Women, alcohol, and sexuality

Abstract

Neither women’s sexuality nor their alcohol use has been studied until recently. Research on the relationship between the two has been even more neglected. While the literature has acknowledged that sexual dysfunction and abuse may coexist with women’s alcoholism, the possibility that these may predate or lead to excessive alcohol use has not been investigated. This study explores sexual experience, dysfunction, and abuse among 35 alcoholic women and their paired nonalcoholic counterparts. Results suggest that both dysfunction and abuse may precede as well as accompany alcoholism. The findings indicate that issues of sexuality should be included in recovery programs for women because alcohol and sexual experience are linked in most of these alcoholic women’s lives.