PROBLEM DRINKING IN WOMEN: A NATIONAL SURVEY FOLLOWUP

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Information is scarce about the patterns, antecedents, and consequences of problem drinking among women in the general population. This application proposes to increase such knowledge by conducting a 5-year followup study of 300 women originally interviewed in a 1981 national survey. Specific aims are (1) to evaluate the reliability and utility of retrospective lifetime drinking histories; (2) to describe patterns and predictors of changes in women's drinking and drinking problems over a 5-year period; (3) to clarify and extend important findings from the 1981 survey; and (4) to gain information and experience useful for a future longitudinal followup of the entire 1981 sample. Two samples will be drawn from the 917 women in the 1981 survey: (1) problem drinkers (N=150), who meet at least 2 of 3 criteria (1 or more drinking-related problems, 1 or more alcohol dependence symptoms, 1 or more ounces of ethanol/day; and (2) nonproblem drinkers (N=150), who drank more than 1 drink/month in 1981 but who do not meet the criteria for problem drinking. Trained professional interviewers will conduct the 75-minute followup interviews. The structured interview questionnaire will repeat critical sections of the 1981 survey instrument, including current drinking and drinking problems; lifetime drinking history; and selected sociodemographic information, including changes in employment, marital, and family roles since 1981. New questions and scales will be added to explore 1981 findings in the areas of employment, relationships with significant others, depression, and sexual experience. Data analysis will involve (1) evaluating the size, patterns, and effects of errors in drinking histories; (2) replicating analyses of 1981 data; (3) evaluating time-lagged relationships between 1981 and followup data; and (4) using supplemental data to evaluate indirect and time-ordered relationships between drinking and other life experiences. A major methodological contribution of the followup study will be its assessment of the reliability and usefulness of retrospective drinking histories for analyzing time-ordered relationships in cross-sectional surveys. The study's substantive contributions concerning the distribution, correlates, and development of drinking problems in women can help target prevention and treatment programs more precisely and more effectively to the special characteristics and needs of women with drinking-related problems.