Editorial: Alcohol Hangover and the Workplace: A Need for Research

Interest in the relation of alcohol misuse to various dysfunctional work behaviors, such as absenteeism, injuries and accidents, and poor job performance can be traced back to the turn of the 20th century [1]. Many forms of dysfunctional work behavior may result from acute intoxication during the work day [1]. However, even in the absence of workplace intoxication, heavy drinking and intoxication outside of work has the potential to affect worker behaviors through alcohol hangover [1,2]. An alcohol hangover represents a generalized feeling of malaise resulting from a bout of heavy alcohol use after blood alcohol content (BAC) returns to zero. Despite the potential, and the widely held belief, that an alcohol hangover may have an adverse impact on worker behavior, we know surprisingly little about this relation. There is a need for high quality research in several areas related to worker hangover. Below, we identify several areas of interest, briefly summarize what information is available in the literature based on a recent review [1], and discuss avenues for future research.