The Association between Mental Wellbeing, Levels of Harmful Drinking, and Drinking Motivations: A Cross-Sectional Study of the UK Adult Population

Mental well-being and excessive alcohol consumption each represent a significant public health concern, and evidence suggests an association between them. Furthermore, drinking motivations associated with harmful drinking have been studied, but not systematically in the UK population. A representati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2018-06, Vol.15 (7), p.1333
Main Authors: Appleton, Anita, James, Rosie, Larsen, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictions
Adult
Adults
Aged
Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology
Alcohol Drinking - psychology
Alcohol use
Alcoholism - epidemiology
Alcoholism - psychology
Alcohols
Anxiety
College students
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dependence
Drinking
Drinking behavior
Happiness
Humans
Hypotheses
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental Health
Mental health care
Middle Aged
Motivation
Multiple regression analysis
Population
Public health
Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
United Kingdom - epidemiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Mental well-being and excessive alcohol consumption each represent a significant public health concern, and evidence suggests an association between them. Furthermore, drinking motivations associated with harmful drinking have been studied, but not systematically in the UK population. A representative sample of 6174 UK adults aged 18⁻75 were surveyed online. Low risk drinkers were found to have higher mental well-being than hazardous, harmful, and, probable, dependence drinkers. Using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, it was found that just over 5% of the variance in well-being scores was accounted for by the level of harmful drinking and drinking motivation; the most significant contribution was drinking to cope. Among people drinking to cope, those drinking in more harmful ways were statistically significantly more likely to have low well-being compared to less harmful drinkers. In the UK adult population there is a clear association between poor mental well-being and harmful drinking. Furthermore, coping was a significant motivation to drink for many with low mental well-being. While mental well-being was found to be directly linked with levels of harmful drinking, the motivation for drinking was a stronger predictor of mental well-being.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph15071333