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AimResearch finds women who terminate pregnancies are at risk of subsequent problematic alcohol use, but methodological and conceptual problems are common. This study examines the relationship between receiving versus being denied termination and subsequent alcohol use.MethodsData are from a prospective, longitudinal study of US women seeking pregnancy terminations. Participants presented just before a facility's gestational limit and received terminations (Near Limits, n = 452) or just beyond the limit and were denied terminations (Turnaways, n = 231).ResultsGroups did not differ in alcohol use before pregnancy recognition. One week after termination-seeking (Turnaways still pregnant, Near Limits not), Turnaways had lower odds of any and binge alcohol use, but did not differ on 1+ problem symptoms. Over 2.5 years, both Near Limits and Turnaways increased any and binge alcohol use, with Turnaways increasing more rapidly. The groups did not converge again on any or binge use. For Near Limits, any alcohol use surpassed the pre-pregnancy recognition level, but binge use did not. Changes in problem symptoms over time were not evident for either group.ConclusionWhile women who had a termination were more likely to report any and binge alcohol use than women who had a child, this difference was due to a reduction in consumption among women having the child rather than an increase in consumption among women having a termination. Thus, assertions that having a termination leads women to increase alcohol use to cope with having had a termination are not supported.

Introduction A large research literature shows that women consistently consume less alcohol than men, and they experience fewer social problems resulting from drinking than men, but these gender differences vary [...]

Although there are wide differences in alcohol use patterns among countries, men are consistently more likely than women to be drinkers and to drink heavily. Studies of alcohol use among [...]

This study assesses whether severity of physical partner aggression is associated with alcohol consumption at the time of the incident, and whether the relationship between drinking and aggression severity is the same for men and women and across different countries. National or large regional general population surveys were conducted in 13 countries as part of the GENACIS collaboration. Respondents described the most physically aggressive act done to them by a partner in the past 2 years, rated the severity of aggression on a scale of 1 to 10, and reported whether either partner had been drinking when the incident occurred. Severity ratings were significantly higher for incidents in which one or both partners had been drinking compared to incidents in which neither partner had been drinking. The relationship did not differ significantly for men and women or by country. We conclude that alcohol consumption may serve to potentiate violence when it occurs, and this pattern holds across a diverse set of cultures. Further research is needed that focuses explicitly on the nature of alcohol's contribution to intimate partner aggression. Prevention needs to address the possibility of enhanced dangers of intimate partner violence when the partners have been drinking and eliminate any systemic factors that permit alcohol to be used as an excuse. Clinical services for perpetrators and victims of partner violence need to address the role of drinking practices, including the dynamics and process of aggressive incidents that occur when one or both partners have been drinking. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)

Objective: This study examined the relationships between childhood and family background variables, including sexual and physical abuse, and subsequent alcohol abuse and psychological distress in adult lesbians. Methodology: Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate relationships between childhood sexual and physical abuse and parenting variables and latent measures of lifetime alcohol abuse and psychological distress in a large community-based sample of lesbians. Results: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) directly predicted lifetime alcohol abuse, and childhood physical abuse (CPA) directly predicted lifetime psychological distress. In addition, CSA indirectly increased the risk of lifetime alcohol abuse through its negative effect on age at first heterosexual intercourse. Childhood physical abuse had only indirect effects on lifetime alcohol abuse through its strong relationship to lifetime psychological distress. Parental drinking problems and parental strictness directly predicted lifetime psychological distress; parental drinking problems indirectly predicted lifetime alcohol abuse through the mediators of age of drinking onset and lifetime psychological distress. White lesbians, younger lesbians, and those with lower levels of education were at greatest risk of psychological distress. Conclusion: While the cross-sectional design precludes causal conclusions, study findings--especially those related to CSA--are consistent with previous research on predominantly heterosexual women in the general population. Lesbians who experienced CSA were at heightened risk of lifetime alcohol abuse and those who experienced CPA were at heightened risk of lifetime psychological distress relative to lesbians without abuse histories. Given the dearth of research on childhood abuse and sexual orientation, studies are needed that examine the similarities and differences between lesbians' and heterosexual women's experiences of, and responses to, childhood abuse.

Objective: In the present study, we sought to identify trajectories of symptoms of potential alcohol dependence (AD) among adult sexual minority women (SMW). Theoretical correlates were examined in relation to the empirically identified trajectories. Method: Data were collected at three time points between 2000 and 2012 fromSMWdrinkers (n = 434) enrolled in a longitudinal study (M Age = 37.49 at baseline, SD = 11.55). Using an accelerated-cohort longitudinal design, latent growth curve mixture models identified homogeneous patterns of any past-year symptoms of potential AD. Correlates of trajectories included alcohol-related developmental risk factors, adult roles, and exposure to minority stressors. Results: Three trajectories were identified that captured risk of symptoms of potential AD over time, reflecting: (a) relatively consistent, low risk over time; (b) deceleration in risk throughout adulthood; (c) relatively persistent, high risk over time. Consistent with prior work, SMW drinkers who reported higher levels of perceived stigma or masculinity showed persistently high risk of reporting at least one past-year symptom of potential AD. Conclusions: Most SMW drinkers report deceleration in risk of AD symptoms over time. Findings have implications for prevention and intervention efforts tailored to SMW drinkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though the prevalence of alcohol use in the United States generally is lower among women compared with men (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA] 2011), this gap [...]

