MELBOURNE (Reuters Health) - According to new Australian research, problem drinking has a greater physical, social and psychological effect on women than on men.

Dr. Lina Ricciardelli, a psychologist from Deakin University, and her colleagues from the University of Queensland and the Charles Sturt University studied the drinking habits of university students aged 18 to 40.

The investigators found that 81% of the women in the study drank more than is safe, compared with 67% of the men. Eleven percent of the women were found to be alcohol dependent. The team defined safe drinking as one or two drinks per occasion for women, and four or fewer drinks per occasion for men.

Ricciardelli explained to Reuters Health that the women in the study were frequently drinking at a level considered safe for men, not for women. She added that there has been very little research on women's drinking patterns.

When compared with men, said Ricciardelli, "women develop dependent drinking earlier on, are at risk of pregnancy complications, fertility problems and even breast cancer. They are also more at risk of depression than men who are problem drinkers."

She said drinking has a greater psychological effect on women because they tend to be conflicted about it. "Women are labeled less feminine, less nurturing and more sexually available when they're drinking."

"We need to develop programs that take into account some of the differences between men and women's drinking patterns. The messages have to be targeted differently to men and women," Ricciardelli pointed out. "We'd want to work more with some of the attributes associated with women's drinking and make them more aware of those, like some of the negative characteristics that are associated with drinking that put women in conflict."

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