Women in high-ranking jobs are more likely to have a drinking problem than are women in lower-ranked positions, according to new research from the UK.

The investigators found that around 14 percent of women in senior positions appeared to have a dependence on alcohol, compared with only 4 percent of women holding clerical jobs.

Interestingly, the same trend was not seen in men. About 11 percent of men showed signs of having a drinking problem, regardless of the seniority of their position.

Study author Dr. Stephen Stansfeld of the Institute of Community Health Sciences in London said that highly ranked women may be more likely to drink than other women because they have more disposable income and are more likely to be single. Research shows that family commitments tend to reduce the risk of heavy drinking, he told Reuters Health.

Stansfeld, who is also based at Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, added that highly ranked women may be more likely to drink heavily than their male counterparts because men in higher positions are more likely to be married than women, who may also have to work harder and sustain more stress than men to attain a similar success.

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“It is more stressful for women to get to higher grades and stay there than men,” according to Stansfeld.

During the study, Stansfeld and his colleagues surveyed more than 10,000 UK civil servants about the nature of their jobs and their drinking habits.

The researchers also found that men who work in jobs in which they exert great effort but see few rewards were at significantly higher risk of becoming problem drinkers. The risk of heavy drinking was also higher among women who had few opportunities to make decisions and felt as if they had little control at work.

High demands and a lack of support at work appeared to have no relationship to drinking, contrary to the researchers’ original hypothesis, according to their report published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Stansfeld noted that he hopes these results encourage health officials to examine the effect of gender on health in the workplace, and focus on the relationship between women’s work and drinking habits.

SOURCE: Occupational and Environmental Medicine, March 2004.