A descriptive study of alcohol-dependent women attending Alcoholics Anonymous, a regional council on alcoholism and an alcohol treatment unit.

A total of 86 women, attending three different agencies, were interviewed on their help-seeking behaviours for problem drinking. Each agency represented a different type of help available in the community. Self-help was represented by Alcoholics Anonymous; the non-statutory sector by a regional council on alcoholism's offices; and the statutory sector by an alcohol treatment unit's out-patient department. Differences between the groups in terms of demography and drinking history are explored in this paper. It was found that the regional council group resembled the female problem drinkers in other alcohol treatment agencies in terms of alcohol dependency, pattern of alcohol consumption and drinking styles, but differed in age and abstinence behaviour.