PROBLEM DRINKING AND LIFE STRESS AMONG OLDER ADULTS

研究计划的总体目的是加强我们的 理解生活情境和应对因素在老年人心理健康中的作用 问题饮酒的启动、维持和缓解 晚中年和老年人。为了解决这些问题，该项目 开发了清单以可靠地评估生活压力源和社会压力 老年男性的资源、应对反应和饮酒问题 女人。使用了这些清单，以及压力和应对方式 框架，以审查问题的短期(一年)过程 在四组男性和女性中饮酒：晚发性问题饮酒者， 慢性(早发性)问题饮酒者，缓解的问题饮酒者，以及 没有问题的饮酒者。到目前为止，这项工作的重点是比较晚年生活 有问题的和没有问题的饮酒者，对比男女问题 饮酒者，描述迟发性问题饮酒者，比较缓解和 未缓解的问题饮酒者，并检查生活之间的联系 环境和应对因素与个人功能，特别是指数 酗酒行为和酗酒问题。 拟议的工作分为四个阶段。第一阶段是 年短期变化的相关因素和预测因素的检验 饮酒问题；它还关注抑郁症和其他疾病的作用 老年饮酒问题的危险因素。第二阶段涉及 追踪老年问题中期进程的五年随访 研究生活环境和应对因素如何预测饮酒 饮酒行为的改变。它还侧重于在 晚年问题饮酒者的配偶与饮酒测量 中晚年和老年人之间的问题。第三阶段检查 问题饮酒者和问题饮酒者的压力和应对过程 没有问题--饮酒的老年人。最后，第四阶段涉及到使用 这三波数据进一步验证了生命的衡量标准 压力源、社会资源和应对反应。

The overall purpose of the research program is to enhance our understanding of the role of life context and coping factors in the initiation, maintenance, and remission of problem drinking among late-middle-aged and older adults. To address these issues, the project has developed inventories to reliably assess life stressors and social resources, coping responses, and problem drinking among older men and women. These inventories were used, together with a stress and coping framework, to examine the short-term (one-year) course of problem drinking among four groups of men and women: late-onset problem drinkers, chronic (early-onset) problem drinkers, remitted problem drinkers, and nonproblem drinkers. The work to date has focused on comparing late-life problem and nonproblem drinkers, contrasting men and women problem drinkers, describing late-onset problem drinkers, comparing remitted and nonremitted problem drinkers, and examining the associations between life context and coping factors and individual functioning, especially indices of drinking behavior and drinking problems. The proposed work is divided into four phases. Phase One is an examination of the correlates and predictors of short-term changes in problem drinking; it also focuses on the role of depression and other risk factors in late-life problem drinking. Phase Two involves a five-year follow-up to trace the medium-term course of late-life problem drinking and to examine how life context and coping factors predict changes in drinking behavior. It also focuses on adaptation among spouses of late-life problem drinkers and on the measurement of drinking problems among late-middle-aged and older adults. Phase Three examines the process of stress and coping among problem-drinking and nonproblem-drinking older adults. Finally, Phase Four involves the use of the three waves of data to further validate the measures of life stressors, social resources, and coping responses.