Objective: Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) represent a significant public health problem. The influence of the male partner's alcohol consumption patterns and the quality of the partner's intimate relationship might be important factors to consider in the design of successful FASD prevention programs. Method: As part of the Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, 166 pregnant women in two regions in Ukraine participated in an in-person interview at an average gestational age of 18 19 weeks. Subjects were classified cross-sectionally as abstainers/light drinkers (n = 80), defined as low or no consumption of alcohol in the periconceptional period and none in the most recent 2 weeks of pregnancy; discontinuers (n = 43), defined as moderate to heavy alcohol use in the periconceptional period but none during the most recent 2 weeks of pregnancy; or continuing drinkers (n = 43), defined as continued moderate to heavy alcohol use within the most recent 2 weeks of pregnancy. Women also reported on their partner's drinking behavior and on the quality of their intimate relationship. Results: Heavy paternal drinking was significantly associated with both continuing maternal drinking in the most recent 2 weeks (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 34.1; 95% CI [5.9, 195.8]) and being a risky drinker only around conception (adjusted OR = 27.0; 95% CI [5.0, 147.7]). In addition, women who consumed alcohol during pregnancy had lower mean scores for satisfaction with partners' relationship and ability to discuss problems (p < .05) compared with light drinkers/abstainers. Conclusions: This study suggests that development of partner-based interventions, as opposed to those solely focused on maternal drinking, might be warranted as a strategy to prevent FASD. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs. 72, 536-544, 2011), DESPITE PUBLIC HEALTH EFFORTS to minimize alcohol consumption among pregnant women, recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that 11%-12% of pregnant U.S. women consume [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.07.004 Byline: Tonda L. Hughes, Laura A. Szalacha, Timothy P. Johnson, Kelly E. Kinnison, Sharon C. Wilsnack, Young Cho Keywords: Adult sexual assault; Childhood sexual abuse; Hazardous drinking; Revictimization; Sexual orientation Abbreviations: ASA, Adult Sexual Assault; CSA, Childhood Sexual Abuse; CHLEW, Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women; NSHLEW, National Survey of Health and Life Experiences of Women Abstract: Although research shows that sexual minority women report high rates of lifetime sexual victimization and high rates of hazardous drinking, investigators have yet to explore the relationships between sexual victimization and hazardous drinking in this population. In addition, because the rates of these problems may vary within the sexual minority population, we examined and compared relationships between sexual victimization and hazardous drinking in exclusively heterosexual and sexual minority (mostly heterosexual, bisexual, mostly lesbian and exclusively lesbian) women.

Objective: Studies of alcohol use among lesbians have typically used convenience samples with uncertain generalizability or general population samples with small numbers of lesbians. Here we compare rates of high-risk and problem drinking in a large sample of Chicago-area lesbians and a national sample of age- and education-matched urban heterosexual women. Method: Data came from comparable face-to-face interviews with 405 self-identified Chicago-area lesbians and with 548 urban women from a U.S. national sample. Rates of hazardous drinking (heavy episodic drinking, intoxication, drinking-related problems, alcohol-dependence symptoms) were compared for exclusively heterosexual, mostly heterosexual, bisexual, mostly lesbian, and exclusively lesbian subgroups. Results: Exclusively heterosexual women had lower rates than did all other women on all measures of hazardous drinking. Exclusively heterosexual women also reported less childhood sexual abuse, early alcohol use, and depression. Bisexual women reported more hazardous drinking indicators and depression than did exclusively or mostly lesbian women. Conclusions: These results indicate that sexual minority women are likely to have elevated risks of hazardous drinking. The differences between lesbian and bisexual women suggest that more attention is needed to subgroup differences among sexual minority women. Health care providers need to know the sexual identity of their patients and how their sexual identity may affect their risks for hazardous drinking. Higher rates of childhood sexual abuse, early drinking, and depression among sexual minority women suggest that these experiences may be important in assessing and treating problems related to their drinking, and in developing prevention and early intervention strategies., ALTHOUGH RESEARCH ON DRINKING and drinking-related problems in women has increased dramatically in recent decades (e.g., Plant, 1997; Wilsnack and Beckman, 1984), less attention has been given to similarities and [...]

