title: Gender differences and gender convergence in alcohol use over the past three decades (1984-2008), The HUNT Study, Norway.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  
  Repeated 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.
  
  
  
  Adult 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.
  
  
  
  There 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.
authors: HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Forskningsveien 2, 7600, Levanger, Norway. grete.bratberg@ntnu.no.|Department of Research and Development, Levanger Hospital, Nord-Trøndelag Hospital Trust, Levanger, Norway. grete.bratberg@ntnu.no.
authors: Grete Helen
authors: GH
authors: Bratberg
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of North Dakota, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Grand Forks, USA.
authors: Sharon
authors: S
authors: C Wilsnack
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of North Dakota, School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Grand Forks, USA.
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Wilsnack
authors: Department of Psychosocial Health, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Agder (UiA), Kristiansand, Norway.
authors: Siri
authors: S
authors: Håvås Haugland
authors: HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Forskningsveien 2, 7600, Levanger, Norway.|Department of Research and Development, Levanger Hospital, Nord-Trøndelag Hospital Trust, Levanger, Norway.
authors: Steinar
authors: S
authors: Krokstad
authors: HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Forskningsveien 2, 7600, Levanger, Norway.
authors: Erik Reidar
authors: ER
authors: Sund
authors: HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Forskningsveien 2, 7600, Levanger, Norway.
authors: Johan Haakon
authors: JH
authors: Bjørngaard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000639:trends*; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000453:epidemiology; D000437:Alcoholism; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol
keywords: Alcohol; Change in gender differences; Drinking patterns; Gender convergence; Gender differences