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September 19, 1986, Vol 256, No. 11 >
ARTICLE | September 19, 1986

Women and Alcohol: Title and subTitle BreakA Review FREE

Sheila B. Blume, MD
[+] Author Affiliations

Based on a presentation given at the National Conference on Women's Health, Bethesda. Md, June 17, 1986

Reprint requests to the Alcoholism and Compulsive Gambling Programs, South Oaks Hospital, 400 Sunrise Hwy, Amityville, NY 11701 (Dr Blume).


JAMA. 1986;256(11):1467-1470. doi:10.1001/jama.1986.03380110073029
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References

SOCIETY'S strong disapproval of the woman who drinks alcohol is not of recent origin. In ancient Rome, the drinking of alcohol by women was strictly prohibited1 and punishable by death. Centuries later, Kant attributed the sobriety of women of his time to their special place in society and their adherence to a higher standard.2

Today's woman alcoholic is viewed as weak willed (as is her male counterpart), but, in addition, she is thought to be promiscuous and sexually aggressive, despite data that indicate quite the reverse. Recent studies indicate that women who are heavy or problem drinkers are more likely to be victims of the alcohol-related sexual aggression of others.3,4

Much of what we know about alcoholism is based on studies of male alcoholics, but in recent years a special focus on the woman alcoholic has emerged. Several conferences have been convened to review the ongoing research

