This paper focuses on the psychological characteristics of American females, who have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol for the first time. It presents summaries of the results of a variety of psychological tests for examining alcoholism, clinical depression, anxiety, and signs of any other major psychiatric illness. A sample was taken of 61 newly convicted alcohol-impaired drivers, caught for the first time, from either of two alcohol safe driving programmes in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. It appears that conventional alcoholism surveys identified problem alcohol usage in women at slightly higher rates than for comparable men. In the sample, 87% displayed additional psychiatric symptoms. It is conceivable that some of the women may intentionally or unintentionally use alcohol to subtly 'treat' their other symptoms. In such cases, treatment and education for alcohol abuse alone may not have been sufficient to prevent return to excessive alcohol use. The author makes some recommendations for designing a more comprehensive evaluation and rehabilitation programme for identified female DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol) offenders. Additional psychiatric problems should at least be identified, evaluated and if necessary treated.
Abstract