Women in Military Less Likely to Drink Than Civilians Counterparts

Alcohol has been a part of military culture for long; however, a new study reveals that women military veterans are less likely to drink as compared to their civilian counterparts.

The finding - by researchers Jay Teachman, Carter Anderson and Lucky Tedrow - is based on the survey conducted on 9,000 men and women who are currently a part of the U.S. military or who were military veterans.

During the study, the researchers asked the respondents about their consumption of alcohol in the previous 30 days.

"Women react differently to their experience in the military than do men," the researchers wrote. "We suspect that part of the reason for the negative link between military service and alcohol use for women is the threat of sexual harassment and assault that is common in the military. Alcohol use is tightly linked to sexual assault, both within and outside the military, and women who serve may become particularly aware of this linkage. "

The researchers assumed that women veterans want to justify their position in military, and so they abstain from using alcohol, "especially to the extent that their participation in particular military occupation specialties based on use of alcohol is subject to critical review based on their gender."

On evaluating the responses, the researchers found that among both men and women, longer their duration of service in military, the more likely they are to use alcohol. Apart from this, regardless of the gender, enlistees who worked in the combat zone were more likely to consume alcohol.

"Our models, while not perfect, provide evidence that military service leads to more alcohol consumption among service members that would have been the case if they had not served," the authors concluded. "This finding should provide for increased emphasis on efforts to reduce the culture of alcohol consumption in the military."

The finding was documented in the Armed Forces & Society.