Women and Alcohol-Use Disorders

Abstract

• Summary: This article reviews the extent of current knowledge, particularly with reference to US sources about gender-specific alcohol-related life experience consequences, and explores the implications of these differences for practice. • Findings: Alcohol affects women in significantly different ways from men. Women’s consumption of alcohol is capable of inflicting more severe problems over shorter periods of time with less alcohol consumed. The sequence of alcohol-related life experience consequences also differs significantly between genders. Women with alcohol-use disorders experience gender-specific medical impairments as well as other significant differences and are more likely to be exposed to victimization. • Applications: The purpose of this article is to provide social work practitioners with relevant information about the effects of alcohol on women. It also provides important interviewing strategies for workers who will encounter women with alcohol-related problems. These strategies are intended to enhance the practitioner’s ability to broach the subject and initially screen for alcohol-related problems among female clients.