Age, Period, and Cohort Effects on Time Trends in Alcohol Consumption in the German Adult Population

Author(s):  
Alexander Pabst ◽  
Ludwig Kraus ◽  
Daniela Piontek ◽  
Stefanie Mueller

Aims: To estimate independent age, period, and cohort effects on time trends in alcohol volume and episodic heavy drinking in Germany. Method: Data from six waves of the German Epidemiological Survey of Substance Abuse (ESA) between 1995 and 2009 were used. The analytical sample comprised n = 34,542 individuals aged 18 to 64 years with at least one drinking occasion in the last 30 days. Alcohol volume was derived from beverage-specific quantity frequency questions. Episodic heavy drinking was specified as the number of days with five or more alcoholic drinks at a single occasion. Results: On average across age and cohort groups, alcohol consumption has considerably declined over the last 15 years. Cohort effects indicate a decline in alcohol volume from the 1940s to the 1970s birth cohort groups and a steep increase in younger cohorts. Moreover, cohorts born after 1980 were found to drink more often to intoxication than older cohorts. Age variations in trends were rather small compared to period and cohort effects. Conclusions: Despite the steady declining trend in alcohol consumption in the German general population, there is a tendency toward riskier drinking patterns among the youngest cohorts. This underlines the need for alcohol policy measures.

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 14-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sari Hanhinen

This article compares Nordic drinking habit surveys and their results — a comparison previously done in 1988. It includes all the main surveys regarding drinking habits of the adult population in the Nordic countries since 1988. In addition the analysis takes in Italy and Germany. Drinking habits are described and compared on four dimensions: the share of abstainers and drinkers, overall drinking frequency, the volume of alcohol consumption, and heavy drinking and drinking for intoxication. The study highlights the difficulties inherent in the international comparison of drinking habits. The results indicate that even though the changes in beverage preferences imply a homogenization of drinking patterns, the homogenization hypothesis proves to be wrong when comparing the results concerning the shares of abstainers, drinking frequencies or distribution of alcohol consumption between women and men. Denmark still differs from the rest of the Nordic countries in these respects, being closer to central European countries like Germany. In the other Nordic countries traditional drinking patterns seem to persist despite the changes in beverage preferences. Closest to Denmark and central European countries stands Finland, where drinking frequency has been rising and where more alcohol is consumed than in Sweden, Norway and Iceland. Looking at the previous comparison of Nordic drinking habits, it can be concluded that drinking habits are very open to changes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludwig Kraus ◽  
Mimmi Eriksson Tinghög ◽  
Annette Lindell ◽  
Alexander Pabst ◽  
Daniela Piontek ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Chang Liu ◽  
Murat Yücel ◽  
Chao Suo ◽  
Mike E. Le Pelley ◽  
Jeggan Tiego ◽  
...  

Background: To date, there has been little investigation on how motivational and cognitive mechanisms interact to influence problematic drinking behaviours. Towards this aim, the current study examined whether reward-related attentional capture is associated with reward, fear (relief), and habit drinking motives, and further, whether it interacts with these motives in relation to problematic drinking patterns. Methods: Ninety participants (mean age = 34.8 years, SD = 9.1, 54% male) who reported having consumed alcohol in the past month completed an online visual search task that measured reward-related attentional capture as well as the Habit Reward Fear Scale, a measure of drinking motives. Participants also completed measures of psychological distress, impulsivity, compulsive drinking, and consumption items of Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Regression analyses examined the associations between motives for alcohol consumption and reward-related attentional capture, as well as the associations between reward-related attentional capture, motives, and their interaction, with alcohol consumption and problems. Results: Greater reward-related attentional capture was associated with greater reward motives. Further, reward-related attentional capture also interacted with fear motives in relation to alcohol consumption. Follow-up analyses showed that this interaction was driven by greater fear motives being associated with heavier drinking among those with lower reward-related attentional capture (i.e., “goal-trackers”). Conclusion: These findings have implications for understanding how cognition may interact with motives in association with problematic drinking. Specifically, the findings highlight different potential pathways to problematic drinking according to an individual’s cognitive-motivational profile and may inform tailored interventions to target profile-specific mechanisms. Finally, these findings offer support for contemporary models of addiction that view excessive goal-directed behaviour under negative affect as a critical contributor to addictive behaviours.


