Young adults in Western countries are drinking more alcohol than ever before, particularly young women. This study aimed to explore how women are (re)defining their gender identities in relation to men through consumption of alcohol. Eight friendship discussion groups were conducted in Auckland, New Zealand, with 16 women and 16 men aged 20-29 years. Participants viewed binge drinking as a routine, normal part of everyday life. Women's drinking was linked to pleasure and fun, with positive descriptions of female participants who were frequently intoxicated. However, other drunk women were positioned as deviant and breaking traditional codes of femininity. Findings are discussed in terms of women's changing social positions and the accomplishment of gender identities through local communities of practice.

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Most qualitative research on alcohol focuses on younger rather than older adults. To explore older people’s relationship with alcohol, we conducted eight focus groups with 36 men and women aged 35 to 50 years in Scotland, UK. Initially, respondents suggested that older drinkers consume less alcohol, no longer drink to become drunk and are sociable drinkers more interested in the taste than the effects of alcohol. However, as discussions progressed, respondents collectively recounted recent drunken escapades, challenged accounts of moderate drinking, and suggested there was still peer pressure to drink. Some described how their drinking had increased in mid-life but worked hard discursively to emphasise that it was age and stage appropriate (i.e. they still met their responsibilities as workers and parents). Women presented themselves as staying in control of their drinking while men described going out with the intention of getting drunk (although still claiming to meet their responsibilities). While women experienced peer pressure to drink, they seemed to have more options for socialising without alcohol than did men. Choosing not to drink alcohol is a behaviour that still requires explanation in early mid-life. Harm reduction strategies should pay more attention to drinking in this age group.

A range of negative health outcomes are associated with young adults' drinking practices. One key arena where images of, and interaction about, drinking practices occurs is social networking sites, particularly Facebook. This study investigated the ways in which young adults' talked about and understood their uses of Facebook within their drinking practices. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven New Zealand young adults as they displayed, navigated and talked about their Facebook pages and drinking behaviours. Our social constructionist thematic analysis identified three major themes, namely 'friendship group belonging', 'balanced self-display' and 'absences in positive photos'. Drinking photos reinforced friendship group relationships but time and effort was required to limit drunken photo displays to maintain an overall attractive online identity. Positive photos prompted discussion of negative drinking events which were not explicitly represented. Together these understandings of drinking photos function to delimit socially appropriate online drinking displays, effectively 'airbrushing' these visual depictions of young adults' drinking as always pleasurable and without negative consequences. We consider the implications of these findings for ways alcohol health initiatives may intervene to reframe 'airbrushed' drinking representations on Facebook and provoke a deeper awareness among young people of drinking practices and their online displays.

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This study examined the multivariate relationships of psychosocial factors with well-being in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Fifty-five patients with early RA (seven years) completed questionnaires on psychosocial factors and psychological and physical well-being. Illness perceptions related to worse depression and life satisfaction (especially in early RA) and to longer morning stiffness (especially in intermediate RA). Optimism related to lower pain in early and intermediate RA. Social support related to lower fatigue in established RA. Indications for interventions targeted by disease duration are discussed.

Women felt that the illness took away the ability to experience normal emotions, as affective responses were viewed as potentially pathogenic. Although puerperal psychosis was described as a life-changing experience, the women used feeling like their 'old sense of self' as a marker for recovery. Anger and frustration were directed towards health services because of their lack of provision of adequate information and support for the women and their families. More support may have alleviated the stresses placed on relationships and informed families about the nature of the illness. Further work is needed to establish the long-term effects of suffering from puerperal psychosis.

This exploration of drinking reveals the fluidity of gender constructions-and the strategic ways in which men take up positions around hegemonic masculinity-in midlife. The close interweaving of drinking pints in the pub with notions of male friendship could lead to both health-damaging (excessive drinking) and potentially health-promoting (social support) behaviors. Health promotion experts need to be sensitive to cultural constructions of gender to address the high rates of drinking in this age group.