Drinking in a London Suburb. III. Comparisons of Drinking Troubles among Men and Women

Abstract
The responses of 520 women to 25 questions on “troubles” with drinking were compared with those of 408 men, reported in the previous paper. Women reported the occurrence of only 15 of the 25 trouble items; the male:female ratio of the occurrence of the 15 troubles that both reported ranged from 2.5 to 13.2:1; 25 of the 408 men and 4 of the 520 women were labeled “problem drinkers” (5 or more troubles). In the week prior to the survey, 29% of the men and 51% of the women drank no alcohol; 33 and 40% drank the equivalent of 0.5 to 5 pints of beer; 17 and 9%, 5.5 to 10 pints; 8 and 1%, 10.5 to 15 pints; 13 and under 1%, over 15 pints. Men and women who drank the same quantity experienced no significant differences in the mean number of troubles. Troubles with drinking in women were related to high scores on the Neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory and on the “ataraxic motivation scale,” as they were among the men. In England and Wales in 1968, 74,226 men and 4844 women were arrested for drunkenness, a rate of 41.7 and 2.5 per 10,000 adults; 5034 and 1357 were admitted to mental hospitals with a primary diagnosis of alcoholism or alcoholic psychosis (rate: 2.8 vs 0. 7 per 10,000 adults); 750 and 712 died from liver cirrhosis (rate: 0.32 vs 0.29 per 10,000 adults). The reasons for the differences in drinking pathology between men and women are discussed. Male—female differences depend largely on the definition of pathology, with greater between-sex differences among the more severe pathologies. Evidently fewer women experience drinking pathologies because women drink less. Women also have lower crime rates, fewer are drug addicts and cigarette smokers; more, however, experience mental disorders. The woman's role in Western society is changing rapidly; emancipation may be accompanied by a considerable increase in the incidence of alcohol dependence among women.

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