Drinking, smoking and illicit drug use among British adults: Gender differences explored

This paper reports some of the preliminary findings from a survey of 2027 British adults that was conducted during 2000. The heaviest drinking women were aged 18-24 years, while the heaviest drinking men were older. People who had misused prescription drugs were more likely than others to have used illicit drugs, to be smokers and to report drug-related problems. Females who had used illicit drugs had a slightly elevated risk of higher alcohol consumption; male smokers who did not use drugs were more likely than other men to be drinking more heavily. Males were more likely than females to report that somebody had tried to influence their drinking. This reflected a higher rate of alcohol problems among men than among women. Conversely, women who had used illicit drugs were more likely than their male counterparts to report having experienced some form of adverse consequence related to this drug use. Respondents who were living with a partner were more likely than others to report that they had been influenced to reduce their alcohol consumption. Those who were living with a partner to whom they were not married were more likely than others to report having experienced alcohol problems. There was a weak association between low/moderate levels of stress and alcohol problems. Finally, a number of factors were associated with alcohol and drug problems, unwise or at-risk drinking. These included gender, marital status and experience of sexual abuse