Whether tested as a categorical variable or as a percentage, gender was not a significant moderator of ES distribution in this meta-analysis, and our study was not designed to directly address whether women manifest a telescoping effect in terms of health consequences. Nonetheless, a qualitative difference between ES for men and women arose, as the averaged ES in men (g = .239) was smaller than that for women (g = .538). Firm conclusions about relative vulnerability to alcohol-related WM damage cannot be made on the basis of the available evidence, especially given the small population of studies contributing ES for women, but a cautious interpretation is that women seem to be at least as severely affected as men.
