Comparing daily drivers of problem drinking among older and younger adults: An electronic daily diary study using smartphones

Abstract

Older adults may have unique daily drivers of drinking that are not fully realized in current research and intervention efforts. Addressing the growing substance-use treatment needs among this population will require identifying the unique drivers of drinking among older adults, such as boredom, when compared to younger adults.

Substance Use among Older Adults: An Update on Prevalence, Etiology, Assessment, and Intervention

“…Additionally, low self-efficacy is associated with fewer health promotion behaviors among OA due to perceiving the related consequences as normal aging. A recent study found that OA with high daily commitment and confidence to not drink heavily did not reduce their daily drinking as much as their younger counterparts [62]; in other words, high motivation and self-efficacy were not as protective for OA as for younger adults.…”

“…Male gender (for alcohol, marijuana, tobacco) [10,13] Female gender (for prescription drugs) [11,32] Caucasian [10,13] Age (being closer to middle age) [10,11] Less than college education [11] Physical factors Chronic pain [62] Physical disabilities or reduced mobility [5] Poor physical health status, chronic physical illness [10] Significant drug burden/polypharmacy Psychiatric factors…”

“…Cognitive impairment, dementia [33,60] Poor mental health status [10,11] Avoidance coping style [5] Using substances to cope with stress [51] Previous and/or concurrent alcohol or other substance use disorder (including tobacco) [11] Previous and/or concurrent psychiatric illness [5] Loneliness (alcohol, marijuana, and potentially opioids) [3] Boredom [62] Low perceived social support (for cannabis use) [51]…”

Substance Use Disorders and COVID-19: Multi-Faceted Problems Which Require Multi-Pronged Solutions

“…Shrinking social networks and deaths from COVID-19 leaves many without coping resources (65). Social isolation, loneliness, death of loved ones, complicated grief, and prolonged bereavement are associated with problematic substance use and relapse both in younger and older adults, and can adversely affect mental health (17,(66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74)(75).…”

Depressive symptoms are related to boredom proneness in patients receiving hospital care, regardless of alcohol status, lifestyle, or social support

“…The picture is quite different when it comes to BP, since this personality trait differentiated markedly patients with and without AC, which adds up to findings on the relationship between boredom and drinking among adolescents, young (Biolcati et al, 2016;Windle and Windle, 2018), and older adults (Kuerbis et al, 2018;Patrick et al, 2017). But differences in scores on BP subscales also reflect distinct reasons for the occurrence of boredom (Vodanovich et al, 2005).…”