Moods and expectancies of female alcohol drinking - an exploratory study

Abstract

Gaining access to information concerning mood states and expectations of change preceding a typical drinking occasion is important for understanding the trigger factors for drinking, and for alcohol abuse treatment planning. The objective of the present study was twofold: (i) to explore self-reported states of mood and expectancies preceding a typical drinking occasion vs. relations with parents and drinking outcome; and (ii) to investigate if vulnerability factors in terms of personality and health are related to severity of alcohol problems. The population consisted of 50 women attending a Swedish alcohol clinic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. A mixed-methods design was used encompassing qualitative interview-data and quantitative data from questionnaires and medical journals. Nine out of ten patients had a diagnosis of alcohol dependence, and four out of five had parents with dependency problems. As compared to a female norm group, the patients displayed significantly higher anxiety-related traits and irritability. Moods were described by patients as mostly negative and expectancies of change were evenly distributed between reducing, enhancing or flight from feeling. An expectancy of flight when drinking was also related to a positive relation to mother. The findings pointed to the need for differentiating between coping with and expectancies of drinking. Further, a hierarchical cluster analysis resulted in two groups, indicating one group characterized by higher risk values on personality scales and more severe consequences of drinking. The contribution of a treatment design informed through a gender and culture perspective to treatment outcome was discussed.

Identifying parents with risky alcohol consumption habits in a paediatric unit – are screening and brief intervention appropriate methods?

“…In an explorative Swedish study, Birath et al. (38) identified a new group of women with alcohol problems: fairly well‐educated, younger women of child‐bearing age and suggested alternative treatment. Even though the CAGE questionnaire is considered a valid tool, there may be undetected gender issues in using it that are often referred to as ‘natural’ gender differences based on the assumption that more men than women have problematic alcohol habits.…”

Alcohol Expectancy Responses from Teenagers: The Early Forewarning Signals

“…An interesting work which was carried out on Swedish women suggested that the mood may be a factor which controlled the alcohol intake. The expectancy of reducing, fleeing or enhancing the mood which resulted from alcohol intake could be a motivator for alcoholism [13,14]. Social anxiety also produced a positive expectancy of tension reduction and increased the assertiveness in both men and women [15].…”

Women with substance abuse problems exposed to men’s violence – A public mental health challenge

“…However, earlier studies in women with dependence problems have shown that other factors in life seem to be of great importance for the women to process during the treatment period [26,27]. To prevent or mitigate psychiatric problems are important factors for the women still having custody over their children [37].…”

“…Most of them, like Motivational Interviewing (MI) [23], relapse prevention, and skills training [24,25] have a strong focus on the substance abuse problems only. The need to include additional aspects has been outlined in studies, for example the importance for women in treatment for their alcohol problems to discuss gender aspects, violence, and their children's situation [26,27].…”