A Multilevel Analysis of Regional and Gender Differences in the Drinking Behavior of 23 Countries.

: Drinking behavior differs not only among countries, but also among regions within a country. However, the extent of such variation and the interplay between gender and regional differences in drinking have not been explored and are addressed in this study. : Data stem from 105,061 individuals from 23 countries of the GENACIS data set.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Gender differences in the factor structure of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test in multinational general population surveys.

Background: Most gender-specific studies of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) have focused on gender differences in thresholds for hazardous drinking. This study examines gender differences in the factor structure of the AUDIT in general-population surveys.

Methods: General-population surveys from 15 countries provided 27,478 current drinkers' responses to the AUDIT and related measures.

Times to drink: cross-cultural variations in drinking in the rhythm of the week.

Objectives: The time of drinking in terms of daytime versus evening and weekday versus weekend is charted for regular drinkers in 14 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Oceania.

Methods: National or regional adult population surveys from the GENACIS project.

Results: The weekly rhythm of drinking varies greatly between societies.

Cohabitation, gender, and alcohol consumption in 19 countries: a multilevel analysis.

We used an ecological paradigm and multilevel analytic techniques to analyze gender-specific relationships of cohabitation (versus marriage) to drinking in 19 countries (n = 32,922) and to "heavy episodic drinking" (HED) in 17 countries (n = 24,525) in surveys (1996-2004) from Gender, Alcohol, and Culture: An International Study. Cohabitation was associated with elevated risk of HED among drinkers of both genders, controlling for age, education, and societal characteristics. The association between cohabitation and HED tended to be stronger for female drinkers than for male drinkers.

Gender and alcohol consumption: patterns from the multinational GENACIS project.

Aims: To evaluate multinational patterns of gender- and age-specific alcohol consumption.

Design And Participants: Large general-population surveys of men's and women's drinking behavior (n's > 900) in 35 countries in 1997-2007 used a standardized questionnaire (25 countries) or measures comparable to those in the standardized questionnaire.

Measurements: Data from men and women in three age groups (18-34, 35-49, 50-65) showed the prevalence of drinkers, former drinkers, and lifetime abstainers; and the prevalence of high-frequency, high-volume, and heavy episodic drinking among current drinkers.

The influence of societal level factors on men's and women's alcohol consumption and alcohol problems.

Aims: To identify the pattern of gender differences in drinking across societies, and to its association with other societal characteristics.

Methods: The aggregated results of GENACIS project surveys in 29 countries were examined and were compared with other characteristics of these societies.

Results: In all the participating societies men's drinking was more prevalent and heavier than women's drinking.

Are U.S. women drinking less (or more)? Historical and aging trends, 1981-2001.

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.

Self-reports of forgetting and remembering childhood sexual abuse in a nationally representative sample of US women.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to describe patterns of forgetting and remembering childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a nationally representative sample of US adult women.

Method: The respondents were a national probability sample of 711 women, aged 26 years to 54 years, residing in noninstitutional settings in the contiguous 48 states. In a 1996 face-to-face interview survey, trained female interviewers asked each respondent whether she had experienced any sexual coercion by family members or nonfamily members while growing up; whether she believed that she had been sexually abused (by family members or others); and whether she had ever forgotten the CSA experiences and, if so, how she had subsequently remembered them.

Gender differences in alcohol consumption and adverse drinking consequences: cross-cultural patterns.

Aims: To examine the consistency and/or variability of gender differences in drinking behavior cross-culturally.

Design, Setting, Participants: Women's and men's responses in 16 general population surveys from 10 countries, analyzed by members of the International Research Group on Gender and Alcohol.

Measurements: Comparable measures of drinking, versus abstention, typical drinking frequencies and quantities, heavy episodic drinking, intoxication, morning drinking, and alcohol-related family and occupational problems.

Prevalence and risk factors for childhood sexual abuse in women: national survey findings.

Objective: We interviewed a U.S. national sample of women, aged 18 years and older to determine the prevalence and characteristics of childhood sexual abuse.

Should alcohol consumption measures be adjusted for gender differences?

Because of biological differences between men and women, the same quantity of alcohol consumed over the same time period produces higher blood alcohol levels (BALs) in women than in men. Some alcohol researchers have proposed that quantity and volume measures of alcohol consumption (e.g.

Ten-year prediction of women's drinking behavior in a nationally representative sample.

This study evaluates how well women's personal and social characteristics predict their drinking behavior over a 10-year period, using data from a national representative sample of 696 U.S. women interviewed in 1981 and 1991.

Childhood sexual abuse and bulimic behavior in a nationally representative sample.

Objectives: This study examines whether childhood sexual abuse is a significant risk factor for the development of bulimic behavior in women.

Methods: Interviews were conducted among a representative national sample of 1099 US women regarding their sexual experiences during childhood as well as their lifetime prevalence of bulimic behavior. Logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios to measure the contribution of childhood sexual abuse to the odds of several measures of bulimic behavior in the population, controlling for the respondent's age, ethnic group, and parents' educational level.

Drinking and problem drinking in US women. Patterns and recent trends.

General population surveys suggest that the percentage of US women who drink declined slightly during the 1980s. Comparisons of 1981 and 1991 national surveys using the same drinking measures show that fewer women drank heavily in 1991, and women drinkers drank less frequently and had fewer episodes of heavy drinking, although younger drinkers reported more frequent intoxication. Longitudinal analyses of 5-year changes in drinking behavior indicate that movement both into and out of problem drinking is greatest among women aged 21 to 34.

Reliability of retrospective self-reports of alcohol consumption among women: data from a U.S. national sample.

Drinking histories (retrospective self-reports) can be a valuable resource for time-ordered analyses of causes and consequences of drinking. However, there is a scarcity of data on the reliability of drinking histories from general population samples. We report here on the reliability and consistency of reported ages of onset and typical drinking frequencies, quantities and volume, from drinking histories provided in 1981 and 1986 by national samples of women drinkers with and without drinking problems.

How Women Drink: Epidemiology of Women's Drinking and Problem Drinking.

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 characteristics, such as age, ethnicity, employment, and marital status, as well as by individual and environmental risk factors.