In contrast, substantial gender differences were evident within the type A group for 13 of the 17 comparisons. On average, the type A male alcoholics reported that they began drinking at an earlier age and were found to have higher scores on a measure of personality that tended to distinguish alcoholics from nonalcoholics; however, as in the type B category, type A female alcoholics exhibited higher levels of family history of alcoholism. Men in this subtype reported drinking greater quantities of alcohol than their female counterparts but reported less drinking in response to stress and other negative states (e.g., feeling sad) and less use of tranquilizing drugs. Although the men had longer drinking histories, they appeared to suffer fewer physical and social consequences and to have fewer medical complaints than did the women. Perhaps most striking were the differences in psychopathology. As in the type B category, type A men exhibited more symptoms of antisocial personality; at the same time, however, the women showed significantly more depression and anxiety.
