GENDER AND ALCOHOLIC SUBTYPES

Although women generally have been subjects of alcohol research less o ften than men, gender can be used as a defining characteristic in subt yping schemes. Whether the sexes actually differ in aspects of their a lcoholism, such as in etiology and degree of severity, however, is not known. Analyzing a sample of male and female alcoholics using several different statistical methods, the researchers found that men and wom en with either a severe or mild form of alcoholism differed little in their character profiles and etiologies. Women and men with moderately severe alcoholism, however, tended to differ with respect to co-occur ring psychopathologies (e.g., depression or antisocial personality) an d the degree to which they drank to relieve other conditions (e.g., bo redom). These findings suggest that different forms of alcoholism trea tment may be most effective for men and women with moderately severe a lcoholism. However, as is the case with any subtyping scheme, this con clusion cannot be applied to the general population without further re search.