Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Problems Among Women in European Countries.

Traditionally, less research has been conducted on women's drinking as compared to men's. But women's drinking has been shown to differ from men's in terms of consumption patterns and in factors determining heavy and problematic drinking. Thus, special efforts are needed to increase knowledge in this field. This article introduces a set of papers from the recently completed concerted action project "Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Problems among Women in European Countries," supported by the European Commission. The aim of the study was to examine and compare the drinking patterns and problems of women in 9 European countries. This was done by comparing alcohol consumption and alcohol problem rates within and between countries and between men and women and among women. The project also developed recommendations for much needed standardized measures of alcohol consumption and alcohol problems for use in European alcohol epidemiological research.