Workplace drinking climate, stress, and problem indicators: assessing the influence of teamwork (group cohesion)

While job-related alcohol use may be associated with problems for drinkers, less is known about the effects of employee drinking on co-workers. We hypothesized that either exposure to co-worker drinking or the presence of a drinking climate would positively correlate with reports of stress and other problems. Following previous research, we also predicted that work group cohesion (or team orientation) would buffer against such problems.

Two random samples of municipal employees (Ns = 909 and 1,068) completed anonymous surveys. These assessed individual drinking, co-worker drinking, task-oriented group cohesion, the direct reports of negative consequences due to co-worker substance use, and five problem indicators: job stress, job withdrawal, health problems, and performance (work accidents and absences).

In each sample, drinking climate correlated with stress and withdrawal more so than did reports of individual drinking. Drinking climate and individual job stress were negatively associated with cohesion. ANCOVA results indicated that drinking climate combined with low cohesion resulted in increased vulnerability for all five problems. Moreover, cohesion appeared to attenuate the negative impact of exposure to drinking norms.

As many as 40% of employees report at least one negative consequence associated with co-worker substance use (alcohol and drugs). Because teamwork may buffer negative effects of drinking climate on co-workers, workplace prevention efforts might be enhanced through a focus on the social environment. These efforts would include team-building and discussions of the impact of co-worker drinking on employee productivity.