REFERENCES

1 +
McKinlay AP:  The Roman attitude toward women's drinking , in McCarthy RG (ed): Drinking and Intoxication . Glencoe, Ill, The Free Press, 1959;, pp 58-61.
2 +
Jellinek EM:  Immanuel Kant on drinking . Q J Stud Alcohol 1941;;1:777-778.
3 +
Fillmore KM:  The social victims of drinking . Br J Addict 1985;;80:307-314.
4 +
Klassen AD, Wilsnack SC:  Sexual experience and drinking among women in a U.S. national survey . Arch Sex Behav , in press.
5 +
Alcohol and Women , publication (ADM) 80-835. US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1980;.
6 +
Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;.
7 +
Blume SB:  Researches on women and alcohol , in Alcohol and Women , publication (ADM) 80-835. US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1980;, pp 121-151.
8 +
Van Thiel DH, Gavaler JS:  The adverse effects of ethanol upon hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal function in males and females compared and contrasted . Alcoholism 1982;;6:179-185.
9 +
Malin H, Coakley J, Kaelber C:  An epidemiologic perspective on alcohol use and abuse in the United States , in Alcohol Consumption and Related Problems , publication (ADM) 82-1190. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1982;, pp 99-153.
10 +
Wilsnack SC, Wilsnack RW, Klassen AD:  Epidemiological research on women's drinking, 1978-1984 , in Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;, pp 1-68.
11 +
Fillmore KM:  When angels fall: Women's drinking as cultural preoccupation and as reality , in Wilsnack SC, Beckman LJ (eds): Alcohol Problems in Women . New York, Guilford Press, 1984;, pp 7-36.
12 +
Cloninger CR, Reich T, Sigvardsson S, et al:  The effects of changes in alcohol use between generations on the inheritance of alcohol abuse , in Rose R (ed): Alcoholism: A Medical Disorder . New York, Raven Press, in press.
13 +
Wilsnack RW, Cheloha R:  Women's roles and problem drinking across the lifespan . Presented at the 35th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems , Washington, DC, August 1985;.
14 +
Russell M, Henderson C, Blume SB: Children of Alcoholics: A Review of the Literature . New York, Children of Alcoholics Foundation, 1985;.
15 +
Bohman M, Sigvardsson S, Cloninger CR:  Maternal inheritance of alcohol abuse: Cross-fostering analysis of adopted women . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1981;;38:965-969.
16 +
Jones BM, Jones MK:  Women and alcohol: Intoxication, metabolism, and the menstrual cycle , in Greenblatt M, Schuckit MA (eds): Alcoholism Problems in Women and Children . New York, Grune & Stratton, 1976;, pp 103-136.
17 +
Sutker PB, Libet JM, Allain AN, et al:  Alcohol use, negative mood states, and menstrual cycle phases . Alcoholism 1983;;7:327-331.
18 +
Mello NK:  Some behavioral and biological aspects of alcohol problems in women , in Kalant OJ (ed): Alcohol and Drug Problems in Women . New York, Plenum Publishing Corp, 1980;, pp 263-298.
19 +
Gavaler JS:  Effects of alcohol on endocrine function in postmenopausal women: A review . J Stud Alcohol 1985;;46:495-516.
20 +
Russell M, Czarnecki D:  Alcohol use and menstrual problems, abstracted . Alcoholism 1986;; 10:99.
21 +
Wilsnack SC:  Drinking, sexuality and sexual dysfunction in women , in Wilsnack SC, Beckman LJ (eds): Alcohol Problems in Women . New York, Plenum Publishing Corp, 1980;, pp 263-298.
22 +
Wilson GT, Lawson DM:  Effects of alcohol on sexual arousal in women . J Abnorm Psychol 1976;;85:489-497.
23 +
Malatesta VJ, Pollack RH, Crotty TD, et al:  Acute alcohol intoxication and female orgasmic response . J Sex Res 1982;;18:1-17.
24 +
Beckman LJ:  Reported effects of alcohol on the sexual feelings and behavior of women alcoholics and nonalcoholics . J Stud Alcohol 1979;; 40:272-282.
25 +
Fifth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health . US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1983;.
26 +
Council on Scientific Affairs:  Fetal effects of maternal alcohol use . JAMA 1983;;249:2517-2521.
27 +
Streissguth AP, Landesman-Dwyer S, Martin JC, et al:  Teratogenic effects of alcohol in humans and laboratory animals . Science 1980;;209:353-361.
28 +
Report to the President and the Congress on Health Hazards Associated With Alcohol and Methods to Inform the General Public of These Hazards . US Dept of the Treasury, 1980;.
29 +
Ashley MJ, Olin JS, le Riche WH, et al:  Morbidity in alcoholics: Evidence for accelerated development of physical disease in women . Arch Intern Med 1977;;137:883-887.
30 +
Wilkinson P:  Sex differences in morbidity of alcoholics , in Kalant OJ (ed): Research Advances in Alcohol and Drug Problems in Women . New York, Plenum Publishing Corp, 1980;, pp 331-364.
31 +
Gavaler JS:  Sex-related differences in ethanolinduced liver disease: Artifactual or real? Alcoholism 1982;;6:186-196.
32 +
Hislop WS, Bouchier IAD, Allan JG, et al:  Alcoholic liver disease in Scotland and northeastern England: Presenting features in 510 patients . Q J Med 1983;;52:232-243.
33 +
Silberstein JA, Parsons OA:  Neuropsychological impairment in female alcoholics , in Galanter M (ed): Currents in Alcoholism . New York, Grune & Stratton, 1980;, vol 7, pp 481-496.
34 +
Jones MC:  Personality antecedents and correlates of drinking patterns in women . J Consult Clin Psychol 1971;;36:61-69.
35 +
Jones MC:  Personality correlates and antecedents of drinking patterns in adult males . J Consult Clin Psychol 1968;;32:2-12.
36 +
Fillmore KM, Bacon SD, Hyman M: The 27 Year Longitudinal Panel Study of Drinking by Students in College . National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1979;.
37 +
Beckman LJ:  Woman alcoholics: A review of social and psychological studies . J Stud Alcohol 1975;;36:797-824.
38 +
Gomberg ES:  Women and alcoholism: Psychosocial issues , in Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;, pp 78-120.
39 +
Beckman L:  Self-esteem of women alcoholics . J Stud Alcohol 1978;;39:491-498.
40 +
Corrigan EM: Alcoholic Women in Treatment . New York, Oxford University Press Inc, 1980;.
41 +
Hill SY:  Physiological effects of alcohol in women , in Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;, pp 199-214.
42 +
Smith EM, Cloninger CR, Bradord S:  Predictors of mortality in alcoholic women: A prospective follow-up study . Alcoholism 1983;;7:237-243.
43 +
Armor DJ, Polich JM, Stambul HB: Alcoholism and Treatment . New York, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1978;.
44 +
Tamerin JS:  Psychotherapy of alcoholic women , in Zimberg S, Wallace J, Blume SB (eds): Practical Approaches to Alcoholism Psychotherapy . New York, Plenum Publishing Corp, 1985;, pp 259-279.
45 +
Braiker HB:  Therapeutic issues in the treatment of alcoholic women , in Wilsnack SC, Beckman LJ (eds): Alcohol Problems in Women . New York, Guilford Press, 1984;, pp 349-368.
46 +
Vannicelli M:  Treatment considerations , in Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;, pp 130-153.
47 +
Blume SB:  Psychiatric problems of alcoholic women , in Solomon J (ed): Alcoholism and Clinical Psychiatry . New York, Plenum Publishing Corp, 1982;, pp 179-193.
48 +
Little RE, Streissguth AP, Guzinski GM, et al:  Change in obstetrician advice following a two-year community educational program on alcohol use and pregnancy . Am J Obstet Gynecol 1983;;146:23-28.
49 +
Weiner L, Rosett HL, Edelin KC:  Behavioral evaluation of fetal alcohol education for physicians . Alcoholism 1982;;6:230-233.
50 +
Blume SB:  Women and alcohol: Public policy issues , in Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;, pp 294-311.
51 +
West LJ: Alcoholism and Related Problems: Issues for the American Public . Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall International Inc, 1984;.

