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Aims Due to the stressful nature of policing, police employees are at risk of mental health problems and problematic alcohol use. We aim to determine the prevalence of hazardous and harmful alcohol use in the UK Police Service, and to explore the associations with job strain and mental health problems. Methods Cross-sectional data from the Airwave Health Monitoring Study (N = 40 986) included measures of alcohol consumption (total units in past week), mental health (depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) and job strain. The associations between mental health and job strain with alcohol consumption (i.e. abstinence, low-risk [<14 units per week, reference group], hazardous [>14 to 35 units for women, >14 to 50 units for men], harmful [>35 units for women, >50 units for men]), were analysed using multinomial logistic regressions, adjusting for potential confounders (i.e. age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, children under 18, income and smoking status). Results A total of 32.6% of police employees reported hazardous drinking, with 3.0% drinking at harmful levels. Compared to those without a mental health problem, police employees with depression, anxiety or PTSD were twice as likely to be harmful drinkers and were also 1.3 times more likely to report abstinence. Those reporting low strain (reference group) were more likely to drink hazardously compared to those reporting high strain, which was statistically moderated by mental health. When the sample was stratified by mental health status, the association between low strain (compared to all other categories) and hazardous drinking, was significant only in those without a mental health problem. Conclusions These findings indicate that police employees may be an occupational group at risk of alcohol harm, with one-third drinking hazardously. The J-shaped relationship between mental health and alcohol use highlights a need for an integration of mental health and alcohol services, tailored for the UK Police Service.

Background : British Armed Forces’ and Police Forces’ personnel are trained to operate in potentially traumatic conditions. Consequently, they may experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is often comorbid with harmful alcohol use. Objective : We aimed to assess the proportions, and associations, of probable PTSD and harmful alcohol use among a covariate-balanced sample of male military personnel and police employees. Methods : Proportions of probable PTSD, harmful alcohol use, and daily binge drinking, were explored using data from the police Airwave Health Monitoring Study (2007–2015) ( N = 23,826) and the military Health and Wellbeing Cohort Study (phase 2: 2007–2009, phase 3: 2014–2016) ( N = 7,399). Entropy balancing weights were applied to the larger police sample to make them comparable to the military sample on a range of pre-specified variables (i.e. year of data collection, age and education attainment). Multinomial and logistic regression analyses determined sample differences in outcome variables, and associated factors (stratified by sample). Results : Proportions of probable PTSD were similar in military personnel and police employees (3.67% vs 3.95%), although the large sample size made these borderline significant (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 0.84; 95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 0.72 to 0.99). Clear differences were found in harmful alcohol use among military personnel, compared to police employees (9.59% vs 2.87%; AOR: 2.79; 95% CI: 2.42 to 3.21). Current smoking, which was more prevalent in military personnel, was associated with harmful drinking and binge drinking in both samples but was associated with PTSD in military personnel only. Conclusions : It is generally assumed that both groups have high rates of PTSD from traumatic exposures, however, low proportions of PTSD were observed in both samples, possibly reflecting protective effects of unit cohesion or resilience. The higher level of harmful drinking in military personnel may relate to more prominent drinking cultures or unique operational experiences.

Background Drinking motivations within the UK military have not been studied despite the high prevalence of alcohol misuse in this group. Aims We aimed to characterize drinking motivations and their demographic, military and mental health associations in UK serving and ex-serving personnel. Methods Serving and ex-serving personnel reporting mental health, stress or emotional problems occurring in the last 3 years were selected from an existing cohort study. A semi-structured telephone interview survey examined participants’ mental health, help-seeking, alcohol use and drinking motivations. Results Exploratory factor analysis of drinking motivations in military personnel (n = 1279; response rate = 84.6%) yielded 2 factors, labelled ‘drinking to cope’ and ‘social pressure’. Higher drinking to cope motivations were associated with probable anxiety (rate ratio [RR] = 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3–1.5), depression (RR = 1.3; 95% CI = 1.2–1.4) and post-traumatic stress disorder (RR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.3–1.6). Higher social pressure motivations were associated with probable anxiety (odds ratio = 1.1; 95% CI = 1.0–1.1). Alcohol misuse and binge drinking were associated with reporting higher drinking to cope motivations, drinking at home and drinking alone. Conclusions Amongst military personnel with a stress, emotional or mental health problem, those who drink to cope with mental disorder symptoms or because of social pressure, in addition to those who drink at home or drink alone, are more likely to also drink excessively.

Background and Aims Research has shown that alcohol use and common mental disorders (CMDs) co‐occur; however, little is known about how the global prevalence of alcohol use compares across different CMDs. We aimed to (i) report global associations of alcohol use (alcohol use disorder (AUD), binge drinking and consumption) comparing those with and without a CMD, (ii) examine how this differed among those with and without specific types of CMDs and (iii) examine how results may differ by study characteristics. Methods We used a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Cross‐sectional, cohort, prospective, longitudinal and case–control studies reporting the prevalence of alcohol use among those with and without a CMD in the general population were identified using PsycINFO, MEDLINE, PsyARTICLES, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science until March 2020. Depression, anxiety and phobia were included as a CMD. Studies were included if they used a standardized measure of alcohol use. A random‐effects meta‐analysis was conducted to generate pooled prevalence and associations of AUD with CMD with 95% confidence intervals (CI). A narrative review is provided for binge drinking and alcohol consumption Results A total of 512 full‐texts were reviewed, 51 included in our final review and 17 in our meta‐analyses (n = 382 201). Individuals with a CMD had a twofold increase in the odds of reporting an AUD [odds ratio (OR) = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.72–2.36]. The odds of having an AUD were similar when stratified by the type of CMD (mood disorder: OR = 2.00, 95% CI = 1.62–2.47; anxiety/phobic disorder: OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.35–2.78). An analysis of study characteristics did not reveal any clear explanations for between‐study heterogeneity (I2 > 80%). There were no clear patterns for associations between having a CMD and binge drinking or alcohol consumption, respectively. Conclusions People with common mental disorders (depression, anxiety, phobia) are twice as likely to report an alcohol use disorder than people without common mental disorders.

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