Longitudinal study finds major life transitions alter alcohol consumption in mature adults, highlighting the moderating roles of gender and prior drinking history.
Key Points
To examine how stressful health, family, and employment events relate to shifts in alcohol consumption among individuals in late middle age over time.
Analyzed four waves of Health and Retirement Study data across a 6-year follow-up period in adults aged 51 to 61 years at baseline (N=7,731; 3,907 male).
Applied multinomial logit models to evaluate associations between life events and changes in alcohol consumption, testing interactions with gender and problem drinking history.
Stable alcohol use was maintained by 68% of individuals over the 6-year period, while retirement and widowhood were linked to increases in drinking (widowhood effect was short-term).
Hospitalization and the onset of a chronic condition were associated with decreased drinking, whereas marriage and divorce demonstrated bidirectional shifts across complex lag structures.
The magnitude and direction of drinking changes were significantly modified by baseline problem drinking history (for divorce and retirement) and by gender (for spousal loss).