The ladies of the Jersey Shore aren’t the only females partaking in nights of endless drinking and debauchery.
According to new research from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, women born after World War II are now binge drinking more than their ancestors, and almost as much as their male counterparts.
Researchers reviewed more than 30 studies that looked at the gender differences in alcohol consumption, alcohol disorders and mortality. They found that alcoholic disorders are increasing among women in the U.S. due to a surge in binge drinking, but the same isn’t true in Australia and Europe, which were also studied in the report.
(MORE: Why Binge Drinking Is a Public Health Problem)
While binge drinking among women was thought to be on the rise in recent years, addiction therapist Paul Leslie Hokemeyer told WebMD that the time frame makes sense considering the shifting role of women after World War II. “More women entered the work force, but they were also expected to be good mothers and wives,” Hokemeyer said. “They have latched hold of alcohol as a coping mechanism because it is readily available and socially acceptable.”
Stress is another reason why women might be turning to the bottle, Hokemeyer said. On top of taking care of life at home, women are now expected to be successful in their own careers, while many of their predecessors didn’t have the same pressures.
Either way, boozing is certainly not the best coping mechanism, even though it’s one that has endured through generations, regardless of the health consequences. For women, alcohol can carry even more negative effects than for men. While that might not be enough to stop Snooki and her cohorts, maybe it will make you pause before taking that last shot. After all, you probably don’t need it, anyway.