Abstract
BackgroundTo examine changes in men‘s and women’s drinking in Norway over a 20-year period, in order to learn whether such changes have led to gender convergence in alcohol drinking.MethodsRepeated cross-sectional studies (in 1984–86, 1995–97, and 2006–08) of a large general population living in a geographically defined area (county) in Norway. Information about alcohol drinking is based on self-report questionnaires. Not all measures were assessed in all three surveys.ResultsAdult alcohol drinking patterns have changed markedly over a 20-year period. Abstaining has become rarer while consumption and rates of recent drinking and problematic drinking have increased. Most changes were in the same direction for men and women, but women have moved towards men’s drinking patterns in abstaining, recent drinking, problematic drinking and consumption. Intoxication (among recent drinkers) has decreased in both genders, but more in men than in women. The declines in gender differences, however, were age-specific and varied depending on which drinking behavior and which beverage was taken into account.ConclusionsThere has been a gender convergence in most drinking behaviours, including lifetime history of problem drinking, over the past 2–3 decades in this Norwegian general population, but the reasons for this convergence appear to be complex.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3384-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
To examine changes in men‘s and women’s drinking in Norway over a 20-year period, in order to learn whether such changes have led to gender convergence in alcohol drinking
The proportion with university or college graduation increased from 13 % in 1984–1986 (H1) to 20 % in 1995–97 (H2) and 26 % in 2006–2008 (H3), and was more common among women (29 %) than among men (22 %) in the third survey
According to Questionnaire 1 (Q1) responses (Table 1) the proportion of women of the total sample slightly increased from 51 % (H1) to 53 % (H2) to 55 % in the The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) 3 conducted between 2006–2008 (H3) survey
Summary
To examine changes in men‘s and women’s drinking in Norway over a 20-year period, in order to learn whether such changes have led to gender convergence in alcohol drinking. Most likely the differences are due in part to both biological differences and culturally defined gender-specific roles, but other societal patterns may be influential [8]. The smallest gender differences in drinking have been found in the Nordic countries, including Norway, and the largest in countries with developing economies [14]. Sociodemographic factors such as age, education, employment, marital status and parenthood are all suggested to influence the way men and women drink, but may act differently on gender differences in different societies [15]
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