Drinking in the Age of the Great Recession

Abstract

The United States has been experiencing the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression. This article presents the Life Change Consequences of the Great Recession (LCCGR), an instrument depicting work and personal life-related stressors reflecting the enduring effects of the Great Recession. A national sample of 663 respondents completed a mail survey including this instrument and measures of drinking outcomes. Multiple regression analyses addressed the links between the LCCGR and drinking. Economy-related stressors manifested significant effects on both male and female consumptions patterns, but most LCCGR subscales were more clearly related to problematic drinking patterns in men compared with women.

KEYWORDS:

• Economy-related social stressors
• alcohol use and problem-related drinking
• epidemiology

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by grant #R01AA017202 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to the first author. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIAAA.

The authors thank the Survey Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago for collaboration in the collection of the focus group and survey data.