Hazardous alcohol use among active duty Air Force personnel: identifying unique risk and promotive factors

Hazardous drinking is a significant public health concern and an important target for prevention efforts within both military and civilian populations. For such efforts to be maximally effective, comprehensive information regarding factors that increase or decrease risk for hazardous drinking is necessary. This is the first study to investigate risk and promotive factors across individual, family, community, and organizational levels in a representative sample of Air Force personnel (N = 52,780). Unique predictors of men's and women's hazardous drinking were identified both within and across ecological levels. Predictors that accounted for the most variance in predicting hazardous versus non-hazardous drinkers included family income, number of children, depressive symptoms, religious involvement, and perceived financial stress for men and women; and years in the military for men. Among hazardous drinkers, a different set of predictors best explained variance in severity of drinking problems. Results of the current study help identify key targets for prevention efforts operating at different levels (e.g., individual therapy, community-wide programs).