Educational Differences in Excessive Alcohol Consumption: The Role of Psychosocial and Material Stressors

Droomers, Mariël; Schrijvers, Carola; Stronks, Karien; Mheen, Dike van de; Mackenbach, Johan P.

doi:10.1006/pmed.1999.0496

Cited by 162 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The commonly observed inverse, SES gradient in harmful drinking patterns has been attributed to low-SES groups' greater exposure to chronic, material stressors (Droomers et al, 1999). Our study results do not contradict this but suggest that differences in vulnerability to social adversity and stress are also relevant.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Social Adversity, Stress, and Alcohol Problems: Are Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Poor More Vulnerable?

Mulia

Zemore

2012

J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs

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ABSTRACT. Objective: Experiences of racial/ethnic bias and unfair treatment are risk factors for alcohol problems, and population differences in exposure to these social adversities (i.e., differential exposure) may contribute to alcohol-related disparities. Differential vulnerability is another plausible mechanism underlying health disparities, yet few studies have examined whether populations differ in their vulnerability to the effects of social adversity on psychological stress and the effects of psychological stress on alcohol problems. Method: Data from the 2005 U.S. National Alcohol Survey (N = 4,080 adult drinkers) were analyzed using structural equation modeling to assess an overall model of pathways linking social adversity, depressive symptoms, heavy drinking, and alcohol dependence. Multiple group analyses were conducted to assess differences in the model's relationships among Blacks versus Whites, Hispanics versus Whites, and the poor (income below the federal poverty line) versus non-poor (income above the poverty line). Results:The overall model explained 48% of the variance in alcohol dependence and revealed signifi cant pathways between social adversity and alcohol dependence involving depressive symptoms and heavy drinking. The effects of social adversity and depressive symptoms were no different among Blacks and Hispanics compared with Whites. However, the poor (vs. non-poor) showed stronger associations between unfair treatment and depressive symptoms and between depressive symptoms and heavy drinking. Conclusions: Contrary to some prior studies, these fi ndings suggest that racial disparities in alcohol problems may be more a function of racial/ethnic minorities' greater exposure, rather than vulnerability, to chronic stressors such as social adversity. However, observed differences between the poor and non-poor imply that differential vulnerability contributes to socioeconomic disparities in alcohol problems. Efforts to reduce both differential exposure and vulnerability might help to mitigate these disparities. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 73, 570-580, 2012)

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 47%

Social Adversity, Stress, and Alcohol Problems: Are Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Poor More Vulnerable?

Mulia

Zemore

2012

J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs

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“…Several studies have found no increase in drinking related to stressful life events (Droomers, Schrijvers, Stronks, Van De Mheen, & Mackenbach, 1999;Robertson, Xu, & Stripling, 2010;Welte & Mirand, 1995), social anxiety (Eggleson, Woolaway-Bickel, & Schmidt, 2004;Ham & Hope, 2006;Tran, Haaga, & Chambless, 1997) and posttraumatic stress disorder (Boscarino et al, 2006;Breslau, Davis, & Schultz, 2003;Najdowski & Ullman, 2009), and there are also studies reporting no drinking increase in people who have suffered pain (Yokoyama et al, 2009), sexual victimization (Testa, Livingston, & Hoffman, 2007) and effects of military combat (Fritch, Mishkind, Reger, & Gahm, 2010). Workrelated stress has a particularly uncertain relationship with drinking; sometimes distressed employees drink more (Ahola et al, 2006;Bobak et al, 2005;Richman, Shinsako, Rospenda, Flaherty, & Freels, 2002) and sometimes they do not (Hodgins, Williams, & Munro, 2009;Kouvonen et al, 2005;Ng & Jeffery, 2003).…”

