Prague women's drinking before and after the ‘velvet revolution’ of 1989: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Results are presented of a follow-up study in which a representative sample of 608 Prague women aged 20-49 years in 1987 at first interview was re-interviewed in 1992 3 years after the resolution that ended the 41 years of the Communist era in Czechoslovakia. The average yearly consumption of alcohol in the followed-up female sample increased between 1987-92 from a reported 3.6 litres to 4.8 litres. The percentage of heavier drinkers (with average daily consumption of over 20 g alcohol) increased from 7.2% to 14.0%. The women expressed increased tolerance of drunkenness in their attitudes to drinking. The consumption increase was mainly due to increased drinking frequency of spirits and to increased quantity of beer consumed per occasion. The consumption increase was largest in women working as free-lance and the newly emerging self-employed women; economically inactive women did not increase their consumption. Women who reported a positive impact of the socio-political changes on their personal lives and an expansion of social contacts also reported larger than average consumption increases. A coincidence of stressful, possibly self-inflicted, life events and increased alcohol use was observed and interpreted as probably a two-way influence.

No Higher Risk of Problem Drinking or Mental Illness for Women in Male-Dominated Occupations

“…We found few studies on attitudes to female alcohol consumption, but there were some indications that attitudes have moved towards a greater tolerance of female drinking (Allamani, Voller, Kubicka, and Bloomfield, 2000;Bloomfield et al, 1999;Kubicka, Csemy, and Kozeny, 1995). Thus, changes in attitudes to female drinking should also have increased our probability of finding an association between horizontal gender segregation and problem drinking.…”

Stock–catch analysis of carp recreational fisheries in Czech reservoirs: Insights into fish survival, water body productivity and impact of extreme events

“…We have hypothesized that the average stock-catch relationship at the studied reservoirs could have been affected by two major events, the fall of the communist regime ('Velvet Revolution') in late 1989 and the extreme floods in 2002. The Velvet Revolution could have led to lower effort in early 1990s, as people suddenly faced entirely new challenges in their lives and had the chance to travel abroad and take part in many other new, exciting activities (e.g., Duke, 1994;Hraba et al, 2000;Kubička et al, 1995). Since the earliest effort data come from 1991, a potential dip in effort could be observed only indirectly through lower catches in early 1990s.…”

Alcohol use in the country with the world’s highest per capita beer consumption – the Czech Republic

“…This mini-unit never included more than two researchers, of whom only Kubi ka's interests were focused primarily on alcohol research (e.g. [8,9,11,24,25]); Csémy's research themes also included other substances [26]. Bobák, a Czech epidemiologist interested in alcohol research, is currently active in England (e.g.…”

“…In 1986-89 consumption decreased (to 8.0 litres in 1987). This downturn coincided with a weak imitation of Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign by the regime [8][9][10]. It may be supposed that the Communist rulers of the country thought that a moderate antialcohol campaign would be politically less dangerous than an imitation of Gorbachev's glasnost (openness).…”

“…Since the fall of the totalitarian regime in November 1989 per capita consumption has increased almost continually, by 0.7 litre in 1990 and in smaller steps in following years. Reasons for the increase of alcohol consumption following the reinstallation of liberal democracy and market economy since 1990 may be seen in the abolition of political control over drinking, the easy economic (and distributional) availability of alcoholic beverages and the 'everything is allowed' attitude spreading throughout Czech society since the change of political regime, as illustrated among other phenomena by increasing common criminality (see [8,9]). …”