A Case-Control Study of Risk Factors of Alcohol Misuse in Czech Women: Are There Four Types of Female Alcoholism?

Abstract
Three samples of Prague women aged 20-49 were interviewed with regard to hypothetical risk factors of alcoholism: 139 inpatients diagnosed as alcohol dependent, 39 inebriated females admitted for 1-day detoxification, and 718 randomly selected women (the controls). Irrespective of case definition, father's alcoholism, incomplete family of origin, conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence, and social surroundings marked by heavy drinking were supported as risk factors of alcoholism. A factor analysis of alcohol-related problems led to two dimensions (dependence, disruptiveness) and consequently to four types of female alcoholism with different patterns of risk factors.