Fancy dress parties drive women to drink

Women drink more than men at fancy dress parties, scientists say.

Previous research into alcohol consumption in social gatherings has almost universally found men drink more than women.

However researchers who attended 66 American student parties found this to be true, except when they involved guests wearing fancy dress - especially with a sexual theme.



Lead author Dr John Clapp, director of the Centre for Alcohol and Drug Studies at San Diego State University, said that as his team was unable to explain the surprise finding it would be necessary to carry out further field work.

Dr Clapp said: "One of the more interesting findings was that young women drank more heavily than males at themed events.

"It is rare to find any situation where women drink more than men, and these events tended to have sexualized themes and costumes. Given that some theme parties can be highly sexualized, future investigation of the mechanisms that may explain this effect is warranted."