Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, New York.
Society and Health Research Center, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2019 Jul;43(7):1344-1359. doi: 10.1111/acer.14082. Epub 2019 Jun 5.
Alcohol consumption is increasing in the United States, as is alcohol-attributable mortality. Historically, men have had higher rates of alcohol consumption than women, though evidence for birth cohort effects on gender differences in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm suggests that gender differences may be diminishing. We review studies using U.S. national data that examined time trends in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm since 2008. Utilizing a historical-developmental perspective, here we synthesize and integrate the literature on birth cohort effects from varying developmental periods (i.e., adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood), with a focus on gender differences in alcohol consumption. Findings suggest that recent trends in gender differences in alcohol outcomes are heterogeneous by developmental stage. Among adolescents and young adults, both males and females are rapidly decreasing alcohol consumption, binge and high-intensity drinking, and alcohol-related outcomes, with gender rates converging because males are decreasing consumption faster than females. This pattern does not hold among adults, however. In middle adulthood, consumption, binge drinking, and alcohol-related harms are increasing, driven largely by increases among women in their 30s and 40s. The trend of increases in consumption that are faster for women than for men appears to continue into older adult years (60 and older) across several studies. We conclude by addressing remaining gaps in the literature and offering directions for future research.
在美国，酒精消费正在增加，与之相关的死亡率也是如此。从历史上看，男性的酒精消费率一直高于女性，但关于出生队列效应对性别差异的酒精消费和与酒精相关的伤害的证据表明，这种性别差异可能正在缩小。我们回顾了自 2008 年以来使用美国国家数据研究酒精消费和与酒精相关伤害的时间趋势的研究。利用历史发展的观点，我们在这里综合并整合了来自不同发展时期（即青春期、青年期、中年期和老年期）的关于出生队列效应的文献，重点关注性别差异在酒精消费中的作用。研究结果表明，最近关于性别差异的酒精消费趋势在不同的发展阶段是不同的。在青少年和年轻人中，男性和女性都在迅速减少酒精消费、狂饮和高度饮酒以及与酒精相关的后果，性别比例趋同，因为男性的消费减少速度快于女性。然而，这种模式在成年人中并不适用。在中年时期，消费、狂饮和与酒精相关的伤害正在增加，主要是由于 30 多岁和 40 多岁女性的增加。在几项研究中，女性的消费增长速度快于男性的趋势似乎一直持续到老年（60 岁及以上）。最后，我们讨论了文献中的剩余差距，并为未来的研究提供了方向。
