Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Apr 1;18(2):122-142.
doi: 10.3109/16066350903398486.

Drinking Patterns, Gender and Health I: Attitudes and Health Practices

Michael R Polen  1 , Carla A Green, Nancy A Perrin, Bradley M Anderson, Constance M Weisner
Affiliations

Drinking Patterns, Gender and Health I: Attitudes and Health Practices

Michael R Polen et al. Addict Res Theory. .

Abstract

Background: Despite considerable research, relationships among gender, alcohol consumption, and health remain controversial, due to potential confounding by health-related attitudes and practices associated with drinking, measurement challenges, and marked gender differences in drinking. We examined gender/alcohol consumption differences in health-related attitudes and practices, and evaluated how these factors affected relationships among gender, alcohol consumption, and health status.

Methods: A stratified random sample of adult health-plan members completed a mail survey, yielding 7884 respondents (2995 male/4889 female). Using MANCOVAs and adjusting for health-related attitudes, values, and practices, we examined gender differences in relationships between alcohol consumption and health.

Results: More frequent heavy drinking was associated with worse health-related attitudes and values, worse feelings about visiting the doctor, and worse health-related practices. Relationships between health-related practices and alcohol use differed by gender, and daily or almost daily heavy drinking was associated with significantly lower physical and mental health for women compared to men. Drinking status (lifelong abstainers, former drinkers, and level of regular alcohol consumption) was related to health status and vitality, even after adjusting for health-related attitudes, values, and practices. Relationships did not differ by gender. Former drinkers reported lower physical and mental health status than either lifelong abstainers or current drinkers.

Conclusions: Drinking status is independently related to physical health, mental health, and vitality, even after controlling for the health-related attitudes, values, and practices expected to confound these relationships. Among current drinkers, women who engage in very frequent heavy drinking have worse physical and mental health than their male counterparts.

Keywords: Alcohol Drinking; Gender; Health Behaviors; Health Status; Health-related Attitudes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Agarwal DP. Cardioprotective effects of light-moderate consumption of alcohol: A review of putative mechanisms. Alcohol and Alcoholism. 2002;37:409–415. - PubMed
    1. Agostinelli G, Miller WR. Drinking and thinking: How does personal drinking affect judgments of prevalence and risk? Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 1994;55:327–337. - PubMed
    1. Ames GM, Rebhun LA. Women, alcohol and work: interactions of gender, ethnicity and occupational culture. Social Science and Medicine. 1996;43:1649–1663. - PubMed
    1. Anderson P. Alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality. Addiction. 1995;90:481–484. - PubMed
    1. Andreasson S. Alcohol and J-shaped curves. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research. 1998;22:359S–364S. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources