AGING AND ALCOHOL ABUSE

虽然老年人酗酒是一个日益严重的问题， 关于他们的酒精使用和滥用模式的信息很少。 信息 从酒精消费和滥用的纵向研究可以提供 最有效的方法，提高预测酒精问题，在以后的 生活 规范老化研究（NAS）提供了一个独特的数据库， 研究饮酒模式的变化和稳定性， 成年人的寿命。 在1973年和1982年，超过2000名最初年龄为28岁的男性 到89人回答了一、两次关于饮酒的详细邮件调查。 我们还在1991年秋季对1,709名男性进行了酒精调查， 以保持数据评估之间的9年间隔。 拟议项目包括四项研究，其总体目的是 描述和预测酒精滥用在以后的生活。 在研究1中，我们 将研究酒精消费的变化和稳定模式， 大量饮酒的周转率。 前两个数据点的分析 随着时间的推移，饮酒行为发生了相当大的变化，39% 改变消费类别，44%的人从酗酒转向 较轻的饮酒类别，45%的人从问题转向无问题 喝酒 第三点可以让我们进一步评估谁发展谁 在中年和晚年从酗酒中恢复过来。 研究2将使用来自四个领域的测量-家族史，社会， 个人和情境-评估大量饮酒的风险， 晚年的酗酒问题 通过适当的方法，我们将检查 每个域的测量对灵敏度的贡献， 分类模型的特异性，并识别错误分类的男性，例如 在MAC量表上得分高但不报告饮酒的男性 问题 在研究3中，我们将采访250人的子样本， 对那些在酗酒方面被错误分类的人进行过度抽样， 找出减少错误分类率的方法。 面试将 也关注酗酒的近端原因，应对策略 压力和特定年龄的酒精问题。 基于 访谈，研究4将制定一份问卷，以管理 剩下的人在NAS验证我们的分类模型和 从访谈中得出的新措施。 这些研究将提供 这些信息将有助于我们更好地了解发展情况， 在以后的生活中停止酗酒。

While alcohol abuse among the elderly is an increasing problem, there is little information on their patterns of alcohol use and abuse. Information from longitudinal studies of alcohol consumption and abuse may provide the most effective means of improving prediction of alcohol problems in later life. The Normative Aging Study (NAS) offers a unique database for examining change and stability in drinking patterns over a substantial part of the adult lifespan. In 1973 and 1982, over 2000 men initially aged 28 to 89 responded to one or two detailed mail surveys regarding alcohol use. We also administered the alcohol survey to 1,709 men in the fall of 1991, in order to maintain the nine year interval between data assessments. The proposed project consists of four studies whose overall purpose is the description and prediction of alcohol abuse in later life. In Study 1, we will examine patterns of change and stability in alcohol consumption and turnover in heavy drinking. Analysis of the first two data points indicated considerable change in drinking behavior over time, with 39% changing consumption categories, 44% moving from heavy drinking to a lighter drinking category, and 45% moving from problem to nonproblem drinking. The third point allows us to assess further who develops and who recovers from alcohol abuse in middle and later life. Study 2 will use measures from four domains - family history, social, personal, and situational - to assess the risk for heavy drinking and for alcohol problems in later life. Using appropriate methods, we will examine the contribution of measures from each domain to the sensitivity and specificity of a classification model, and identify misclassified men, e.g. men who score high on the MAC scale but who do not report drinking problems. In Study 3 we will interview a subsample of 250 individuals, oversampling those who are misclassified with regard to alcohol abuse, to identify ways of reducing the misclassification rate. The interviews will also focus on proximal reasons for alcohol abuse, strategies for coping with stress, and on age-specific alcohol problems. Based on the interviews, Study 4 will develop a questionnaire to be administered to the remaining men in the NAS to validate both our classification model and the new measures derived from the interviews. These studies will provide information that will improve our understanding of the development and cessation of alcohol abuse in later life.