Alcoholism Gender Gap Is Closing

Drinking and alcohol dependence has increased substantially among women, particularly white and Hispanic women born since 1945, new study finds.

Alcohol use and dependency appeared to remain stable for men, while young Americans report having more lifetime alcohol problems than older Americans, despite having had less time to develop issues with drinking.

The findings were published in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

"We found that for women born after World War II, there are lower levels of abstaining from alcohol, and higher levels of alcohol dependence, even when looking only at women who drank," the study's corresponding author, Richard A. Grucza, an epidemiologist at Washington University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement. "However, we didn't see any significant tendency for more recently born men to have lower levels of abstention or higher levels of alcohol dependence."

The researchers' findings came from analyzing two large, national surveys conducted 10 years apart (1991-1992 and 2001-2002). The polls compared lifetime alcohol-use rates from the same age groups and demographics. ...

•	Alcoholism Gender Gap Is Closing The Washington Post, Tuesday, May 6, 2008 Byline: HealthDay News

	Story also ran in 8 others:  HealthDay News, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, Atlanta Journal Constitution, HealthCentral.com (VA), Austin American-Statesman (TX), DentalPlans.com (FL) and EmpowHer (AZ)