HARASSMENT, GENDER AND DRINKING; AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDY

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Objectives of this continuing epidemiologic study of a university employee cohort are: 1) to delineate longer-term consequences of sexual harassment (SH) and generalized workplace abuse (GWA) on deleterious alcohol-related outcomes, 2) to address recent societal transformations in attitudes and institutional responses to SH (using objective and self-report data), hypothesized changes in targets' abilities to actively cope with SH, and hypothesized decreased vulnerability to deleterious drinking outcomes, and 3) to examine the roles that health, mental health and legal service utilization play in protecting targets of SH and GWA from deleterious alcohol-related outcomes. Respondents (N=2,489) who participated in the current study will be resurveyed at waves 3, 4 and 5 (each one year apart). The mail questionnaires will address: SH and GWA experiences since wave 2 data collection, organizational tolerance of sexual harassment, other work stressors, direct active coping, avoidant coping, the elicitation of social supports, utilization of workplace offices dealing with harassment, use of health, mental health and legal professional services, focus of and satisfaction with service provision, symptomatic distress, alcohol use and abuse and the use of other substances, and the timing of SH/GWA experiences and increases in drinking. A variety of multivariate statistical techniques will be utilized to depict changes over time in SH/GWA experiences and their effect on drinking outcomes, and to depict the varied pathways through which harassment and abuse impact on deleterious drinking behaviors. In-depth interview will further elucidate respondents' experiences in directly coping with harassment and abuse and utilizing professional services. Major goals are 1) to contribute to the prevention of work-based harassment and abuse and, 2) to identify sources of help which promote effective coping in place of the self-medication of distress through alcohol use and abuse or the use of other substances.