Objective: Although research on alcohol use among women has increased dramatically during the past several decades, relatively few studies have focused on lesbians, and almost none have included sufficient numbers of older lesbians or lesbians of color to permit comparative analyses. Using data from the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women Study (CHLEW), we examined drinking patterns and problems in a large and diverse sample of lesbians. Method: Structured interviews were conducted with 447 community-residing adult women (ages 18-83) who self-identified as lesbians (48% non-Hispanic white, 28% non-Hispanic black, and 20% Hispanic/Latina; the remainder were in the 'other' category). We used multivariate logistic regressions to examine and compare the prevalence of lifetime and 12-month problem-drinking indicators across four age and three racial/ethnic groups. Results: Unlike findings from general population surveys, in which women's rates of drinking tend to decrease with age, we found relatively few differences across the four age groups of CHLEW respondents. We also found no significant differences between Hispanic and white lesbians on any of the lifetime or 12-month problem-drinking indicators and only a few significant differences between white and black lesbians. Conclusions: As with heterosexual women, patterns of drinking and drinking-related problems among lesbians vary by age and race/ ethnicity. However, given our findings of substantially smaller variations among lesbians than among women in the general population, research is needed that examines in greater depth the intersections between age, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and drinking. Understanding how these sociocultural factors interact with each other and with other known risk factors is important for identifying population groups at greatest risk for developing alcohol-related problems., HEAVY DRINKING AMONG LESBIANS is perceived to be a serious and prevalent problem (Solarz, 1999; Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). However, although research on alcohol use among women [...]

Objective: Women's alcohol consumption in the United States has aroused increased public concern, despite a scarcity of evidence of any major increases in women's drinking. To help resolve this apparent inconsistency, we examined patterns of historical and age-related changes in U.S. women's drinking from 1981 to 2001. Method: In national surveys of women in 1981, 1991, and 2001, we measured the prevalence of 12-month and 30-day drinking, heavy episodic drinking (HED; six or more drinks per day), and subjective intoxication. Using these data, we analyzed time and age trends for six 10-year age groups in each survey, taking into account effects of repeated observations and possible covariates (ethnicity, marital status, and education). Results: Women's 12-month drinking did not change significantly between 1981 and 1991, but it became more prevalent in the total samples between 1991 and 2001. Among 12-month drinkers, however, 30-day abstinence increased from 1981 to 2001 (particularly among women drinkers ages 21-30). From 1981 to 2001, HED declined (particularly among women drinkers ages 21-30), but intoxication became more prevalent (particularly among women drinkers ages 21-50). Drinking, HED, and intoxication became consistently less prevalent with increasing age. Conclusions: Among drinkers, increases in 30-day abstinence and declines in HED suggest that recent alarms about women's drinking may have been overstated. The contrast of lower rates of HED but increased reports of intoxication may indicate that women are more alert to alcohol's effects now than in earlier decades., FEW PATTERNS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR are universal, recurring in every known era and culture. One apparently universal pattern is that men consume more alcohol, and get into more trouble because [...]

Gender's influence on drinking patterns and alcohol-related problems has attracted research attention on an increasingly international scale in recent years. One such research effort, an international collaborative research project called [...]

As part of an ongoing longitudinal study of the antecedents and consequences of women's drinking in the U.S. adult female population, women who participated in a 1991 survey provided data in 1996 about their experiences of binge eating, intense dieting, and weight concerns (N = 709, ages 26 to 54 in 1996). Five percent of the women reported binge eating in the past 30 days, 29% reported that they had engaged in intense dieting or fasting in the past 3 months, and 1.5% of the women met criteria for nonpurging bulimia nervosa (binge eating and intense dieting). Forty-three percent reported that their weight and shape were either very important or more important than anything else. After controlling for 1991 occurrence of binge eating, predictors of binge eating in 1996 were past 12-month use of illicit drugs (mostly marijuana) and greater occurrence of drinking to intoxication. A body mass index (BMI) x 1991 binge eating interaction indicated that having a higher BMI in 1991 predicted the onset of binge eating by 1996, but it did not predict the continuation (chronicity) of binge eating 5 years later. Year 1991 predictors of intense dieting in 1996 were having weight concerns, being unmarried, having used illicit drugs in the past 12 months, and having parents who had more than a high school education. Only a younger age in 1991 and having a lower BMI predicted 1996 weight concerns, after controlling for weight concerns 5 years earlier. These results indicate that risk factors for the onset and chronicity of disordered eating behaviors and attitudes.

