Researchers: Won Kim Cook, PhD, Christina Tam, PhD, Camillia Lui, PhD, Thomas K. Greenfield, PhD, William C. Kerr, PhD Excessive alcohol consumption remains a critical public health issue, particularly among individuals with chronic health conditions. While heavy drinking and high-intensity drinking (HID) are well-documented concerns, their relationship with multimorbidity, that is managing multiple chronic illnesses, adds another layer of complexity to understanding alcohol-related risks. Our … [Read more...]
Center Findings
The Center studies heavy drinking over the life course and its risk factors both in general populations and specific subgroups. We examine race, ethnicity and socioeconomic disadvantage to better understand health disparities. Our studies pay close attention to life course and environmental influences, such as early and current economic disadvantage or victimization, neighborhood characteristics, and state policies promoting or restraining heavy drinking. In new ways, we model how trends can be analyzed by age (maturation), period (secular shifts) and birth cohort (generational culture surrounding drinking initiation).
NYT: This Drinking Habit Is More Dangerous Than Bingeing
By Christina Caron, published in the New York Times The holidays offer an excuse to gather with loved ones, let loose and indulge: Plates loaded with comfort foods. Unapologetic napping. All the pie. And, for some, plenty of alcohol. But heavy drinking is not limited to the holiday season. Nor is it mainly the pastime of college students. Overall binge drinking rates are now equivalent among young adults and those in midlife. That’s because young people, especially young … [Read more...]
Millions of Americans Hurt By Others’ Drinking, Drug Use: Study
by Amy Norton PISCATAWAY, NJ – The risks of alcohol and other drug consumption to the user are well known, but many Americans—nearly 160 million—say they’ve been harmed by someone else’s substance use, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. In a national survey of U.S. adults, researchers found that 34% said they’d ever suffered “secondhand harm” from someone else’s alcohol use—ranging from marriage and family problems to financial fall-out to being … [Read more...]
Alcohol Consumption Trends Across Different Populations
Results from new US study suggest beverage-specific policies could help mitigate alcohol-related health risks among vulnerable populations A recent U.S. study is the first to identify alcoholic beverage preferences among demographic subpopulations who face heightened alcohol-related health risks, including those with lower socioeconomic status (SES) and heavy drinkers. Published in Drug and Alcohol Review, the study analyzed a sample of over 37,000 adults who consume alcohol and … [Read more...]
Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Younger Adults are Less Likely to Attend AA
AA attendance lower among African American, Hispanic and young populations By Amy Norton Alcoholics Anonymous has long been a cornerstone of treating alcohol use disorders in the United States. But even today, Americans are not accessing it equally, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA, got its start nearly 90 years ago and is famous for spurring the "12-step" approach to recovery -- which includes acknowledging powerlessness … [Read more...]
COVID-19 study finds striking differences in access to health care during the pandemic
US national study reveals disparities in general and behavioral health care receipt, suggests telehealth is a vital bridge to care for traditionally underserved groups during the pandemic A new study published today in Preventive Medicine found that, during the first year of the pandemic, Hispanic/Latinx individuals and lower-income individuals were less likely to receive needed health care when compared to White individuals and people with higher incomes. Led by researchers at the Alcohol … [Read more...]
Study reveals differences in alcohol screenings, resulting in missed opportunities for treatment
Race, ethnicity, education and insurance status can determine the quality of alcohol screenings and care Emeryville, CA (September 8, 2022) – Some racial and ethnic groups are not receiving adequate screening for alcohol use in clinical settings, according to a new study from the Alcohol Research Group (ARG), a program of the Public Health Institute, in collaboration with RTI International. Published today in Preventive Medicine Reports, the study looked at predictors such as sex, age, race and … [Read more...]
Alcohol causes significant harm to those other than the drinker
Each year, one in five U.S. adults -- an estimated 53 million people -- experience harm because of someone else’s drinking, according to new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Similar to how policymakers have addressed the effects of secondhand smoke over the last two decades, society needs to combat the secondhand effects of drinking, the authors state, calling alcohol’s harm to others “a significant public health issue.” According to the study -- an analysis of U.S. … [Read more...]
Stricter Policies Lower the Risk of Being Hurt by Someone Who’s Been Drinking
In the US, adults under age forty living in states with more restrictive alcohol policies experience fewer aggression- and drink-driving-related harms from someone else’s drinking than those in states with weaker policies, a new NIAAA-supported study from the Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute, found. Results showed that for a 10-point increase in restrictiveness of an alcohol policy scale, including for instance alcohol availability, taxation and drink-driving laws, the odds of … [Read more...]
People with AUD may be able to substitute cannabis for alcohol
New study links moderate cannabis use to persistent alcohol problems; finds no association for heavier or lighter use People with a lifetime alcohol use disorder (AUD) who used cannabis moderately had 2.83 times the number of drinks and experienced 6.82 times greater odds of alcohol-related harms than abstainers, according to a new study from ARG biostatistician and lead author Meenakshi Sabina Subbaraman and colleagues. Mid-level cannabis users also had an increased number of heavy … [Read more...]
