Batty, GD;
Lewars, H;
Emslie, C;
Benzeval, M;
Hunt, K;
(2008)
Problem drinking and exceeding guidelines for 'sensible' alcohol consumption in Scottish men: associations with life course socioeconomic disadvantage in a population-based cohort study.
BMC Public Health
, 8
, Article 302. 10.1186/1471-2458-8-302.
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Abstract
Background: With surveys suggesting that exceeding guidelines for 'sensible' alcohol intake is commonplace, the health and social impact of modifying intake on a population level is potentially considerable. If public health interventions are to be successfully implemented, it is first important to identify correlates of such behaviours, including socioeconomic disadvantage. This was the aim of the present study.Methods: Population-representative cohort study of 576 men from the West of Scotland. Data on life course socioeconomic position were collected in 1988 (at around 55 years of age). Alcohol consumption patterns (detailed seven day recall) and problem drinking (CAGE questionnaire) were ascertained in 1990/2 (at around 59 years of age). A relative index of inequality was computed to explore the comparative strength of different indicators of social circumstances from different periods of the life course.Results: Socioeconomic adversity in both early life and in adulthood was related to an increased risk of exceeding the weekly and daily alcohol guidelines, with adult indicators of socioeconomic position revealing the strongest associations. Of these, material indicators of socioeconomic deprivation in adulthood - car ownership, housing tenure - were marginally more strongly related to heavy alcohol intake and problem drinking than education, income and occupational social class. A substantial proportion of the influence of early life deprivation on alcohol intake was mediated via adult socioeconomic position. Similar results were apparent when problem drinking was the outcome of interest.Conclusion: In men in this cohort, exposure to disadvantaged social circumstances across the lifecourse, but particularly in adulthood, is associated with detrimental patterns of alcohol consumption and problem drinking in late middle age.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Problem drinking and exceeding guidelines for 'sensible' alcohol consumption in Scottish men: associations with life course socioeconomic disadvantage in a population-based cohort study |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1186/1471-2458-8-302 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-8-302 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2008 Batty et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Aberdeen children, binge drinking, CAGE questionnaire, health behaviors, adulthood, risk, position, 1950s, patterns, Scotland |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/351464 |
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