A new UCLA study has found that as both men and women age, they
are less likely to drink heavily, but factors such as gender,
smoking, marital status, education, income level and geographic
region also influence the likelihood of heavy drinking.
The study used results from an initial survey of 14,127 adults,
taken between 1971 and 1974, and changes tracked in three follow-up
surveys over the next 20 years.
The study, funded by the National Institute of Health, found
that age is the primary determinant of likelihood for drinking
heavily.
For men, heavy drinking is defined as the consumption of five
drinks in one sitting. For women it is defined as having four
drinks.
The study found that as people age, they are less likely to
drink in such quantities.
Men tended to decrease their drinking more slowly than
women.
Those who smoked, were unmarried, had less than a high school
education, and had an annual income below the median also decreased
heavy drinking more slowly.
One reason for the correlation between age and decline in heavy
drinking is health ““ people who drink heavily die younger or
have to quit drinking because of poor health, said Alison Moore,
co-author of the study and associate professor of geriatrics at the
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Though heavy drinking is common among college students today,
they may drink less as they age, because young people tend to cut
down on alcohol consumption as they mature, Moore said.
Men are also more likely to drink than women at all ages, which
can be attributed to both social and metabolic influences.
For example, it is more socially acceptable for men to drink
than women and women process alcohol less efficiently than men,
Moore said.
The study also found geographic differences in people’s
habits ““ namely, people in the southeastern United States are
the least likely to drink heavily.
One reason for this may be the heavy religious influence in that
region, said Arun Karlamangla, assistant professor of geriatrics at
the David Geffen School of Medicine and lead researcher in the
study.
Heavy drinking declined in people who had married or quit
smoking since the initial survey, but increased for those who were
no longer married or started smoking during that time.
Karlamangla attributed the correlation between smoking and heavy
drinking to personality, habit, and social and environmental
influences.
People who are likely to smoke could have a personality type
that makes them more likely to drink and vice versa, he said,
adding that smoking and drinking habits often appear
concurrently.
It can also be seen that certain habits and situations are
linked together.
Smoking, for example, is linked to heavier drinking, but
marrying reduces heavy alcohol intake. These connections may
provide potential methods for self-improvement.
“If you have a couple of vices, and you quit one, it is
easier to quit the other,” Karlamangla said.
Educated people and people with higher income levels tend to
consume alcohol more regularly, but less heavily, while
lower-income and less-educated people drink less frequently but
more heavily, Karlamangla said.
People at the same economic and educational level tend to share
certain habits and characteristics, and drinking is a socially
driven behavior, he said.
Race was another of the factors studied, and was not shown to
influence heavy drinking. However, this result might have been due
to the small number of non-white participants in the study, Moore
said.
Change in employment status was also not shown to influence
heavy drinking, but could have been affected by the changing
behaviors of those who have retired during the surveys.
Some retired people drink more since they have more time and
fewer responsibilities, but others quit because of health reasons.
These people may cancel each other out, Moore said.