Figures

Tables

Interactive Graphics

Video

Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

1 +
McKinlay AP:  The Roman attitude toward women's drinking , in McCarthy RG (ed): Drinking and Intoxication . Glencoe, Ill, The Free Press, 1959;, pp 58-61.
2 +
Jellinek EM:  Immanuel Kant on drinking . Q J Stud Alcohol 1941;;1:777-778.
3 +
Fillmore KM:  The social victims of drinking . Br J Addict 1985;;80:307-314.
4 +
Klassen AD, Wilsnack SC:  Sexual experience and drinking among women in a U.S. national survey . Arch Sex Behav , in press.
5 +
Alcohol and Women , publication (ADM) 80-835. US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1980;.
6 +
Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;.
7 +
Blume SB:  Researches on women and alcohol , in Alcohol and Women , publication (ADM) 80-835. US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1980;, pp 121-151.
8 +
Van Thiel DH, Gavaler JS:  The adverse effects of ethanol upon hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal function in males and females compared and contrasted . Alcoholism 1982;;6:179-185.
9 +
Malin H, Coakley J, Kaelber C:  An epidemiologic perspective on alcohol use and abuse in the United States , in Alcohol Consumption and Related Problems , publication (ADM) 82-1190. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1982;, pp 99-153.
10 +
Wilsnack SC, Wilsnack RW, Klassen AD:  Epidemiological research on women's drinking, 1978-1984 , in Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;, pp 1-68.
11 +
Fillmore KM:  When angels fall: Women's drinking as cultural preoccupation and as reality , in Wilsnack SC, Beckman LJ (eds): Alcohol Problems in Women . New York, Guilford Press, 1984;, pp 7-36.
12 +
Cloninger CR, Reich T, Sigvardsson S, et al:  The effects of changes in alcohol use between generations on the inheritance of alcohol abuse , in Rose R (ed): Alcoholism: A Medical Disorder . New York, Raven Press, in press.
13 +
Wilsnack RW, Cheloha R:  Women's roles and problem drinking across the lifespan . Presented at the 35th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems , Washington, DC, August 1985;.
14 +
Russell M, Henderson C, Blume SB: Children of Alcoholics: A Review of the Literature . New York, Children of Alcoholics Foundation, 1985;.
15 +
Bohman M, Sigvardsson S, Cloninger CR:  Maternal inheritance of alcohol abuse: Cross-fostering analysis of adopted women . Arch Gen Psychiatry 1981;;38:965-969.
16 +
Jones BM, Jones MK:  Women and alcohol: Intoxication, metabolism, and the menstrual cycle , in Greenblatt M, Schuckit MA (eds): Alcoholism Problems in Women and Children . New York, Grune & Stratton, 1976;, pp 103-136.
17 +
Sutker PB, Libet JM, Allain AN, et al:  Alcohol use, negative mood states, and menstrual cycle phases . Alcoholism 1983;;7:327-331.
18 +
Mello NK:  Some behavioral and biological aspects of alcohol problems in women , in Kalant OJ (ed): Alcohol and Drug Problems in Women . New York, Plenum Publishing Corp, 1980;, pp 263-298.
19 +
Gavaler JS:  Effects of alcohol on endocrine function in postmenopausal women: A review . J Stud Alcohol 1985;;46:495-516.
20 +
Russell M, Czarnecki D:  Alcohol use and menstrual problems, abstracted . Alcoholism 1986;; 10:99.
21 +
Wilsnack SC:  Drinking, sexuality and sexual dysfunction in women , in Wilsnack SC, Beckman LJ (eds): Alcohol Problems in Women . New York, Plenum Publishing Corp, 1980;, pp 263-298.
22 +
Wilson GT, Lawson DM:  Effects of alcohol on sexual arousal in women . J Abnorm Psychol 1976;;85:489-497.
23 +
Malatesta VJ, Pollack RH, Crotty TD, et al:  Acute alcohol intoxication and female orgasmic response . J Sex Res 1982;;18:1-17.
24 +
Beckman LJ:  Reported effects of alcohol on the sexual feelings and behavior of women alcoholics and nonalcoholics . J Stud Alcohol 1979;; 40:272-282.
25 +
Fifth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health . US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1983;.