Section: Ijadr International Journal Of Alcohol and Drug Researchmentioning

confidence: 97%

Distress and drinking: Cross-cultural connections and contexts

Wilsnack¹,

Kristjanson²,

Wilsnack³

et al. 2013

IJADR

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Aims: Research on how distress is related to drinking has paid relatively little attention to gender and to cultural differences. This study examines how distress is associated with men's and women's drinking cross-culturally.Design: Cross-sectional survey.Setting/Participants: Surveys of 30,728 women and 24,204 men in 22 countries of the GENACIS project (Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study) provided data on how women's and men's mental, interpersonal and work-situational distress are related to their drinking patterns. Measurements:Analyses examined correlations within surveys, and used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to take into account economic development, abstinence rates and distress levels in the populations surveyed. Findings:We found few associations of drinking patterns with reported stressful work situations. Mental and interpersonal distress had more frequent but geographically scattered associations with men's and women's drinking, particularly with quantities consumed. HLM analyses confirmed cross-culturally that drinking tended to increase with psychological and interpersonal distress, but the societal-level variables had few effects.Conclusions: Distress measures in GENACIS surveys were positively though not powerfully associated with both women's and men's drinking cross-culturally, associations not attributable to societal-level characteristics. The findings indicate a need for better cross-cultural information about the processes by which distress may lead to heavier drinking.For over 50 years, hundreds of scholars have tried to learn how distress is connected to drinking. From all their efforts, one conclusion is certain: sometimes emotional and physical distress are associated with heavier drinking and increased risks of alcohol problems and alcohol disorders. However, after much time and effort, it is still not clear how or when or where or why distress and drinking are connected. Here we briefly review some of the more common findings from recent research, and then offer more information about where distress and drinking occur together and how gender may affect the connections.A basic hypothesis about stress and alcohol is that for people who drink, the effects of alcohol seem to help them deal with unpleasant feelings resulting from stressful experiences. Evidence consistent with this hypothesis has been found in a wide variety of circumstances, in those who suffer from social anxiety disorder or symptoms (Carrigan IJADR

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“…These studies have found cultural background-specifically, faith and religious observance-to be of great importance (Bradby & Williams, 2006;Dotinga, van den Eijnden, Bosveld, & Garretsen, 2006). Other socioeconomic determinants related to alcohol use have also been identified, such as education (Droomers, Schrijvers, Stronks, van de Mheen, & Mackenbach, 1999;Hemmingsson, Lundberg, Romelsjö, & Alfredsson, 1997), vocation (Hemmingsson et al, 1997;Mandell, Eaton, Anthony, & Garrison 1992), financial capacity (Brinkley, 1999;Crawford, 1995) and family structure (Hill et al, 2010;Ledoux, Miller, Choquet, & Plant, 2002). In addition, research has indicated that the impact of alcohol-related harm increases with poverty (Commission on Social Determinants of Health, 2008).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-economic determinants for alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking in a Ugandan student population

Stafström

Agardh

2013

IJADR

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Aims: To examine whether the socio-economic determinants of alcohol use found in high-income university student settings are also true of Uganda. Results:Multivariate logistic regression showed the following socio-economic determinants to be positively associated with alcohol consumption: having attended boarding school (for males only); being Catholic; religion not playing a big role while growing up; head of household having had secondary education or higher (for females only); being a student of development studies, tropical forest conservation or computer science (the latter two for males only). Being Muslim or, for males, being a non-Anglican Protestant were negatively related to alcohol use. Different patterns were found for heavy episodic drinking. Being a male Muslim or a male student of development studies was positively related to heavy episodic drinking; while among females, being of a non-classified faith, having had a head of the household with a secondary education, not being raised by both parents, or being a student of development studies or science were positively related to heavy episodic drinking. Conclusion:Alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking on a monthly basis among the students at MUST seem linked to a student's socio-economic background, with varying patterns for male and female students.

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Educational Differences in Excessive Alcohol Consumption: The Role of Psychosocial and Material Stressors

Cited by 162 publications

References 31 publications

Social Adversity, Stress, and Alcohol Problems: Are Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Poor More Vulnerable?

Social Adversity, Stress, and Alcohol Problems: Are Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Poor More Vulnerable?

Distress and drinking: Cross-cultural connections and contexts

Socio-economic determinants for alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking in a Ugandan student population

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