Life Strains, Alienation, and Drinking Behavior

This paper examines the effect on drinking behavior of chronic strains deriving from on-going work circumstances, and intermittent strains deriving from transitions imposed by life events: unemployment; economic strain; and stress experience (e.g., death in the family, serious illness, etc.). The respondent's personal resources for coping with these life strains are also examined by way of three measures of alienation: the sense of powerlessness, self-esteem, and social integration. The interaction of situational strains and individual alienation is a primary focus. Regression and covariance analyses, using a sample of some 500 male respondents, indicate that (1) unemployment in itself is of relatively little consequence, (2) powerlessness is the most consistent predictor of alcohol use and abuse, and (3) the combination of stress experience and high powerlessness typifies those who are most vulnerable to high drinking quantity and drinking problems.