Alcohol abuse and dependence in college and noncollege samples: A ten-year prospective follow-up in a national survey.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This prospective study examines the association of educational status in 1984 and the risk for past-year Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), alcohol-use disorders (AUDs) in 1994, 10 years later. METHOD: A sample of 8,661 respondents was drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience in Youth. Measures included baseline heavy episodic drinking, alcohol-dependence symptoms, early problem behaviors (antisocial behaviors, illicit substance use, family history of alcoholism, and age at onset of alcohol use), demographic characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, age, marital status), and 1994 assessment for past-year DSM-IV AUDs. RESULTS: Findings from this 10-year prospective study indicate that education beyond high school had a protective effect for alcohol dependence, and dropping out of high school resulted in an elevated long-term risk for alcohol dependence. These associations remained significant when other early behavioral problems were included in the models. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of alcohol dependence and, consequently, the need for appropriately tailored prevention efforts is greater among high school dropouts and college nonattenders than among college students, although much of the current literature has focused on the latter.

Author information

Author/s: Harford, Thomas C (TC); Yi, Hsiao-Ye (HY); Hilton, Michael E (ME);

Affiliation: CSR Incorporated, 2107 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1000, Arlington, Virginia 22201, USA.

Grants: N0AA32007 (Agency:NIAAA NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Journal of studies on alcohol (J Stud Alcohol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Nov; vol 67 (issue 6) : pp 803-9

Dates: Created 2006/10/24; Completed 2007/02/08; Revised 2007/12/03;

PMID: 17060996, status: MEDLINE (last retrieved date: 2/18/2009)

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