The Influence of Work Environment Stressors and Individual Social Vulnerabilities on Employee Problem Drinking

Abstract

Guided by the social ecological perspective, this investigation explored relationships among work environment stressors, individual social vulnerabilities, and their interactions in the prediction of employee problem drinking. This cross-sectional survey of administrative support and blue-collar maintenance employees was conducted at a public, urban university in the United States. Data were gathered from self-report mail surveys. Data analyzed were from a weighted sample of 409 employees classified into 1 of 3 drinking groups: abstainers, nonproblem drinkers, and problem drinkers. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that the interactions of decreased work alienation and having met most friends at work as well as decreased work alienation and participation in nonwork-related social groups both predicted problem drinking. These results indicate the usefulness of examining interactions between work environment stressors and individual social vulnerabilities in studies of employee alcohol problems. Implications for social work practice are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• alcohol
• employees
• problem drinking
• social vulnerability
• stress
• work

The authors wish to thank Michael J. Brondino for his statistical consultation. The authors also would like to thank the local American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union members, union-represented employees, and union officers who made this study possible.

Notes

¹ Employee problem drinking here refers to general, nondiagnostic, alcohol-related problems as a result of drinking that might have occurred both on and off the job.

² Alcohol abuse here refers to “any cost-generating aspect of alcohol consumption” (Harwood, 2000).

³ Heavy alcohol use here refers to five or more drinks on five or more occasions during the past 30 days.

⁴ The Armed Forces occupational category was excluded from these analyses because of a low number of cases (n = 14 for men, n = 1 for women).

⁵ Authors such as Greenberg and Grunberg (1995), however, assume that powerlessness at work translates into a generalized sense of individual powerlessness.

⁶ Although it should be noted that Mensch and Kandel's conclusion might apply only to younger employees.

⁷ A “drink” or standard drink in the United States is generally considered to be any alcoholic drink that contains approximately 14 g of ethanol. Common standard drink equivalents include one 12 oz. can of beer (∼5% alcohol content), one 5 oz. glass of wine (∼12% alcohol content), and 1.5 oz. of hard liquor or spirits (∼40% alcohol content; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2005).