Severe harm from others' drinking: A population‐based study on sex differences and the role of one's own drinking habits

Abstract

Introduction and Aims Despite the fact that many studies have focused on harm from others' drinking, there is a lack of knowledge regarding severe forms of these harms. This study aimed to assess sex differences in the prevalence of severe harm from others' drinking and sex‐specific associations with one's own drinking. Design and Methods The data originated from a Swedish cross‐sectional population survey (n = 15 576). Adjusted odds ratios of self‐reported experiences of severe harm (harmed ‘a lot’) from others' drinking were calculated using logistic regression models. Additive interactions were used to determine sex‐specific associations between own drinking and harm. Results The past‐year prevalence of severe harm from known and unknown drinkers was higher among women (4.9% and 1.8%, respectively) than men (1.9% and 1.2%, respectively). Alcohol dependence predicted such harm for both sexes. No association with severe harm from known drinkers was found for male drinkers and binge drinkers, whereas female drinkers and binge drinkers reported more experiences of such harm. These differences indicated a supper‐additive interaction (RERI: 0.92–1.47) and signs of having alcohol dependence among women indicated an even higher interaction (RERI: 5.37). Discussion and Conclusions Women suffer more frequently from severe harm from others' drinking. Men and women report different experiences of severe harm from known people's drinking conditioning on their drinking behaviour. Sex‐specific longitudinal studies are warranted to examine the relation between different behaviours and these harms. Whether these findings hold in settings with different drinking cultures and social norms should be explored.

Alcohol's harm to others in Japan: Different rates for different relationships to the drinker in a 2018 national survey

“…The finding that AHTO in the home was more common in women corresponds with that of previous studies [13–15]. However, according to the findings of this study, no difference exists between men and women regarding AHTO from fathers in the home.…”

“…The lifetime proportion of adults (men/women) who experienced AHTO is reported to be 85%/83% in New Zealand, and the 12-month proportion was 50.1%-73.8%/46.6%-72.4% in Asian countries, 53.1%/46.7% in the United States, 23.0%/20.8% in Sweden and 4.8%/3.9% in South Korea [13,15,[22][23][24]. The results are not directly comparable because of the different timeframes, ways of assessing types of harm, and ages of the participants; however, according to this study, AHTO in Japan was lower than in other countries.…”

“…Being younger, unemployed or a casual worker, and having a heavy drinker in the household elevated the risk of AHTO [7, 12, 13]. Regarding drinking patterns of harmed individuals, habitual heavy drinking or binge drinking increased the risk of AHTO [7, 13, 15]. However, the risk factors for AHTO with respect to marital status and income vary according to the type of AHTO and their relationship with the drinker [7, 12, 16].…”

Few interventions support the affected other on their own: A systematic review of individual level psychosocial interventions to support those harmed by others’ alcohol drinking

“…We also found a predominance of female affected others (Rane et al, 2017;Templeton et al, 2010), which may re ect the excessive burden carried by females. However, males also experience harm from others' drinking (Sundin et al, 2021) and are too deserving of intervention. Those from white ethnic origin, where ethnicity was available, also predominated the landscape (Templeton et al, 2010).…”

Prevalence and self‐rated health and depression of family members affected by addictive disorders: results of a nation‐wide cross‐sectional study

“…These studies also often show a high incidence of such experiences, e.g. for alcohol alone, between 25 and 53% [18], with most studies consistently showing that people reporting these experiences are more likely to be younger, more often single and are more likely to report risky consumption patterns of alcohol or other intoxicants themselves [9,[19][20][21][22].…”