Table 2.

Gender differences in alcohol initiation, consumption, binge and heavy drinking among adolescents and young adults.

Authors	Sample	Years (sorted by earliest date)	Age groups	Birth cohorts	Outcome	Trend over time	Difference by gender	Convergence	Examination/testing of gender convergence
Patrick et al., 2019	MTF	1976–2016	18–30	~1958–1986	HDE	Decreases in binge drinking from age 18 through approximately age 25; increases in binge drinking from approximately age 26 to 30; concomitantly, increaes in the peak age of binge drinking across historical time from age 18 to 30	Yes. Higher prevalence among men.	Convergences in gender differences in early young adulthood due to faster decreases among men; stable gender differences as development approaches age 30.	Yes, convergences occuring
Johnston et al. 2018	MTF	1976–2017	8th, 10th, 12th grade	~1958–2005	HDE	Declining	Yes, higher among males	Yes; boys declined faster than girls since the 1980s, leading to convergence	Does not test gender by age interactions
Jang et al., 2017	MTF	1991–2015	8–12th grade	~1973–2003	Frequent binge drinking	Decreasing	Yes. Higher male reporting of FBD.	Yes. Gap closing from 1991–1998 to 2007–2015	No gender by time/cohort interaction tested
Chen et al. 2017	NSDUH	1995–2015	12–17	1978–2003	Driving under the influence	Decreasing	Yes. Higher among males.	Yes. Gap is closing due to faster declines among boys. Declines are more apparent at driving ages, 15–17. Reports of driving under the influence from 12–4 are rare	Convergence not tested
O’Malley & Johnston, 2013	MTF	2001–2011	12th grade students	~1983–1993	Driving under the influence	Decreasing	Yes, higher among males	n/a	Does not examine gender convergence
Seedall and Anthony, 2013	NSDUH	2002–2009	12–17 years old	1985–1997	Incident drinking	n/a	Yes. Excess female risk among 12–17 year olds.	n/a	Does not examine time trends
White et al., 2015	NSDUH	2002–2012	12–25 years old	1977–2000	HDE, driving under the influence	Decreasing	Yes. Higher among men	Among college students, no change in gap; among non-college students, gap decreasing due to decreases among men and increases among women. Among 21–25, decreasing gap driven by slower decrease among females than males.	Yes, convergences occuring
Cheng et al., 2016	NSDUH	2002–2013	12–24 years old	1978–2001	First full drink	Decreasing	Yes. Higher female incidence among 13–16 year olds; higher male incidence after age 21.	Divergence between 13–17 due to excess female alcohol initiation; divergence after age 22 due to excess male initiation.	No gender by time/cohort interaction tested
Patrick et al., 2013	MTF	2005–2011	12th grade students	~1987–1994	HDE, HID	Decreased HDE, constant HID	Yes. Higher HDE and HID among males.	n/a	Does not examine gender convergence
Patrick and Terry-McElrath, 2017	MTF	2005–2014	18–20 years old	~1985–1997	HDE, HID	Decreasing	Yes. Higher male prevalence across HDE and HID.	n/a	Does not examine gender convergence
Patrick et al., 2017	MTF	2005–2015	18–30 years old	~1975–1997	HDE, HID	Decrease in some HDE, HID outcomes at ages 19/20, 21/22, 23/24. Increases in HDE, HID at 29/30.	Yes. Higher prevalence of HID among men in young adulthood; similar prevalence of HDE in young adulthood	Yes. Gapsnarrowing for some outcomes and age groups due to faster decreases among men and/or faster increases among women.	Yes, convergences occuring
Cheng and Anthony, 2018	NSDUH	2006–2014	12–21 years old	1985–2002	Time-to-HDE	n/a	Yes. Excess female risk age age 11–14. Excess male risk 15+.	Not explicitly tested.	Does not examine time trends
White et al., 2018	NEDS	2006–2014	12–17	1989–2002	Alcohol misuse-related Emergency Department visits	Decreases in acute alcohol-related ED visits among both boys and girls	n/a	n/a	Convergence not tested
Fish and Baams, 2018	YRBS	2007–2015	9th through 12th grade students	~1989–2003	Alcohol use, early onset use, past 30-day use, past 30-day HDE	Decreases in all outcomes across all sexual orientations	Mixed. Early onset use higher for boys, but past 30-day use, and HDE higher for girls in most years, particularly sexual minority girls	Yes. Gap is closing if not crossing over to higher rates among girls, especially those identifying as sexual minorities	No gender by time/cohort interaction tested, and no interactions tested by gender and sexual minority status simultaneously
Kim et al., 2012	NIS	2008	15–20 years old	1988–1993	Alcohol-related hospital discharges	n/a	Yes, higher among males.	n/a	Does not look at time trends
Naeger, 2017	NEDS	2010–2013	12–20 years old	1990–2001	Alcohol misuse-related Emergency Department visits	Decrease among 12–17 year olds	Yes. Excess male ED visits overall. Higher female rate among 12–14 year olds.	Yes. Constant gender gap among 15–17 year olds. Gap closing among 12–14 year olds, driven by female decrease.	No gender by time/cohort interaction tested
Cheng and Anthony, 2017	NSDUH	2010–2014	12–17 years old	1993–2002	Incident drinking	n/a	Yes. Excess female risk of ~2% among 12–17 year olds across years.	Not explicitly tested.	Does not examine time trends

^*HDE = Heavy Drinking Episode; HID = high intensity drinking; AUD = Alcohol Use Disorder