Cunningham Joanne
Quinnipiac University, Department of Psychology 275 Mount Carmel Avenue, Hamden, CT 06518, Connecticut, USA.
Ir J Psychol Med. 2012 Jan;29(3):163-170. doi: 10.1017/S0790966700017195.
High rates of alcohol-related harm have been reported in the European Union, including Ireland, for more than 20 years. This article's goal is to contextualise such rates by examining gender-based pathways to alcohol use disorders from the perspective of those self-identifying as in recovery using data collected midway through this 20-year trend.
Sixteen informants (nine men and seven women) were interviewed between 1998 and 1999 in Dublin, Ireland. Using qualitative methods, informants were asked to reflect upon their experiences of problem drinking and recovery.
Drinking expectancies, pub-based socialising, social anxiety and perceived social expectations to drink were cited as common pathways to problem drinking by informants, highlighting contradictions in drinking practices and the symbolic functions of alcohol. Drinking contexts identified by informants were public pub-based drinking for men and home-based drinking for women. Primary barriers to problem acceptance centered on pub-based socialising norms and gender-based shame. Benefits of support group membership included establishing new social networks and learning alternative ways to cope with negative emotions.
Consideration of drinking expectancies, the social contexts in which problematic drinking occurs, gender ideologies, the cultural meanings of drinking behaviours, and attention to feelings of isolation or loneliness experienced by those exhibiting problematic consumption behaviours might further understandings of potentially harmful drinking, especially in periods of economic uncertainty.
二十多年来，包括爱尔兰在内的欧盟地区报告了与酒精相关的高伤害率。本文的目标是通过使用在这20年趋势中期收集的数据，从那些自我认定处于康复期的人的角度，审视基于性别的酒精使用障碍途径，以此来解释这些比率。
1998年至1999年期间，在爱尔兰都柏林对16名受访者（9名男性和7名女性）进行了访谈。采用定性方法，要求受访者反思他们的问题饮酒和康复经历。
饮酒预期、基于酒吧的社交、社交焦虑以及饮酒的感知社会期望被受访者列为问题饮酒的常见途径，突出了饮酒行为中的矛盾以及酒精的象征功能。受访者确定的饮酒环境是男性以酒吧为基础的公共饮酒和女性在家饮酒。接受问题的主要障碍集中在基于酒吧的社交规范和基于性别的羞耻感。加入支持小组的好处包括建立新的社交网络以及学习应对负面情绪的替代方法。
考虑饮酒预期、出现问题饮酒的社会环境、性别观念、饮酒行为的文化意义，以及关注那些表现出问题消费行为的人所经历的孤立或孤独感，可能会进一步加深对潜在有害饮酒的理解，尤其是在经济不确定时期。
