Harmful drinking after job loss: a stronger association during the post-2008 economic crisis?

Jan-Willem Bruggink,Anton E Kunst,Moniek C M De Goeij,Ferdy Otten

doi:10.1007/s00038-016-0936-3

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study investigated, among the Dutch working population, whether job loss during the post-2008 economic crisis is associated with harmful drinking and whether this association is stronger than before the crisis.MethodsRepeated cross-sectional data from the Dutch Health Interview Survey 2004–2013 were used to define episodic drinking (≥6 glasses on 1 day ≥1/week) and chronic drinking (≥14 glasses/week for women and ≥21 for men). These data were linked to longitudinal data from tax registries, to measure the experience and duration of job loss during a 5-year working history.ResultsBefore the crisis, job loss experience and duration were not associated with harmful drinking. During the crisis, job loss for more than 6 months was associated with episodic drinking [OR 1.40 (95% CI 1.01; 1.94)], while current job loss was associated with chronic drinking [OR 1.43 (95% CI 1.03; 1.98)]. These associations were most clear in men and different between the pre-crisis and crisis period (p interaction = 0.023 and 0.035, respectively).ConclusionsThe results suggest that economic crises strengthen the potential impact of job loss on harmful drinking, predominately among men.

Highlights

Economic stressors such as unemployment are known to be related to harmful drinking
Several studies showed that job loss increases psychological distress, which may in turn lead to more harmful drinking
We aimed to investigate whether the experience and duration of job loss was associated with harmful drinking during the post-2008 economic crisis in The Netherlands, and whether this association was stronger than before the crisis

Summary

Introduction

Economic stressors such as unemployment are known to be related to harmful drinking. To establish the direction of the relationship between unemployment and harmful drinking, some studies investigated the impact of involuntary job loss on alcohol-related outcomes. Further evidence for a causal impact of unemployment on drinking comes from studies that showed that a longer unemployment duration is associated with greater alcohol consumption (Frasquilho et al 2016; Frijters et al 2013; Garcy and Vagero 2012; Mossakowski 2008). Economic crises may impact alcohol consumption through psychological distress mechanisms (de Goeij et al 2015). Several studies showed that job loss increases psychological distress, which may in turn lead to more harmful drinking

Methods

Results

Conclusion