In one of the earliest studies of gender and alcoholism subtypes, Schuckit and his colleagues (1969) described two major variations in female alcoholism, primary and secondary. Primary alcoholics were women whose damaging drinking patterns developed apart from any other psychological disorders, and secondary alcoholics were women for whom alcoholism developed after they experienced either depression or anxiety (i.e., affective disorders). This distinction, which has become somewhat controversial, is consistent with numerous studies that have found depression and anxiety to be more prevalent in female than in male alcoholics (for review, see Hesselbrock 1991). Schuckit’s scheme was the first to focus attention on women and concomitant mood disorder (e.g., affective disorder).
