A new study by researchers at the University of Vermont suggests that gender plays a huge factor in when one decides to drink, and how they feel the morning after.
During the study, 246 “problem drinkers,” between the ages of 21 and 82, underwent an alcohol treatment program. They were called every day, for six months, and were instructed to report their stress level, drinking habits, and moods. An interactive voice-recording program, similar to ones at call centers, was used by Professor Valerie Harder and her colleagues in order to understand the moods and habits of the subjects.
Once the results were compiled and analyzed, the researchers found that anger fueled drinking in men, while women became more “depressive” after drinking a large amount of alcohol. For both genders, however, alcohol was determined ineffective for “drowning sorrows.”
What does this mean for the future of science and medicine? The findings could possibly help treat those who struggle with alcohol and its effects. More effective treatments for alcoholism and relapse prevention could be developed with this new knowledge. This study follows another gender and alcohol study, by the University of Buffalo, which concluded that men and women describe their drinking habits using different terminology.