Harms from a partner's drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for womenShow others and affiliations
Number of Authors: 92019 (English)In: American journal of drug and alcohol abuse, ISSN 0095-2990, E-ISSN 1097-9891, Vol. 45, no 2, p. 170-178Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Background: Partners of heavy drinking individuals can be detrimentally affected as a result of their partner's drinking.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the proportion of heterosexual intimate partner relationships with a heavy drinking male that resulted in reported alcohol-related harm and to investigate the impact of this on well-being in 9 countries.
Methods: This study used survey data from the Gender and Alcohol's Harm to Others (GENAHTO) Project on Alcohol's Harm to Others in 9 countries (10,613 female respondents, 7,091 with intimate live-in partners). Respondents were asked if their partners drinking had negatively affected them as well as questions on depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life.
Results: The proportion of partnered respondents that reported having a harmful heavy drinking partner varied across countries, from 4% in Nigeria and the US to 33% in Vietnam. The most consistent correlate of experiencing harm was being oneself a heavy episodic drinker, most likely as a proxy measure for the acceptability of alcohol consumption in social circles. Women with a harmful heavy drinking partner reported significantly lower mean satisfaction with life than those with a partner that did not drink heavily.
Conclusions: Harms to women from heavy drinking intimate partners appear across a range of subgroups and impact on a wide range of women, at least demographically speaking. Women living with a heavy drinking spouse experience higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms and lower satisfaction with life.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2019. Vol. 45, no 2, p. 170-178
Keywords [en]
Alcohol-related harm, intimate partner, spouse, cultural context
National Category
Drug Abuse and Addiction
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-168386DOI: 10.1080/00952990.2018.1540632ISI: 000462091600007PubMedID: 30495983OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-168386DiVA, id: diva2:1314259
2019-05-082019-05-082025-02-11Bibliographically approved