Twenty-Year Alcohol-Consumption and Drinking-Problem Trajectories of Older Men and Women

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe older adults' 20-year alcohol-consumption and drinking-problem trajectories, identify baseline predictors of them, and determine whether older men and women differ on late-life drinking trajectory characteristics and predictors. Method: Two-group simultaneous latent growth modeling was used to describe the characteristics and baseline predictors of older community-residing men's (n = 399) and women's (n = 320) 20-year drinking trajectories. Chi-square difference tests of increment in fi t of latent growth models with and without gender invariance constraints were used to determine gender differences in drinking trajectory characteristics and predictors. Results: Unconditional quadratic growth models best described older individuals' within-individual, 20-year drinking trajectories, with alcohol consumption following an average pattern of delayed decline, and drinking problems an average pattern of decline followed by leveling off. On average, older men declined in alcohol consumption somewhat later than did older women. The best baseline predictors of more rapid decline in alcohol consumption and drinking problems were drinking variables indicative of heavier, more problematic alcohol use at late middle age. Conclusions: The course of alcohol consumption and drinking problems from late middle age onward is one of net decline, but this decline is neither swift nor invariable. Gender differences in the timing of decline in drinking suggest that ongoing monitoring of alcohol consumption may be especially important for older men. Further research is needed to identify factors known at late middle age that prospectively explain long-term change in late-life use of alcohol. (J. Stud Alcohol Drugs, 72, 308-321, 2011) (Ahlstrom, 2008). However, there is scarce evidence to support this view, and it has been drawn from studies with important design and analytic limitations. Furthermore, there has been almost no research to identify predictors of late-life decline in alcohol consumption and drinking problems. From a public health perspective, it is important to identify factors known at late middle age that prospectively infl uence older adults' subsequent drinking trajectories; this might inform development of interventions aimed at promoting healthier late-life drinking practices.This study builds on others' and our previous work in this area Moos et al., 2009Moos et al., , 2010 by using latent growth modeling to describe the 20-year drinking trajectories of men and women as they mature from late middle age (about age 55-65) through "later" old age (about age 75-85). In addition, it extends earlier research by determining whether key demographic, health-related, coping, and social context characteristics known at late middle age predict the level and shape of older individuals' subsequent 20-year drinking trajectories. Because so little is known about older women's drinking behavior as distinct from that of older men, this study also addresses whether gender...

A Prospective Study of Alcohol Use Among Middle-Aged Adults and Marital Partner Influences on Drinking

“…A shorter time window for assessment may decrease the prevalence of use relative to a longer time window because it permits more time for a drinking occasion to occur; moreover, it may infl uence the average number of drinks per day because if no drinking is reported for the shorter time window, the average number of drinks per day is "zero," whereas a longer time window may yield a nonzero value if drinking occurs. The percentage of drinkers in our community sample was quite similar to that found in Brennan et al's (2011) community sample.…”

“…Contrary to these fi ndings, at the aggregate level, Platt et al (2010)-with a sample of 51-to 61-year-olds at baseline-reported a decline in the number of drinks consumed per day and an increase in abstainers across a 15-year period, with the greatest change occurring in the fi rst 5 years of the study, earlier than that reported by Brennan et al (2011). In a longitudinal study of middle-aged adults, Molander et al (2010) found that from age 53 (Time 1) to age 64 (Time 2), at the aggregate level, the average number of drinks per drinking day and heavy drinking decreased, but the frequency of drinking increased among both men and women.…”

“…With regard to the average number of drinks per day, our fi ndings are largely similar to those reported in the literature, especially given that there is variation across studies with regard to the time windows used to assess alcohol use (e.g., last-30-days, last-6-months, last year), differences in survey items (e.g., a single item requesting number of alcoholic beverages or drinks consumed vs. alcoholic beverage-specifi c items for beer, wine, and distilled spirits), and alternative demarcations for age groupings of middle-aged versus older adults (Blazer and Wu, 2009;Brennan et al, 2011;Breslow and Smothers, 2004;Kaplan et al, 2012;Molander et al, 2010;Platt et al, 2010;Sacco et al, 2009). …”

“…For example, Brennan et al (2011) reported that across the 20 years of their study, the average number of drinks consumed per day ranged from 1.10 to 1.52 drinks for men and 0.57 to 1.34 drinks for women. Our sample yielded average rates of drinking per day from 1.64 to 1.82 for men and from 0.68 to 0.76 for women.…”

“…In general, with increasing age there is a slow but steady increase in the number of abstainers and a gradual decline in quantity of alcohol consumed, HED, and alcohol problems (Blazer and Wu, 2009;Brennan et al, 2011;Breslow and Smothers, 2004;Platt et al, 2010). Although there is agreement of a general decline in alcohol involvement with increasing age, fi ndings have differed with respect to the levels of stability and change during middle adulthood.…”