Implication of alcohol consumption on aggregate wellbeing

Aims: The effects of drinking alcohol extend beyond the individuals concerned to the wider community. While there is recognition of such a global implication, currently no study has quantified the impact of alcohol consumption on aggregate wellbeing. This study aims to address this gap and attempts...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Perspectives in Public Health 2017-07, Vol.137 (4), p.220-226
Main Authors: Parackal, Mathew, Parackal, Sherly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Alcohol Drinking
Alcohol related disorders
Alcohol use
Alcoholism
Alcohols
Common good
Consumption
Correlation analysis
Disorders
Drinking behavior
Families & family life
Female
Happiness
Health Status
High risk
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Moderation
New Zealand
Pregnancy
Quantitative psychology
Regression analysis
Risk
Self-propagating synthesis
Substance use disorder
Surveys and Questionnaires
Well being
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Summary:Aims: The effects of drinking alcohol extend beyond the individuals concerned to the wider community. While there is recognition of such a global implication, currently no study has quantified the impact of alcohol consumption on aggregate wellbeing. This study aims to address this gap and attempts to investigate the impact of various levels of alcohol consumption on aggregate happiness. Methods: The study was carried out on a random selection of participants (n = 1,817) drawn from the 3Di consumer panel, comprising over 170,000 New Zealanders aged 18 and above. Using a subjective happiness scale (SHS) in conjunction with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), investigation was carried out to find whether drinking behaviour affected aggregate happiness. Results: SHS and AUDIT scores were negatively correlated and the strength of the correlation increased with the intensity of problematic drinking. Regression analysis showed that the beta coefficient was positive for the low-risk (.074) and negative for the high-risk (−.081) category, suggesting approaches to intervene with the growing problem of alcohol consumption in modern societies. Conclusion: Measurements of happiness can explain the global implication of alcohol in wellbeing terms. The findings of this study indicated that low-risk drinkers affected aggregate happiness positively, whereas high-risk drinkers affected aggregate happiness negatively. While the latter observation is not new, the former raises the need to promote moderation in drinking alcohol for the common good of everyone.
ISSN:1757-9139
1757-9147
DOI:10.1177/1757913916669538