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Are changes in the quality and quantity of social support across the life course associated with changes in alcohol consumption: findings from the Whitehall II study

First published: 09 May 2019 | Last updated: 20 May 2019

AIMS

To explore 1) the relationship between the quantity/quality of social support and harmful alcohol consumption at baseline and 2) whether a change in the quantity/quality of social support over time predicted harmful alcohol consumption.

DESIGN

A prospective cohort study of UK civil servants (Whitehall II).

SETTING

Participant homes and clinical assessment centres.

PARTICIPANTS

1) 6401 men and women aged 35 to 55 at Phase 1 (1985); 2) 3702 men and women aged 47 to 67 at Phase 5 (1997).

MEASUREMENTS

Quantity and quality of social support from the Close Persons Questionnaire.  Last week alcohol consumption regrouped: non-drinkers; lower-risk drinkers (≤14 units/week); increasing-risk drinkers (>14 to ≤35 units/week-women, >14 to ≤50 units/week-men) and higher-risk drinkers (>35 units/week-women, >50 units/week-men).

FINDINGS

1)  Participants were more likely to be higher-risk drinkers if they saw relatives less frequently (1/month vs 1/week RRR 1.86, 95%CI 1.15-3.02); saw friends daily (RRR 1.95, 95%CI 1.04-3.69) and saw 3+ friends/month (RRR 2.00, 95%CI 1.28-3.14).

Participants in the highest tertiles for confiding/emotional (RRR 1.66, 95%CI 1.01-2.74) and worsening (RRR 2.16, 95%CI 1.30-3.59) support were more likely to be higher-risk drinkers.  Those in the highest tertile for practical support were less likely to be higher-risk drinkers (RRR 0.51, 95%CI 0.31-0.85).

2)  A decrease in friends seen/month reduced the likelihood of being a higher-risk drinker (RRR 0.56, 95%CI 0.31-0.99).  An increase in close persons increased the likelihood of being higher-risk drinker (RRR 1.64, 95%CI 1.08-2.47).  Change in relationship quality did not predict harmful drinking.

CONCLUSIONS

Quantity and quality of social support were associated with harmful alcohol consumption at baseline; however, only change in the quantity of social support (friends/close persons) predicted harmful drinking at follow-up

Co-Authors

Prof Annie Britton, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL

Conflicts of interest:

No conflict of interest

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Report Author

Philippa Case

MsPhD Student


MRC Doctoral Training Programme PhD student

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London

Having started my career working with street drinkers in a ‘wet’ day centre, alcohol use and its impact have always been central to my clinical and research interests.  I have spent the past 10 years working in clinical research within the NHS, both as a research nurse and research and development manager, where I was predominantly involved with the development of interventions for people experiencing difficulties with mental health and/or substance misuse.  Following the completion of a masters in health psychology, my interest in alcohol research broadened to incorporate population-level determinants and consequences of consumption, as well as population-level interventions.

My doctoral research will focus on the use of longitudinal data to explore the relationship between alcohol consumption, mental health and social support across the life course. Data from three generational cohorts will be used to examine any generational differences in this relationship.

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