Retrospective analysis of lifetime changes in women's drinking behavior.

Retrospective data on drinking behavior and related life experiences have been a neglected resource in research on alcohol use in the general population. Data from a 1981 national survey of women's drinking indicate the potential value of retrospective data analysis. The 1981 data provide comparative ages of onset for drinking behavior, drinking consequences, and health problems, and allow comparisons among different cohorts of women. The data also show the variability in women's lifetime drinking patterns and the time-ordering of heavy drinking in relation to onset of depression and reproductive dysfunction.