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. 2011 Jan-Feb;20(1):21-9.
doi: 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2010.00092.x. Epub 2010 Nov 8.

Patterns and predictors of alcohol use in male and female urban police officers

James F Ballenger  1 , Suzanne R Best, Thomas J Metzler, David A Wasserman, David C Mohr, Akiva Liberman, Kevin Delucchi, Daniel S Weiss, Jeffrey A Fagan, Angela E Waldrop, Charles R Marmar
Affiliations

Patterns and predictors of alcohol use in male and female urban police officers

James F Ballenger et al. Am J Addict. 2011 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

In a large sample of urban police officers, 18.1% of males and 15.9% of females reported experiencing adverse consequences from alcohol use and 7.8% of the sample met criteria for lifetime alcohol abuse or dependence. Female officers had patterns of alcohol use similar to male officers and substantially more than females in the general population. Critical incident exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were not associated with level of alcohol use. Greater psychiatric symptoms were related to adverse consequences from alcohol use. There was a noteworthy gender by work stress interaction: greater routine work stress related to lower current alcohol use in female officers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

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