Objective: Clinical studies have found elevated rates of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in women seeking treatment for alcohol or drug abuse, and elevated rates of alcohol and drug disorders among female psychiatric patients with histories of CSA. The present study examines the relationship of CSA to women's use of alcohol and other drugs in a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. women. Method: As part of a national survey of women's drinking, 1,099 women were asked about sexual experiences occurring before age 18. Women who reported sexual experiences classified as abusive were compared to women without histories of CSA on nine measures of substance use, self-perception of anxiousness, the occurrence of one or more lifetime depressive episodes, five measures of sexual dysfunction, and early onset of masturbation and consensual sexual intercourse. Results: Results of logit analyses, controlling for age, ethnicity and parental education, indicated that women with histories of CSA were significantly more likely than women without CSA histories to report recent alcohol use, intoxication, drinking-related problems and alcohol dependence symptoms; lifetime use of prescribed psychoactive drugs and illicit drugs; depression and anxiety; pain that prevented intercourse; and consensual sexual intercourse before age 15. Conclusions: Findings from this U.S. national sample support those of previous clinical studies and suggest that women's experience of sexual abuse in childhood may be an important risk factor for later substance abuse, psychopathology and sexual dysfunction. Implications of these findings for future research, treatment and prevention are discussed. (J. Stud. Alcohol 58: 264-271, 1997), The experience of childhood sexual abuse is significantly linked to higher adult incidences of drug and alcohol abuse, sexual dysfunction and depression for 1,099 US women surveyed in 1991. Respondents who reported childhood sexual abuse also experienced an earlier onset of consensual sexual intercourse than those not reporting such abuse. Over one-third of respondents admitting sexual abuse as children also reported long-term use of at least one illegal drug. Theoretical models that clearly explain the linkage between childhood sexual abuse and substance abuse problems must be developed., The proliferation of research on childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in recent years has included attention to a variety of possible long-term consequences of early sexual abuse. Major types of sequelae [...]

A review of the literature on the prevalence of alcohol use and problems among lesbians reveals that the few studies yielding information on this population are beset by design and methodological problems. Those factors possibly associated with higher risk status of lesbians are identified, as are gaps in the literature, and implications for clinical practice and research are discussed.

Until now, researchers have given relatively little attention to the drinking behavior of lesbians. Studies focusing on women's alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse have rarely asked about sexual orientation, [...]

More than 50 percent of women in the United States drink alcohol. In general, they abstain more and drink less frequently than men. Women's drinking behavior is determined by demographic [...]

The beliefs that alcohol is an aphrodisiac and sexual disinhibitor appear throughout recorded history, from Old Testament scriptures, through ancient Greek and Roman writings and 19th-century temperance tracts, to the […]

Background Longitudinal studies of adult drinking have typically excluded or sampled only small numbers of problem drinking women, and have measured a limited range of influences on women's drinking behavior. Methods. To study the development of women's problem drinking over time, five-year follow-up interviews were conducted with two groups of respondents from a 1981 national survey of women's drinking: 143 problem drinkers and 157 nonproblem drinkers. Regression analyses examined effects of 1981 predictors on six measures of 1986 problem drinking, for problem drinkers and nonproblem drinkers separately. Results. Among 1981 nonproblem drinkers, predictors of onset of problem drinking indicators by 1986 included younger age, cohabiting, and lifetime use of drugs other than alcohol. The most consistent predictor of persistent chronic) problem drinking was sexual dysfunction; other predictors included being employed part-time or never married, and experiencing recent depression. Divorce or separation predicted lower levels of subsequent alcohol dependence among problem drinkers. Conclusions. Findings suggest that different personal and social factors predict the onset of problem drinking as compared with its continuation, and point to nontraditional life-style, sexual dysfunction, and role deprivation as potentially important variables. (Am J Public Health 1991;81:305-318), Most long-term studies of adult drinking have included only or primarily men, in part because a smaller proportion of women are heavy drinkers. Two issues were investigated in this five-year longitudinal study: the factors important in predicting the onset of problem drinking in women, and the factors important in predicting the chronicity (continuation) of the problem. Subjects were categorized as problem drinkers (PDs; 143 women) or nonproblem drinkers (NPDs; 157 women) according to their alcohol consumption, drinking-related problems, and alcohol dependence symptoms. They were questioned both in 1981 and 1986 about drinking behavior and history, as well as about demographic, psychological, social, and family characteristics. The results, reported extensively, indicate that problem drinker status in 1986 was more likely for those who, in 1981: were younger (between 21 and 34); lived with a man to whom they were not married; or had histories of using drugs other than alcohol. The factor that most strongly predicted whether PD women in 1981 would still be PD in 1986 was sexual dysfunction; other important predictors of chronic problem drinking were working part-time, having a recent depression, and never having been married. Factors that predicted a lower risk of future alcohol dependence among PDs were divorce and separation. Overall, drinking patterns appeared to be influenced most by situational or life-style variables, while negative consequences of drinking seemed to be most influenced by psychological variables. Women may continue to drink for different reasons than the reasons that they begin drinking. The possible contribution of nontraditional lifestyles to women's drinking is evaluated. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)