High Intensity Drinking (HID) Assessed by Maximum Quantity Consumed Is an Important Pattern Measure Adding Predictive Value in Higher and Lower Income Societies for Modeling Alcohol-Related Problems.

Adjusting for demographics and standard drinking measures, High Intensity Drinking (HID), indexed by the maximum quantity consumed in a single day in the past 12 months, may be valuable in predicting alcohol dependence other harms across high and low income societies. The data consisted of 17 surveys of adult (15,460 current drinkers; 71% of total surveyed) in Europe (3), the Americas (8), Africa (2), and Asia/Australia (4). Gender-disaggregated country analyses used Poison regression to investigate whether HID (8-11, 12-23, 24+ drinks) was incrementally influential, beyond log drinking volume and HED (Heavy Episodic Drinking, or 5+ days), in predicting drinking problems, adjusting for age and marital status.

Associations of adult roles and minority stressors with trajectories of alcohol dependence symptoms throughout adulthood among sexual minority women.

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 from SMW drinkers ( = 434) enrolled in a longitudinal study ( Age = 37.

The Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women Couples Study: Protocol for a Study of Stress, Hazardous Drinking, and Intimate Partner Aggression Among Sexual Minority Women and Their Partners.

Background: Large gaps exist in research on alcohol use and intimate partner aggression (IPA) among sexual minority women (SMW; eg, lesbian, bisexual). Dyadic research with SMW and their partners can illuminate how couple-level factors operate in conjunction with individual-level factors to shape well-being in this understudied and vulnerable population. Given the traditionally gendered lens with which women are primarily viewed as victims and men as perpetrators, understanding the dynamics of IPA in same-sex female couples can also advance research and practice related to IPA more generally.

Alcohol use among sexual minority women: Methods used and lessons learned in the 20-Year Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women Study.

Background: Two decades ago, there was almost no research on alcohol use among sexual minority women (SMW, e.g., lesbian, bisexual).

Improving measurement of harms from others' drinking: A key informant study on type and severity of harm.

Aims: Some types of harms experienced because of others' drinking (AHTO) may produce greater negative effects than other harms. However, AHTO survey items were developed to measure type, not severity, of harm. We aimed to compare the perceived severity of a comprehensive list of AHTO items to assess consistency in subjective ratings of severity, facilitate a more nuanced analysis and identify strategies to improve measurement of AHTO in epidemiological surveys.

Research on alcohol and other drug (AOD) use among sexual minority women: A global scoping review.

Until the 1980s, the limited research on alcohol and other drug (AOD) use among sexual minority women (SMW) focused on alcohol and used samples recruited from gay bars, resulting in inflated estimates of hazardous drinking. Over the past several decades the number of AOD studies with SMW has increased dramatically. To characterize this literature, we conducted a scoping review to answer the following questions: What do we know, and what are the gaps in research about AOD use among SMW? We searched multiple electronic databases (Medline [PubMed], CINAHL, PsycInfo, and Web of Science) for peer-reviewed research articles about AOD use among adult SMW published between January 1, 2000 and May 31, 2017.

Alcohol's Secondhand Harms in the United States: New Data on Prevalence and Risk Factors.

Objective: This study examined a range of indicators of alcohol's harm to others (AHTO) among U.S. adults and assessed sociodemographic and alcohol-related risk factors for AHTO.

The GENAHTO Project (Gender and Alcohol's Harm to Others): Design and methods for a multinational study of alcohol's harm to persons other than the drinker.

Aims: Most alcohol research has focused on how drinking harms the drinker. Research on alcohol's harms to others (AHTO) has studied primarily single or small groups of countries. This article describes the methodology of a new multinational study - GENAHTO - of how social and cultural contexts are related to AHTO, from the perspectives of both perpetrators and victims.

The Harms That Drinkers Cause: Regional Variations Within Countries.

Aims: Multinational studies of drinking and the harms it may cause typically treat countries as homogeneous. Neglecting variation within countries may lead to inaccurate conclusions about drinking behavior, and particularly about harms drinking causes for people other than the drinkers. This study is the first to examine whether drinkers' self-reported harms to others from drinking vary regionally within multiple countries.

The Gender Difference in the Association between Early Onset of Drinking and Problem Drinking between the U.S. and Japan.

Using comparable survey data from the GENACIS Project, collected from representative samples of people aged 20 to 70 years old in the U.S. (=2,598) and Japan (=1,734), this study examined, across these two diverse societies, the gender difference in the association between the early onset of drinking and the development of drinking problems.

Relationship Status and Drinking-Related Outcomes in a Community Sample of Lesbian and Bisexual Women.

Although marriage tends to be protective against hazardous drinking among women in the general population, few studies have compared drinking rates, levels, or problems based on relationship status among sexual minority women (SMW; lesbian, bisexual). We examined associations between relationship status (committed relationship/cohabiting; committed/not cohabiting; single) and past-year drinking outcomes using data from a diverse sample of 696 SMW interviewed in wave 3 of the 17-year longitudinal Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women study. The mean age of SMW in the sample was 40.

Gender Differences in Binge Drinking.

Just as binge drinking rates differ for men and women, the predictors and consequences of binge drinking vary by gender as well. This article examines these differences and how binge drinking definitions and research samples and methods may influence findings. It also describes the relationship between age and binge drinking among men and women, and how drinking culture and environment affect this relationship.

Women's Self-Perceived Similarity to Their Mother and Associations with Patterns of Alcohol Misuse over 20 Years.