2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 31-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jussi Simpura ◽  
Thomas Karlsson

Jussi Simpura & Thomas Karlsson: Trends in drinking patterns among adult population in 15 European countries, 1950 to 2000: a review Under the auspices of the European Comparative Alcohol Study (ECAS), data was compiled on trends in drinking patterns from 15 European countries (EU member countries, Luxembourg excluded, and Norway) from 1950 to 2000. This review is based on existing survey data on adult population. It turned out that (a) only a few countries (Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden) have data on drinking patterns in the 1950s and 1960s, but (b) an increasing number of countries have drinking habit surveys from the 1970s and 1980s onwards (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom) and (c) in the 1990s, almost all EU member countries have conducted surveys with data on drinking patterns (France, Greece, Italy, and Portugal, while Belgium remains the only country with very little data available). The data is, however, too scarce to say anything very certain about trends and the possible homogenisation of drinking patterns. Six indicators were studied in more detail. Abstinence rates fell in the 1960s in the traditionally abstinent Northern European countries, and later among women in the Mediterranean countries. Women's share of drinking also increased in the Northern European countries in the 1970s, but not necessarily elsewhere. With decreasing alcohol consumption in the Mediterranean countries, this means that per capita alcohol consumption among women may well have decreased, too. With a few exceptions, 30 to 50-year-olds were the age group with the highest alcohol consumption. The age distribution showed no general trends. Data on the shape of the population distribution of alcohol consumption was scarce, except for a few countries where the shape did not suggest any systematic changes. Also, data on binge drinking (high intake per single occasion) was mostly scarce, and again, the findings from the few countries with sufficient data showed remarkable stability. Remarkably slow changes were also evident in specific drinking contexts. There may be some signs of slow homogenisation of drinking patterns between the 15 European countries, but the differences are still notable. The main conclusion is that changes in drinking patterns are slow, even amidst rapidly changing living conditions. The natural time scale for such changes is not a few years or even a decade, but a generation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 619-631
Author(s):  
Katariina Warpenius ◽  
Pia Mäkelä

Aims/materials: This reflection piece reviews some of the key results and conclusions from the book Näin Suomi juo ( This is how Finns drink, 2018), based on the Finnish Drinking Habits Survey. Our aim was to go through the results taking the perspective of prevention workers and policymakers: how could they benefit from the scientific findings when tackling alcohol-related harm? Results/reflections: The reflections displayed in this article provide some useful arguments and justifications for population-level alcohol policy in the controversial alcohol policy debate. Harms do not only arise among the heaviest drinkers, and efficient methods to prevent harm may be found among the prevention efforts that apply to populations rather than only to the heaviest drinkers. The article also illustrates how the results from a population survey can be used in order to identify specific challenges and solutions for alcohol prevention in a given population. The results help in identifying the population groups and situations with an elevated risk of alcohol-related harm and in characterising the drinking patterns and social situations in which drinking takes place in these vulnerable parts of the population. Conclusions: The review illustrates that a many-sided understanding of alcohol consumption and the related harm, based on survey results, is more far-reaching in terms of prevention and policy than a knowledge base built solely on register data on the development of alcohol consumption and harm. For example, the respondents’ drinking patterns are linked not only to their attitudes and risk perceptions but also to what people consider to be appropriate means to reduce alcohol use and the related harm in terms of alcohol policy, informal social control and people’s life management.


Psichologija ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 88-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Baltrušaitytė ◽  
L. Bulotaitė

