Work-related stress factors associated with problem drinking: A study of the Spanish working population

• Published in: American journal of industrial medicine 2014-07, Vol.57 (7), p.837-846
• Main Authors: Colell, Esther, Sánchez-Niubò, Albert, Benavides, Fernando G., Delclos, George L., Domingo-Salvany, Antònia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; alcohol drinking; Alcoholism; Alcoholism - epidemiology; Alcoholism - psychology; Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Alcoholisme; Aspectes psicològics; Biological and medical sciences; Cross-Sectional Studies; epidemiology; Estrès; Etiologia; Female; Health Surveys; Humans; Logistic Models; Malalties professionals; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Occupational Diseases - psychology; Occupational medicine; Odds Ratio; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Social Support; Spain - epidemiology; Stress, Psychological - epidemiology; Stress, Psychological - etiology; Toxicology; workplace; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0271-3586; 1097-0274
• DOI: 10.1002/ajim.22333

Background Workers may drink to cope with stress or to overcome negative emotions arising from an aversive working context, but results of previous studies are inconclusive on the specific work features affecting alcohol use. Methods A cross‐sectional study was designed with data on 13,005 working individuals from the Household Survey on Alcohol and Drugs in Spain (EDADES)‐2007. We examined the associations between two drinking patterns and four measures of work‐related stress factors. Results Moderate and high levels of exposure to a noxious working environment (OR = 2.15 [95% CI = 1.51–3.06] and OR = 2.23 [95% CI = 1.49–3.36]) and a high level of lack of social support (OR = 1.62 [95% CI = 1.16–2.28]) were associated with heavy drinking, and precariousness with binge drinking for both moderate (OR = 1.22 [95% CI = 1.01–1.46]) and high (OR = 1.33 [95% CI = 1.04–1.70]) levels (OR = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.04–1.40) in men. Significant associations among women were only found when stress factors were analyzed separately. Conclusions Preventive practices in the workplace targeting alcohol abuse should consider specific production processes and organizational features. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:837–846, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.