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Alcohol dependence and gender-role orientation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

A.M. Möller-Leimkühler ,
R. Schwarz ,
W. Burtscheidt  and
W. Gaebel
A.M. Möller-Leimkühler*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Nußbaumstr. 7, D-80336Munich, Germany
R. Schwarz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Heinrich-Heine-University, Bergische Landstr. 2, D-40605Düsseldorf, Germany
W. Burtscheidt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Heinrich-Heine-University, Bergische Landstr. 2, D-40605Düsseldorf, Germany
W. Gaebel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Heinrich-Heine-University, Bergische Landstr. 2, D-40605Düsseldorf, Germany
*
*Correspondence and reprints. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.M. Möller-Leimkühler).
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Summary

Objective

The overall increase of female alcoholism is supposed to be associated with the change of the traditional female role, and it is especially seen as a consequence of role convergence or gender-role conflicts. The aim of the present pilot study is to explore whether the approach of gender-role orientation would be empirically useful in contributing to these hypotheses.

Method

One hundred twelve patients with alcohol dependence meeting DSM-III-R criteria were explored after detoxification; gender-role orientation was measured by a German version of the ‘Extended Personal Attributes Questionnaire’, categorising gender-role orientation into four subgroups: masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated.

Results

In comparison with a population-based sample, there are significant differences in the distribution of the four subgroups of gender-role orientation, showing a predominance of the undifferentiated self-concept in the alcoholic sample (49%). Alcoholic females describe themselves as rather undifferentiated, and rather feminine than masculine. Low masculinity and low femininity, as well as high femininity, correlate positively with distress, depressiveness, social anxiety, insecurity and concomitant personality disorders.

Conclusion

Our data do not support the convergence hypothesis related to gender-role orientation, but support the traditional feminine self-concept as an unspecific risk factor for vulnerability. The question whether an undifferentiated self-concept could be a specific risk factor for alcoholism is discussed.

Keywords

alcohol dependencefemininitygendergender-role orientationmasculinity
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , March 2002 , pp. 1 - 8
Copyright
Copyright © Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS. 2002

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