Gender Differences in Problematic Alcohol Consumption in University Professors.

Silvia Vaca,Iván Fernández-Suárez,José López-Goñi,Pablo Ruisoto,Raúl Cacho

doi:10.3390/ijerph14091069

Abstract

The role of job satisfaction and other psychosocial variables in problematic alcohol consumption within professional settings remains understudied. The aim of this study is to assess the level of problematic alcohol consumption among male and female university professors and associated psychosocial variables. A total of 360 professors (183 men and 177 women) of a large private university in Ecuador were surveyed using standardized instruments for the following psychosocial measures: alcohol consumption, job satisfaction, psychological stress, psychological flexibility, social support and resilience. Problematic alcohol consumption was found in 13.1% of participants, although this was significantly higher (χ2 = 15.6; d.f. = 2, p < 0.001) in men (19.1%) than women (6.8%). Problematic alcohol consumption was reported in men with higher perceived stress and job satisfaction. However, 83.3% of women with problematic alcohol use reported lower job satisfaction and higher psychological inflexibility. Results suggest that job satisfaction itself did not prevent problematic alcohol consumption in men; stress was associated with problematic consumption in men and psychological inflexibility in women. Findings from this study support the need to assess aspects of alcohol consumption and problematic behavior differently among men and women. Intervention strategies aimed at preventing or reducing problematic alcohol consumption in university professors must be different for men and women.

Highlights

Problematic drinking is currently one of the major public health challenges in the Western world due to its high prevalence [1,2], which is negatively associated with poor mental health and other major harmful major consequences, including domestic violence [3], increase of absenteeism and reduction of labor productivity [4,5]
The rate of problematic alcohol consumption among this population was 13.1%, higher than the rate previously found in low-skilled jobs in high income countries, such as transport workers [7] or metro workers [6] in Spain, was similar to the rate found in seafarers in Spain [8], and lower than the rate reported by the military in the USA [10], or for low-skilled jobs in low- or middle-income countries [9]
These findings suggest that complexity or skill-level of occupations and national income level provide environmental clues for predicting problematic alcohol consumption rates

Summary

Introduction

Problematic drinking is currently one of the major public health challenges in the Western world due to its high prevalence [1,2], which is negatively associated with poor mental health and other major harmful major consequences, including domestic violence [3], increase of absenteeism and reduction of labor productivity [4,5]. Problematic alcohol consumption varies across professions, most studies have focused mainly on unskilled labor: metro employees (7%) [6], transportation sector (8.4%) [7], sea-related jobs (fishermen, sailors, divers) (12%) [8] textile factories workers in Mexico (25%) [9]. Rates of problematic alcohol consumption vary over time within the same profession. Public Health 2017, 14, 1069; doi:10.3390/ijerph14091069 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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