Gap Closing Between Men, Women in Alcohol Consumption Patterns

According to new data from researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the drinking behaviors of men and women are converging in several key areas.

The data, which were published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, provide a detailed and systematic analysis of drinking trends between 2002 and 2012, which could be useful in developing treatment and intervention programs.

Between 2002 and 2012, the percentage of women classified as current drinkers (at least one drink in the past month) rose from 44.9 to 48.3 percent. Further, the average number of drinking days a month rose from 6.8 to 7.3 days, and the percentage of women who engaged in binge drinking increased from 15.1 to 16.2 percent. During this same period, the rates for men dropped or remained stable in these categories.

The gap for alcohol-related problems also narrowed, though in this case the rates for both men and women fell over the decade.

The percentage of women who met the criteria for an alcohol use disorder (either dependency or abuse as classified in DSM-IV) dropped from 4.9 to 4.6 percent (men dropped from 10.7 to 9 percent) while women who reported driving under the influence in the past year dropped from 10.3 to 7.9 percent (men dropped from 19 to 14.4 percent).

Lead study author Aaron White, Ph.D., a senior scientific advisor to the NIAAA director, pointed out that the data did reveal some positive trends for both women and men, especially among younger people. The percentage of men and women under 21 who abstained from all drinking rose noticeably, as did the average age taking a first drink; binge drinking also dropped among underage men and women between 2002 and 2012.

“Over the last few decades, excessive drinking among young adults in college has become a serious concern, and the data suggest that progress has been made on this front,” White told Psychiatric News. “At the same time, alcohol use increased among 18- to 25-year-old females not in college while decreasing among males in this age group. We know very little about why this increase is occurring or what the consequences might be.”

Another concerning trend according to White is the rising percentage of teens (aged 12 to 17) who combine marijuana and alcohol use, which increased from 14.1 to 18.4 percent in women and from 13.2 to 19.7 percent in men.

Men aged 18 to 25 also saw a sharp rise in the combined use of marijuana and alcohol, while the prevalence in this age group of women was steady—thus providing the only measure in which the gender gap between men and women actually increased.

Factors such as being unmarried, not pregnant, and having a job were associated with higher drinking rates among younger women (aged 21 to 34), White noted. However, even when considering these factors in the data, drinking rates for women have been rising since 2002, so the increased prevalence is not simply due to women’s having more income and delaying family life.

This study was supported by NIAAA’s Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System project. ■