Finally, in the present investigation, women were less likely overall to have a new onset alcohol, tobacco, or cannabis use disorder or an ongoing AUD compared to men. This result is largely consistent with literature demonstrating that males have a higher prevalence of SUDs compared to females,3–6,24 and that men are generally more likely to have a drug use disorder overall.23 Further, women may be less likely than men to develop an initial or persistent SUD,25,58 consistent with the present findings. It is only in women with two or more stressful life events that the odds of new onset AUD increase by 4 times that of women with zero or one stressful life event, further identifying the importance of stress in the initiation of problematic alcohol use.
