Historique
Article de Périodique
Alcohol and drinking within the lives of midlife women: A meta-study systematic review (2022)
Auteur(s) :
K. KERSEY ;
A. C. LYONS ;
F. HUTTON
Article en page(s) :
art. 103453
Sous-type de document :
Méta-analyse / Meta-analysis ; Revue de la littérature / Literature review
Domaine :
Alcool / Alcohol
Langue(s) :
Anglais
Thésaurus mots-clés
SEXE FEMININ
;
ALCOOL
;
IDENTITE
;
ADULTE
;
THEORIE
;
ETUDE QUALITATIVE
;
REPRESENTATION SOCIALE
;
TYPE D'USAGE
;
REDUCTION DES RISQUES ET DES DOMMAGES
Résumé :
Background: A range of societal changes have created positive and encouraging environments for women's alcohol use. Within this context, in Western countries there is evidence of rising rates of alcohol consumption and related harms among midlife and older women. It is timely and important to explore the role of alcohol in the lives of midlife women to better understand observed data trends and to develop cohort specific policy responses. Focussing on Western countries and those with similar mixed market systems for alcohol regulation, this review aimed to identify 1) how women at midlife make sense of and account for their consumption of alcohol; 2) factors that play a role; and 3) the trends in theoretical underpinnings of qualitative research that explores women's drinking at midlife.
Methods: A meta-study approach was undertaken. The review process involved extracting and analysing the data findings of eligible research, as well as reviewing the contextual factors and theoretical framing that actively shape research and findings.
Results: Social meanings of alcohol were interwoven with alcohol's psycho-active qualities to create strong localised embodied experiences of pleasure, sociability, and respite from complicated lives and stressful circumstances in midlife women. Drinking was shaped by multiple and diverse aspects of social identity, such as sexuality, family status, membership of social and cultural groups, and associated responsibilities, underpinned by the social and material realities of their lives, societal and policy discourses around drinking, and how they physically experienced alcohol in the short and longer term.
Conclusion: For harm reduction strategies to be successful, further research effort should be undertaken to understand alcohol's diverse meanings and functions in women's lives and the individual, material, and socio-cultural factors that feed into these understandings. As well as broad policies that reduce overall consumption and “de-normalise” drinking in society, policy-makers could usefully work with cohorts of women to develop interventions that address the functional role of alcohol in their lives, as well as policies that address permissive regulatory environments and the overall social and economic position of women.
Highlights:
• Alcohol has functional roles and varying meanings in the lives of midlife women.
• Drinking is shaped by a diverse range of social and cultural identities, e.g., mother, carer, partner, and their associated responsibilities.
• Research effort should be undertaken to understand alcohol's diverse and intersectional meanings and functions in women's lives and the individual, material, and socio-cultural factors that feed into these understandings.
• Interventions developed for specific cohorts of women should accompany broader alcohol policies and education campaigns.
• Policies that address the social and economic position of women would be highly beneficial.
Methods: A meta-study approach was undertaken. The review process involved extracting and analysing the data findings of eligible research, as well as reviewing the contextual factors and theoretical framing that actively shape research and findings.
Results: Social meanings of alcohol were interwoven with alcohol's psycho-active qualities to create strong localised embodied experiences of pleasure, sociability, and respite from complicated lives and stressful circumstances in midlife women. Drinking was shaped by multiple and diverse aspects of social identity, such as sexuality, family status, membership of social and cultural groups, and associated responsibilities, underpinned by the social and material realities of their lives, societal and policy discourses around drinking, and how they physically experienced alcohol in the short and longer term.
Conclusion: For harm reduction strategies to be successful, further research effort should be undertaken to understand alcohol's diverse meanings and functions in women's lives and the individual, material, and socio-cultural factors that feed into these understandings. As well as broad policies that reduce overall consumption and “de-normalise” drinking in society, policy-makers could usefully work with cohorts of women to develop interventions that address the functional role of alcohol in their lives, as well as policies that address permissive regulatory environments and the overall social and economic position of women.
Highlights:
• Alcohol has functional roles and varying meanings in the lives of midlife women.
• Drinking is shaped by a diverse range of social and cultural identities, e.g., mother, carer, partner, and their associated responsibilities.
• Research effort should be undertaken to understand alcohol's diverse and intersectional meanings and functions in women's lives and the individual, material, and socio-cultural factors that feed into these understandings.
• Interventions developed for specific cohorts of women should accompany broader alcohol policies and education campaigns.
• Policies that address the social and economic position of women would be highly beneficial.
Affiliation :
School of Health, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Campus, Wellington, New Zealand