ED visits declined overallthrough 2014 (Naeger, 2017; White et al., 2018), girls aged 12 to 14 visited the ERfor alcohol-related incidents more frequently than boys the same age (Naeger, 2017).
- This means that after a woman and a man of the same weight drink the same amount of alcohol, the woman’s blood alcohol concentration (the amount of alcohol in the blood) will tend to be higher, putting her at greater risk for harm.
- These historical trends are drawn from five data sources,including the National Inpatient Sample (NIS), National Emergency Department Sample(NEDS), Treatment Episode Datasets (TEDS), the National Roadside Survey, and vitalstatistics data from the CDC on alcohol-related mortality.
- Put another way, to truly explicate population level trends indrinking (and how those trends vary by gender) a historical perspective isinsufficient (because historical effects vary markedly across developmental period)and a developmental perspective is insufficient (because developmental effects varymarkedly across historical time).
Given thecomplexity of the intersection of other demographic characteristics with gender andtime, a broader effort to understand interactions across social class and race isneeded. Within these broad trends, however, many data sources suggest importantdifferences by gender. While men traditionally have had higher rates of alcohol use,heavy drinking, and alcohol disorders (Keyes et al.,2011), this gender difference has narrowed over time, warranting increasedsurveillance of alcohol problems among women (Grucza etal., 2018). Gender convergence could arise in multiple ways; women could be increasingdrinking while men are decreasing, both men and women could be increasing with womenincreasing at a faster rate, or men and women could both be decreasing, with womendecreasing at a slower rate.
However, at this age, the prevalenceof binge drinking, high intensity drinking, and alcohol-related ED visits remainssubstantially higher among young men than young women (Naeger, 2017; Patrick andTerry-McElrath, 2017; Terry-McElrath andPatrick, 2016). These studies are largely descriptive, with littlestatistical quantification of the magnitude of gender differences. Most descriptivesurveillance studies do not explicitly test for gender convergences and divergences,making conclusions about the patterning of trends across time speculative. Further,few studies disaggregated adults into sufficiently refined age categories tounderstand the nuances of increased drinking across different segments of adulthood.Further, prevalence studies that do not present data over time by birth cohort maylead to inaccurate conclusions about particular age groups if several cohorts aredriving trends. Ifseveral cohorts are engaging in heavier drinking throughout their lifecourse, then afocus on those cohorts, rather than on particular age groups, is needed. Further,these cohorts will likely need alcohol services and develop alcohol-relatedillnesses at a higher rate than other cohorts.
Understanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Cohort effects occur when individuals who are born around the same time(birth cohorts) have higher alcohol use in adolescence, and maintain higher alcoholuse throughout the life course than other birth cohorts (Keyes et al., 2011). As the papers in this reviewsuggest, evidence indicates that US cohorts born in the late 1970s and early 1980shave higher alcohol consumption than earlier- and later-born cohorts (Kerr et al., 2012; Keyes and Miech, 2013) across the entire life course thatthey have been observed. The late 1970s-early 1980s birth cohorts have emerged asheavy drinking adults across two independent data sources (Kerr et al., 2012; Keyesand Miech, 2013). Further, examining cohort effects by socio-economicstatus, increased consumption among women born in the late 1970s through 1980sprimarily occurred among women with the highest levels of education. However, thesecohorts are not exclusively those at higher risk of adverse outcomes, compared toother cohorts that have been observed in the past decade.
- Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause an array of physical and mental birth defects, and is the leading preventable cause of mental retardation in the United States.
- Survey sources among adults are more diverse in sampling strategies.
- Alcohol misuse at an early age increases the risk of developing AUD.
FASD can cause a range of neurodevelopmental and physical effects in the child after birth. Women are more likely than men to suffer from mood, anxiety, and eating disorders that may benefit from being treated at the same time as the substance abuse disorder. However, few substance abuse treatment programs provide adequate treatment of psychiatric disorders.
- Women are more likely than men to suffer from mood, anxiety, and eating disorders that may benefit from being treated at the same time as the substance abuse disorder.
- Moststudies that present rates of alcohol-related outcomes across time and age do notdistinguish between period and cohort effects, though among those that do, availableevidence suggests few strong period effects influencing rates of alcohol consumptionin the past decade.
- Yet limited evidence on the matter was available, because many studies on the outcome of substance abuse treatment conducted before the 1990s enrolled only men.
For Women and Alcoholism other outcomes, there were not substantial historicalincreases (e.g. prevalence of alcohol use disorders; mean drinking days), but thesesame outcomes declined among men and but not among women. Research shows that alcohol use and misuse among women are increasing. While alcohol misuse by anyone presents serious public health concerns, women who drink have a higher risk of certain alcohol-related problems compared to men.
Yet when considering all adults together (i.e., ages 18+), there has beena general historical increase in alcohol use disorders among women and men, with agreater increase among women. Alcohol use and binge drinking are increasing amongolder adults as well, with greater increases among women. Together, these resultsindicate that more adult women are now binge drinking compared to previousgenerations, suggesting that contemporary adult women face elevated risks of harmrelated to drinking.
Recent Comments