Mental Disorders, Gender, and Partnership in Problem Alcohol Use Risk at Age 55+

Aim: To examine in subjects aged > = 55 years the association between preceding mental disorders (MD), gender, and partnership and past 12-month problematic alcohol use (PAU; daily drinking, binge drinking, drinking in excess of health guidelines). Methods: Based on a subsample aged > = 55 years of the nationally representative DEGS1-MH study (n = 2045/4483), we examined the association of single retrospectively assessed MD, gender, partnership, and latent risk profiles with subsequent 12-month PAU-outcomes using logistic regression and latent class analysis (LCA) with auxiliary variables. Results: Younger and male subjects, subjects with one vs. no MD, and those living with a partner had a higher PAU risk. In a four-class LCA-solution, two normative classes (45.5 %, 44.9 %) with low MD and high male respectively female gender probabilities, a “male-substance use disorder-depression”- (4.0 %) and a “female-internalizing”-class (5.5 %) were found. The male-normative and the “male-substance use disorder”-class were associated with a higher PAU risk, including drinking in excess of different health guidelines (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The large group of male individuals with low MD probabilities may be relevant for predicting critical alcohol use behaviors in middle and older adulthood and may profit from low-threshold general preventive measures, while the smaller male group with elevated lifetime substance use disorder and depression risk may profit from targeted clinical interventions.