Development of alcoholism: interaction between heavy adolescent drinking and later low sense of control over work

The combined effects of heavy use of alcohol in late adolescence and later unfavourable psychosocial work-environment may contribute to the development of alcoholism. Data on circumstances during childhood and adolescence, including alcohol use, history of police and/or childcare contacts, and emotional stability, were collected for 49 323 young men, born during the period 1949-1951, at the time of enlistment for compulsory military training in 1969/1970. On the basis of census data on occupation in 1975, all individuals were classified into groups with regard to the level of work-control (i.e. participation in decision-making, variation in job task, etc.) in accordance with a job exposure matrix. The background of those men who acquired a diagnosis of alcoholism according to in-patient psychiatric care registers in 1976-1983 was examined in relation to their alcohol consumption in adolescence and the nature of their subsequent work environment. It was found that young men with heavy alcohol consumption had an increased risk of developing alcoholism if they later worked in an environment characterized by low control. This finding was not due to selection of heavy drinkers into low control jobs. Similar results were obtained when data from blue-collar workers were analysed separately.