Lunnay Belinda, MacLean Sarah, Hughes Tonda, Pennay Amy, Ward Paul R
Research Centre for Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing, Torrens University, Adelaide, Australia.
Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
Drug Alcohol Rev. 2025 May 30. doi: 10.1111/dar.14085.
Midlife Australian women are a population group in which alcohol consumption is not decreasing across generations, as in other groups. We explored midlife women's perceptions and experiences of engaging with sober curious tools (self-guided programs, apps, literature, podcasts, online forums) to determine the acceptability of such tools among those seeking to reduce drinking.
Qualitative interviews with 26 Australian women (aged 45-64) of varying social classes, work and relationship statuses living in Adelaide/Melbourne/Sydney who self-reported heavy/medium drinking during 2021. We applied Sekhon et al.'s 'acceptability of healthcare interventions' framework to understand components that increase the acceptability of sober curious tools and an abductive logic to explain the mechanisms that impact acceptability.
Acceptability was stronger among women who felt a sense of security and belonging when tools cohered with their preparedness to reduce drinking and accounted for their perceptions about feasible reductions. Importantly, sober curious tools increased the acceptability of reducing alcohol by increasing women's agency to 'question' heavy-drinking norms, especially when combined with social supports. It is important to women that they envisage themselves as the intended 'user' of sober curious tools. Acceptability differed for women based on social class inequities that result in marginalisation and that intersect with stigma because of ageism.
Sober curious tools are most acceptable to middle class and affluent women and represent capacities to reduce alcohol consumption. Understanding the experiences of diverse groups of women and their agency to engage with sober curiosity is important to inform future interventions.
与其他群体不同，澳大利亚中年女性群体的酒精消费量并未随代际更替而减少。我们探讨了中年女性对使用清醒好奇工具（自我引导计划、应用程序、文献、播客、在线论坛）的看法和体验，以确定这些工具在那些试图减少饮酒的人群中的可接受性。
对26名年龄在45 - 64岁之间、社会阶层、工作和关系状况各异、居住在阿德莱德/墨尔本/悉尼且在2021年自我报告为重/中度饮酒的澳大利亚女性进行定性访谈。我们应用塞洪等人的“医疗保健干预措施的可接受性”框架来理解提高清醒好奇工具可接受性的因素，并运用溯因逻辑来解释影响可接受性的机制。
当工具与她们减少饮酒的准备程度相一致，并考虑到她们对可行减少量的看法时，女性的安全感和归属感更强，工具的可接受性也更高。重要的是，清醒好奇工具通过增强女性“质疑”大量饮酒规范的能力，提高了减少饮酒的可接受性，尤其是在与社会支持相结合时。对女性来说，将自己设想为清醒好奇工具的目标“用户”很重要。由于社会阶层不平等导致的边缘化以及因年龄歧视而产生的污名化，不同女性的可接受性存在差异。
清醒好奇工具对中产阶级和富裕女性的可接受性最高，并且具有减少酒精消费的能力。了解不同女性群体的经历以及她们参与清醒好奇的能力，对于为未来的干预措施提供信息非常重要。
