Stress May Be A Bigger Trigger Of Drinking Problems In Women Than In Men | Health Info

By Robert Preidt, Health Day reporter

WEDNESDAY December 15, 2021 (HealthDay News) – When someone says “I need a drink” it’s usually because they’ve had a rough day. Now, new research suggests that stress is more likely to trigger binge drinking in women than in men.

“Some people may intend to drink an alcoholic drink or two and stop drinking, but others just keep going,” said study leader Julie Patock-Peckham. She runs the Social Addictions Impulse Lab at Arizona State University, Tempe.

“The role of stress in impaired control of alcohol consumption is under-researched, particularly in women,” Patock-Peckham said in an academic press release.

New to study, which included 105 women and 105 men, was conducted in a setting meant to mimic a bar, complete with a bartender, bar stools and lively conversations.

Participants were randomly selected to undergo a stressful or non-stressful situation. Then, half were served alcohol, while the rest were given three non-alcoholic drinks. After that it was an open bar: everyone had unlimited access to alcohol for 90 minutes.

Not surprisingly, the stress exposure prompted all participants to drink more. Among men who experienced stress, those who started with alcohol consumed more alcohol overall than those whose first drink was non-alcoholic.

Stressed women drank heavily, whether their first drink was alcoholic or not, according to the report published online Dec. 13 in the newspaper. Psychology of addictive behavior.

Patock-Peckham noted that genes and the environment are factors in alcohol problem.

“We can’t do anything about the genes, but we can do something about the environment,” she said.

Stress and impaired alcohol consumption control are closely related, prompting the question of whether stressors cause alcohol problems, Patock-Peckham said.

“The fact that women just need the stress but men need the push to already have alcohol on board shows how important this type of research is,” she noted. “The results of alcohol consumption are not the same for men and women, and we cannot continue to use models that have been developed in men to help women.”

SOURCE: Arizona State University, press release, December 13, 2021

Copyright © 2021 Health day. All rights reserved.