Citation

Beckman LJ. J. Stud. Alcohol 1975; 36(7): 797-824.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1975, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

240065

Abstract

Research on the social and psychological aspects of female alcoholism is summarized. The literature review is limited to English-language reports appearing since 1950. Women alcoholics, conservatively estimated to comprise 20% of the total number of alcoholics, are often lumped together with male alcoholics in both research and treatment efforts. However, women have been noted to show differences in the pattern and etiology of excessive drinking. In general, women alcoholics have a high incidence of alcoholic parents and are more likely than men to begin drinking heavily in response to a specific environmental stress such as divorce of death in the family. They tend to become problem drinkers at a later age than men, and many have more severely disturbed personalities. Female alcoholism has also been linked to low self-esteem and sex role confusion. However, women alcoholics are not a homogeneous group. There are distinct subgroups differentiated on the basis of race, socioeconomic class, and existence of prior psychological disorders. Some research has related the onset of female alcoholism to dysmenorrhea and menopause, and has pinpointed a relationship between eipsides of heavy drinking and premenstrual tension. Additionally, alcoholism has been found to be highly correlated with specific gyncological disorders such as repeated spontaneous abortion and infertility. However, it has not bee possible to separate out the effects of heavy drinking on physiological functioning from difficulties such as a hormonal imbalance that precede or cause the alcoholism. Future research efforts should extend the use of appropriate control groups. Areas in which more research is needed include the level of masculine identification among women alcoholics, the impact of the changing roles of women, and the characteristics of the various subgroups of female alcoholics, the impact of the changing roles of women, and the characteristics of the various subgroups of female alcoholics. Such research could be used to improve the low treatment effectiveness and poor prognosis that some studies have noted among women alcoholics.

Language: en