26 +
Council on Scientific Affairs:  Fetal effects of maternal alcohol use . JAMA 1983;;249:2517-2521.
27 +
Streissguth AP, Landesman-Dwyer S, Martin JC, et al:  Teratogenic effects of alcohol in humans and laboratory animals . Science 1980;;209:353-361.
28 +
Report to the President and the Congress on Health Hazards Associated With Alcohol and Methods to Inform the General Public of These Hazards . US Dept of the Treasury, 1980;.
29 +
Ashley MJ, Olin JS, le Riche WH, et al:  Morbidity in alcoholics: Evidence for accelerated development of physical disease in women . Arch Intern Med 1977;;137:883-887.
30 +
Wilkinson P:  Sex differences in morbidity of alcoholics , in Kalant OJ (ed): Research Advances in Alcohol and Drug Problems in Women . New York, Plenum Publishing Corp, 1980;, pp 331-364.
31 +
Gavaler JS:  Sex-related differences in ethanolinduced liver disease: Artifactual or real? Alcoholism 1982;;6:186-196.
32 +
Hislop WS, Bouchier IAD, Allan JG, et al:  Alcoholic liver disease in Scotland and northeastern England: Presenting features in 510 patients . Q J Med 1983;;52:232-243.
33 +
Silberstein JA, Parsons OA:  Neuropsychological impairment in female alcoholics , in Galanter M (ed): Currents in Alcoholism . New York, Grune & Stratton, 1980;, vol 7, pp 481-496.
34 +
Jones MC:  Personality antecedents and correlates of drinking patterns in women . J Consult Clin Psychol 1971;;36:61-69.
35 +
Jones MC:  Personality correlates and antecedents of drinking patterns in adult males . J Consult Clin Psychol 1968;;32:2-12.
36 +
Fillmore KM, Bacon SD, Hyman M: The 27 Year Longitudinal Panel Study of Drinking by Students in College . National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1979;.
37 +
Beckman LJ:  Woman alcoholics: A review of social and psychological studies . J Stud Alcohol 1975;;36:797-824.
38 +
Gomberg ES:  Women and alcoholism: Psychosocial issues , in Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;, pp 78-120.
39 +
Beckman L:  Self-esteem of women alcoholics . J Stud Alcohol 1978;;39:491-498.
40 +
Corrigan EM: Alcoholic Women in Treatment . New York, Oxford University Press Inc, 1980;.
41 +
Hill SY:  Physiological effects of alcohol in women , in Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;, pp 199-214.
42 +
Smith EM, Cloninger CR, Bradord S:  Predictors of mortality in alcoholic women: A prospective follow-up study . Alcoholism 1983;;7:237-243.
43 +
Armor DJ, Polich JM, Stambul HB: Alcoholism and Treatment . New York, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1978;.
44 +
Tamerin JS:  Psychotherapy of alcoholic women , in Zimberg S, Wallace J, Blume SB (eds): Practical Approaches to Alcoholism Psychotherapy . New York, Plenum Publishing Corp, 1985;, pp 259-279.
45 +
Braiker HB:  Therapeutic issues in the treatment of alcoholic women , in Wilsnack SC, Beckman LJ (eds): Alcohol Problems in Women . New York, Guilford Press, 1984;, pp 349-368.
46 +
Vannicelli M:  Treatment considerations , in Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;, pp 130-153.
47 +
Blume SB:  Psychiatric problems of alcoholic women , in Solomon J (ed): Alcoholism and Clinical Psychiatry . New York, Plenum Publishing Corp, 1982;, pp 179-193.
48 +
Little RE, Streissguth AP, Guzinski GM, et al:  Change in obstetrician advice following a two-year community educational program on alcohol use and pregnancy . Am J Obstet Gynecol 1983;;146:23-28.
49 +
Weiner L, Rosett HL, Edelin KC:  Behavioral evaluation of fetal alcohol education for physicians . Alcoholism 1982;;6:230-233.
50 +
Blume SB:  Women and alcohol: Public policy issues , in Women and Alcohol: Health-Related Issues , publication (ADM) 86-1139. US Dept of Health and Human Services, 1986;, pp 294-311.
51 +
West LJ: Alcoholism and Related Problems: Issues for the American Public . Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall International Inc, 1984;.

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