Socioeconomic status and alcohol use disorders across the lifespan: A co-relative control study

Abstract

ObjectivesAlcohol use disorders (AUD) is well known to aggregate in families and is associated with socioeconomic status (SES). The objective was to study the effect of education, income and neighborhood SES in adulthood on AUD, and to explore whether the potential associations were confounded by shared familial factors, by using a co-relative control design.MethodsData on AUD was drawn from the Swedish inpatient and outpatient care registers; prescription drug register; and crime data. Through national population registers we collected information on income, education and neighborhood SES at age 25, 30, 35 and 40 years in all individuals born in Sweden between 1950 and 1980. Each sex-specific stratum consisted of approximately 750,000–1,200,000 individuals, who were followed for AUD for a mean follow-up time ranging between 10 and 15 years until the end of 2013. Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate the risk of AUD as a function of income, education and neighborhood SES in the general population and in pairs of first cousins and full siblings within the same sex, who differed in their exposure to the SES measure.ResultsHigher educational level, higher income and higher neighborhood SES were all associated with a reduced risk for AUD for both males and females in all ages. The potentially protective effect remained but was attenuated when comparing pairs of first cousins and full siblings.ConclusionsHigh educational level and income in adulthood, as well as high neighborhood socioeconomic status, may represent protective factors against alcohol use disorders, even when shared familial factors, e.g. childhood socioeconomic status and genetic factors, have been taken into account.

Caffeinated soda intake in children is associated with neurobehavioral risk factors for substance misuse

“…Along with daily caffeinated soda intake, family risk factors (PC1 of parental monitoring, family income, and parental education) also mediated the relationship between neurocognitive risk factors and future alcohol sipping ( Figure 4B ). This finding is in line with previous literature, suggesting that parental monitoring and high socioeconomic status could have protective effects on future alcohol use or alcohol-related problems (Kendler et al, 2014; Carroll et al, 2016; Collins, 2016; Calling et al, 2019). We acknowledge that multiple mediators could exist between neurocognitive risk factors and future alcohol use other than caffeinated soda intake, so future research should extensively investigate how caffeinated soda intake interacts with other risk/protective factors of SUDs.…”

Individual Capital Structure and Health Behaviors among Chinese Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Using Bourdieu’s Theory of Capitals

“…Since the direct economic cost of alcohol consumption is far higher than physical exercise, smoking and staying up behaviors, economic capital becomes a solid material foundation of drinking behavior, especially for those with higher odds of binge drinking, such as males and middle-aged adults. By contrast, the mainstream social norms are resistant to alcohol abuse, so a larger amount of cultural capital (e.g., education level that reflects internalized criteria of value) plays a positive role in reducing the risk of alcoholism [ 54 ]. As for social capital, it is embedded into personal social networks, thus the positive effects of interpersonal norms and the negative effects caused by drinking as a kind of socializing behavior are mixed, which may lead to social capital’s insignificant role.…”

Risk Pathways Contributing to the Alcohol Harm Paradox: Socioeconomic Deprivation Confers Susceptibility to Alcohol Dependence via Greater Exposure to Aversive Experience, Internalizing Symptoms and Drinking to Cope

“…The second issue is the single item used to measure socioeconomic deprivation, which reflected only participants’ relative childhood family status. Socioeconomic status comprises a wide diversity of dimensions including education, income (personal and familial), occupation, neighborhood, environment, experienced at different time points (i.e., childhood versus adult), which have been variously linked to alcohol dependence ( Yang et al, 2007 ; Huckle et al, 2010 ; Karriker-Jaffe, 2011 ; Calling et al, 2019 ). Future work needs to address these two concerns by randomly sampling participants across the socioeconomic spectrum and comprehensively assessing socioeconomic deprivation to provide a more accurate and detailed account of its role within the risk pathway.…”