Workplace Context to Prevent Substance Misuse in the United States: Associations Between workplace Policies and Employee Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

Workplace policies are important because employee rates of alcohol and drug misuse can be associated with work-related risk factors in the United States. To explore the associations, this study analyzed the 2010–2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health datasets. The overall sample size was 130,726, and the SUD outcome variables included alcohol, marijuana, pain reliever, and illicit drug use disorders. 20% of participants reported no substance use policies in their workplace. Significant associations were identified between all four measured SUD outcome variables, the presence of specific substance use workplace policies, and individual employment sectors. Specifically, comprehensive policies out of six policies were significantly associated with decreased SUDs in nearly every employment sector. The results of this study suggest that workplace substance use policies are important to prevent the development of employee SUDs and comprehensive policies in place can be most effective.