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Women and Alcohol-Use DisordersA Review of Important Knowledge and Its Implications for Social Work PractitionersUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign IL, USA, karoll{at}uiuc.edu 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. Womens 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 practitioners ability to broach the subject and initially screen for alcohol-related problems among female clients.
Key Words: alcohol abuse alcohol and women alcohol-use disorders screening substance misuse
Journal of Social Work, Vol. 2, No. 3,
337-356 (2002) |
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