Straipsnio tikslas – išsiaiškinti studentų lūkesčių, motyvų ir saviveiksmingumo sąsajas su alkoholio var­tojimu. Naudojant alkoholio vartojimo lūkesčių klausimyną, atsisakymo gerti saviveiksmingumo klausi­myną, motyvų vartoti alkoholį klausimyną, motyvų nevartoti alkoholio klausimyną ir alkoholio vartoji­mo įpročių bei problemų anketą buvo apklausti 308 studentai iš 5 Lietuvos universitetų. Gauti rezultatai rodo, kad studentų motyvai vartoti alkoholį ir teigiamų pasekmių lūkesčiai yra teigiamai susiję su al­koholio vartojimo dažnumu, kiekiu ir vartojimo sukeltomis problemomis, o atsisakymo gerti saviveiks­mingumas ir motyvai nevartoti alkoholio dėl abejingumo alkoholiui yra neigiamai susiję su alkoholio vartojimo ypatumais (dažnumu, kiekiu, problemomis). Vyriškoji lytis, stipresni motyvai vartoti alkoholį ir menkesnis saviveiksmingumas prognozuoja didesnius suvartojamo alkoholio kiekius, o dažnesnį alko­holio vartojimą prognozuoja dar ir jaunesnis alkoholio vartojimo pradžios amžius. Didesnį su alkoholio vartojimu susijusių problemų skaičių prognozuoja ne tik gausesnis alkoholio vartojimas, bet ir stipresni motyvai vartoti alkoholį bei silpnesnis saviveiksmingumas. Pagrindiniai žodžiai: alkoholio vartojimas, lūkesčiai, motyvai, saviveiksmingumas.Relationship between Alcohol Outcome Expectancies, Self-Efficacy, Motives and Alcohol Consumption among University StudentsBaltrušaitytė R., Bulotaitė L.  SummaryAlcohol use is widespread among university stu­dents. While searching for the factors associated with drinking, scientists more often acknowledge the importance of various cognitive-motivational vari­ables. It is recommended to consider these variables when developing effective prevention and interven­tion programs. The cognitive-motivational variables examined in this study were: alcohol outcome ex­pectancies, drinking motives, motives for not drink­ing, and drinking refusal self-efficacy. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between alcohol outcome expectancies, motives, self-efficacy and alcohol consumption among Lithuanian univer­sity students. Another aim was to propose and test a meditational model in which alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems are predicted by expect­ancies, motives and self-efficacy. 308 students from five Lithuanian universities participated in this study. All participants completed the Drinking Expectancy Questionnaire – revised (DEQ-r), Drinking Refusal Self-efficacy Questionnaire – revised (DRSEQ-r), Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ), motives for not drinking questionnaire and one more question­naire assessing drinking patterns and alcohol-related problems. The results have shown that the male gen­der, stronger motives to drink and a weaker drink ing refusal self-efficacy predict a larger quantity of alcohol consumed per occasion. More frequent drinking was also predicted by an earlier age of drinking onset. A larger number of alcohol-related problems was predicted not only by the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption, but also by stronger motives to drink and a weaker drinking refusal self-efficacy. The relationship between positive alcohol outcome expectancies and alcohol consumption was medi­ated by motives and drinking refusal self-efficacy. Motives to drink predict alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems directly and indirectly – through self-efficacy. Drinking refusal self-efficacy predicted alcohol consumption directly, and the re­lationship between self-efficacy and alcohol-related problems was mediated by alcohol consumption. Strong positive alcohol outcome expectancies and drinking motives may be considered as potential risk factors for heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems. Strong drinking refusal self-efficacy and strong motives for not drinking because of indiffer­ence toward alcohol may be considered as protective factors against drinking and alcohol-related prob­lems among university students.Keywords: alcohol consumption, expectancies, motives, self-efficacy.15%; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">


Author(s):  
Daniela Piontek ◽  
Ludwig Kraus ◽  
Stefanie Müller ◽  
Alexander Pabst

Aims: This paper evaluates nonconfounded and independent age, period, and cohort effects on time trends and social disparities in smoking behavior. Methods: Data from nine waves of the German Epidemiological Survey of Substance Abuse (ESA) conducted between 1980 and 2009 were used. A total of N = 73,782 individuals aged 18 and older were included in the analyses. Using cross-classified random-effects models, fixed effects of age (level 1) as well as random effects of periods and cohorts (level 2) on 30-day smoking prevalence and average number of cigarettes per day were estimated. Analyses were stratified by socioeconomic status (SES). Results: Independent of SES, positive and curvilinear age effects emerged. Prevalence and amount of smoking declined sharply over time and revealed an inversion of the social gradient in 2003. This was due to a stronger decrease of smoking in the highest SES group compared to the other groups. Cohort effects were nonlinear and inconsistent. Conclusion: The emergence of increasing social disparities in smoking implies the need to specifically address the situation of low-SES groups when developing tobacco control measures.


