Alcohol and Women: A Brief Overview.

This paper provides a brief overview of research on women and alcohol and introduces a virtual issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research devoted to this important subject. Women-focused topics include the epidemiology of alcohol use among women, health and behavioral consequences of drinking, prenatal alcohol use and interventions, and enhanced alcohol treatment services. The introduction and selected papers highlight: temporal trends that are narrowing the gender gap in alcohol use; mounting evidence of the more rapid progression and greater severity of harmful physiological and behavioral effects of alcohol in women; impact of targeted public health campaigns and public policies on prenatal drinking; and finally intervention strategies to improve detection and care of women who misuse alcohol. Finally, future research directions to address continuing knowledge gaps are identified. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.