Predictors of Alcohol Use Disorders Among Baby Boomers Across the Life Course

Abstract

<jats:p> Research suggests that baby boomers entering older adulthood may possess unique alcohol use patterns over time. Using the life course perspective as a guiding framework, this empirical study sought to examine correlates of alcohol use disorders among baby boomers by examining representative data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health at two points in time, 1998 ( N = 6,213) and 2010 ( N = 5,880). Results from logistic regression analyses suggest that predictors of alcohol use disorders evolve over time as baby boomers continue to age. Risk factors for alcohol use disorders among baby boomers may include concurrent unprescribed pain reliever use, p &lt; .01, while protective factors such as income, p &lt; .01, and social supports, p = .01, may be of increased importance. Based on the findings of this study, practice implications and future research are discussed. </jats:p>

Bring me my alcohol!—On the continuum of pleasure and pain

“…Accordingly, they are the cohorts who grew up during a time when alcohol consumption per capita in many Western societies was increasing (Kuerbis, 2019 ; World Health Organization, 2014 ), for example, in Denmark (Elmeland, 2016 ). Current seniors and older adults regularly consume alcohol and are at a greater risk of developing alcohol problems than previous cohorts (Quinn & Mowbray, 2020 ). But what happens when individuals, who enter care homes or require home care, are from cultures where alcohol intake is associated with quality of life, well‐being, and pleasure and less connoted with a heightened risk of developing problems causing shame and stigma (Elmeland, 2015 ; McNeely et al, 2018 )?…”