1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 344-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Mäkelä

Sociologists, particularly in the United States, have devoted little attention to the impact of centrally directed alcohol policies on drinking problems. Sociocultural studies of religious and ethnic differences In drinking behavior appear to suggest that the liberalization of alcohol policies would favor the growth of moderate drinking patterns at the expense of excessive drinking. However, this “substitution hypothesis” receives less support in Scandinavian research on alcohol policy than does an alternative “addition hypothesis.” When policy controls on alcohol are relaxed, increases in moderate consumption occur in addition to and not at the expense of relatively stable patterns of heavy drinking.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
V Guzman ◽  
C T McEvoy ◽  
J McHugh-Power ◽  
R A Kenny ◽  
J Feeney

Abstract Background Identifying the factors associated with hazardous drinking patterns and problem drinking is imperative to develop appropriate intervention strategies for alcohol harm reduction among the older population. The aim of this study was 1) To explore the patterns of alcohol consumption among older adults in the Republic of Ireland, and 2) To establish possible predictors of hazardous and problem drinking in this population. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was carried out on samples of individuals aged >50 years at Wave 3 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (N = 4948). Hazardous alcohol consumption was defined as drinking above Irish guidelines [women >11 Standard Irish Drinks (SD)/week; men >17 SD/week], and/or having at least one heavy drinking episode per week (>6 SD/day). Problem drinking was defined as a score of > 2 on the CAGE instrument. Regression analyses investigated outcome differences according to socio-demographic and health characteristics. Sampling weights were applied to account for differential non-response. Results The prevalence of drinking patterns was 13% for lifetime alcohol abstainers, 8% for former drinkers, 26% for occasional drinkers and 53% for weekly drinkers. Among weekly drinkers 25% exceeded the guideline threshold, 23% had at least one heavy drinking episode per week and 16% had an alcohol problem according to the CAGE. In fully adjusted models, hazardous drinking and problem drinking were associated with younger older adults, male sex, current or past smoking, higher levels of stress and/or social isolation. Conclusions Our findings serve as a starting point to monitor trends of alcohol consumption among older adults in the Republic of Ireland. Our results highlight areas of opportunity for targeted screening and public interventions that seek to reduce alcohol harm among this population. Key messages In the Irish context, older adults who are younger, male, current or past smokers, with higher levels of stress and/or social isolation are more likely to engage in hazardous alcohol consumption. Our characterization of drinking patterns highlights areas of opportunity for targeted screening and public interventions that seek to reduce alcohol harm among older adults in Ireland.


Author(s):  
Line Tegner Stelander ◽  
Anne Høye ◽  
Jørgen G. Bramness ◽  
Geir Selbæk ◽  
Linn-Heidi Lunde ◽  
...  

Abstract Background As the population of older adults continues to grow, changes in alcohol consumption are important to monitor because an increase may have public health consequences. Rates of alcohol use vary with geographical location. The aim of this study was to examine trends in alcohol consumption among older adults in a geographically defined area in Norway, especially changing sex differences in drinking patterns over a 22-year period. Methods Repeated cross-sectional survey (in 1994–95, 2007–08, and 2015–16) of a general population of older adults. Eligible for this study were 20,939 participants (aged 60–99 years). The data were analysed using generalized estimating equations, stratified by age and sex. Alcohol consumption and drinking patterns were assessed, using an adaptation of the AUDIT-C. Results Between 1994 and 2016, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of current drinkers among older adults. Furthermore, the probability of frequent drinking (alcohol consumption at least twice weekly) increased significantly between 1994 and 2016, particularly among older women; OR 8.02 (CI 5.97–10.79) and OR 5.87 (CI 4.00–8.63) in the age groups 60–69 and 70+ respectively for women, and OR 4.13 (CI 3.42–4.99) and OR 3.10 (CI 2.41–3.99), in the age groups 60–69 and 70+ respectively for men. The majority of older adults drank small amounts of alcohol on typical drinking days, but there was an increasing probability of drinking three drinks or more on each occasion over the study period, except among women aged 70+ years. Conclusions Among older adults in Norway, alcohol consumption in terms of frequency and quantity on typical drinking days has increased considerably from 1996 to 2016. This change is in the opposite direction of what has been reported among younger adults. The gap between women and men in frequent drinking has been markedly narrowed, which indicate that women’s drinking patterns are approaching those of men. This may involve a need to change alcohol policy in Norway to more targeted interventions aimed at older people.


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