Aims: This study examined transgenerational transmission of risk for female alcohol misuse. Women's perceived similarity to their mother/father in adulthood was examined in terms of its influence on the expected association between perceived maternal alcohol use and female offsprings' trajectories of alcohol misuse. We hypothesized that a daughter's self-perceived similarity to her mother, in instances where her mother was perceived to be a frequent- or problem-drinker, would be associated with an increase in the daughter's count of negative consequences from alcohol use and potential symptoms of alcohol dependence across adulthood.

Harm from Known Others' Drinking by Relationship Proximity to the Harmful Drinker and Gender: A Meta-Analysis Across 10 Countries.

Background: Drinking is a common activity with friends or at home but is associated with harms within both close and extended relationships. This study investigates associations between having a close proximity relationship with a harmful drinker and likelihood of experiencing harms from known others' drinking for men and women in 10 countries.

Methods: Data about alcohol's harms to others from national/regional surveys from 10 countries were used.

Depression and Victimization in a Community Sample of Bisexual and Lesbian Women: An Intersectional Approach.

Mental health inequities among bisexual and lesbian women are well-documented. Compared to heterosexual women, both bisexual and lesbian women are more likely to report lifetime depressive disorders, with bisexual women often faring the worst on mental health outcomes. Risk factors for depression, such as victimization in childhood and adulthood, are also more prevalent among bisexual women.

Gender and Country Differences in Alcohol-Aggression Expectancy and Alcohol-Related Intimate Partner Violence.

Alcohol use is associated with a higher rate of violent offending among males and a higher rate of violent victimization among females, especially for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Using comparable self-reported data from the GENACIS Project, the present study examines between the United States (=2,363) and Japan (=1,660) whether the expected gender difference in alcohol-related IPV is explained by alcohol-aggression expectancy. The results indicate that though males are more likely than females to expect that alcohol would make them more aggressive, alcohol-aggression expectancy has a very little to do with the gender difference in alcohol-related IPV.

Alcohol Use, Age, and Self-Rated Mental and Physical Health in a Community Sample of Lesbian and Bisexual Women.

Purpose: Given that self-perceptions of mental and physical health are important predictors of health outcomes and well-being, particularly among older adults, this study focuses on associations among age, alcohol consumption, and indicators of both self-rated mental health and self-rated physical health in a sample of sexual minority women (SMW).

Methods: This study uses a community sample of SMW to examine the associations among age, drinking, and self-rated mental and physical health.

Results: Heavy drinking among older adult SMW (55+) was less prevalent than among young SMW, ages 18-25 and ages 26-39, but similar to rates reported among SMW ages 40-54.

The Effects of Sexual Orientation on the Relationship Between Victimization Experiences and Smoking Status Among US Women.

Introduction: This study examined the relationships between experiences of childhood and adulthood victimization and current smoking among heterosexual and sexual minority women. The main hypothesis was that victimization experiences would predict current smoking status. Further, we hypothesized that the effect of childhood victimization on self-reported smoker status would be mediated by adult victimization.

Validating a Hazardous Drinking Index in a Sample of Sexual Minority Women: Reliability, Validity, and Predictive Accuracy.

Background: Although sexual minority women (SMW) are at increased risk of hazardous drinking (HD), efforts to validate HD measures have yet to focus on this population.

Objectives: Validation of a 13-item Hazardous Drinking Index (HDI) in a large sample of SMW.

Methods: Data were from 700 adult SMW (age 18-82) enrolled in the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women study.

Gender differences and gender convergence in alcohol use over the past three decades (1984-2008), The HUNT Study, Norway.

Background: To examine changes in men's and women's drinking in Norway over a 20-year period, in order to learn whether such changes have led to gender convergence in alcohol drinking.

Methods: Repeated cross-sectional studies (in 1984-86, 1995-97, and 2006-08) of a large general population living in a geographically defined area (county) in Norway. Information about alcohol drinking is based on self-report questionnaires.

Childhood Victimization, Internalizing Symptoms, and Substance Use Among Women Who Identify as Mostly Heterosexual.

Purpose: The current article examines substance use behavior and associated factors that contribute to risk of substance misuse, such as history of childhood victimization and reports of internalizing symptoms among women from various sexual identity subgroups.

Methods: We recruited a convenience sample of 332 community and university student women (M age = 20.88).

Sexual Identity Mobility and Depressive Symptoms: A Longitudinal Analysis of Moderating Factors Among Sexual Minority Women.

Sexual minority identity (bisexual, lesbian) is a known risk factor for depression in women. This study examined a facet of minority stress prevalent among women-sexual identity mobility-as an identity-related contributor to higher levels of depressive symptoms. We used three waves of data from the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women study, a longitudinal study of sexual minority women (N = 306).

The Influence of Gender and Sexual Orientation on Alcohol Use and Alcohol-Related Problems: Toward a Global Perspective.

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 sexual minorities (SMs), however, reflect a more complex picture. Such research has found higher rates of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems among SM persons than among heterosexuals and greater differences between SM and heterosexual women than between SM and heterosexual men.

Alcohol use and menopause.

Clinicians should periodically assess their menopausal patients' alcohol use. Specific health hazards from excessive alcohol consumption, as well as potential benefits of low-level consumption (for cardiovascular disease, bone health, and type 2 diabetes), should be discussed with their patients who drink. The information in this Practice Pearl can help clinicians provide evidence-based guidance about alcohol consumption and its relationship to common health concerns.