Sober Curiosity: A Qualitative Study Exploring Women's Preparedness to Reduce Alcohol by Social Class

doi:10.3390/ijerph192214788

. 2022 Nov 10;19(22):14788.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph192214788.

Sober Curiosity: A Qualitative Study Exploring Women's Preparedness to Reduce Alcohol by Social Class

Belinda Lunnay¹, Emily Nicholls², Amy Pennay³, Sarah MacLean³, Carlene Wilson⁴, Samantha B Meyer⁵, Kristen Foley¹, Megan Warin^{6

7}, Ian Olver⁸, Paul R Ward¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Centre for Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing, Torrens University, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
² Department of Sociology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
³ Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3000, Australia.
⁴ College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park 5042, Australia.
⁵ School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
⁶ School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
⁷ Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
⁸ School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, Australia.

PMID: 36429505
PMCID: PMC9690974
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192214788

Sober Curiosity: A Qualitative Study Exploring Women's Preparedness to Reduce Alcohol by Social Class

Belinda Lunnay et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022.

. 2022 Nov 10;19(22):14788.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph192214788.

Authors

Belinda Lunnay¹, Emily Nicholls², Amy Pennay³, Sarah MacLean³, Carlene Wilson⁴, Samantha B Meyer⁵, Kristen Foley¹, Megan Warin^{6

7}, Ian Olver⁸, Paul R Ward¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Centre for Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing, Torrens University, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
² Department of Sociology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
³ Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3000, Australia.
⁴ College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park 5042, Australia.
⁵ School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
⁶ School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
⁷ Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, Australia.
⁸ School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, Australia.

PMID: 36429505
PMCID: PMC9690974
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192214788

Abstract

Background: Urgent action is required to identify socially acceptable alcohol reduction options for heavy-drinking midlife Australian women. This study represents innovation in public health research to explore how current trends in popular wellness culture toward 'sober curiosity' (i.e., an interest in what reducing alcohol consumption would or could be like) and normalising non-drinking could increase women's preparedness to reduce alcohol consumption.

Methods: Qualitative interviews were undertaken with 27 midlife Australian women (aged 45-64) living in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in different social class groups (working, middle and affluent-class) to explore their perceptions of sober curiosity.

Results: Women were unequally distributed across social-classes and accordingly the social-class analysis considered proportionally the volume of data at particular codes. Regardless, social-class patterns in women's preparedness to reduce alcohol consumption were generated through data analysis. Affluent women's preparedness to reduce alcohol consumption stemmed from a desire for self-regulation and to retain control; middle-class women's preparedness to reduce alcohol was part of performing civility and respectability and working-class women's preparedness to reduce alcohol was highly challenging. Options are provided for alcohol reduction targeting the social contexts of consumption (the things that lead midlife women to feel prepared to reduce drinking) according to levels of disadvantage.

Conclusion: Our findings reinstate the importance of recognising social class in public health disease prevention; validating that socially determined factors which shape daily living also shape health outcomes and this results in inequities for women in the lowest class positions to reduce alcohol and related risks.

Keywords: alcohol; alcohol reduction; drinking culture; middle age; midlife; sober curiosity; sober curious movement; social class; women.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Social class characteristics of sample.

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References

1. Whetton S., Tait R., Gilmore W., Dey T., Agramunt S., Halim S.A., McEntee A., Mukhtar A., Roche A., Allsop S., et al. Examining the Social and Economic Costs of Alcohol Use in Australia: 2017/18. National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University; Perth, Australia: 2021.
1. Department of Health . National Alcohol Strategy 2019–2028. Commonwealth of Australia; Canberra, Australia: 2019.
1. Room R. Addiction and personal responsibility as solutions to the contradictions of neoliberal consumerism. Crit. Public Health. 2011;21:141–151. doi: 10.1080/09581596.2010.529424. - DOI
1. Room R., MacLean S., Pennay A., Dwyer R., Turner K., Saleeba E. Changing risky drinking practices in different types of social worlds: Concepts and experiences. Drugs Educ. Prev. Policy. 2021;29:32–42. doi: 10.1080/09687637.2020.1820955. - DOI
1. ABS . Australian Bureau of Statistics: National Health Survey-First Results. 2017–2018. Australian Bureau of Statistics; Canberra, Australia: 2018.

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[1] Whetton S., Tait R., Gilmore W., Dey T., Agramunt S., Halim S.A., McEntee A., Mukhtar A., Roche A., Allsop S., et al. Examining the Social and Economic Costs of Alcohol Use in Australia: 2017/18. National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University; Perth, Australia: 2021.

[2] Whetton S., Tait R., Gilmore W., Dey T., Agramunt S., Halim S.A., McEntee A., Mukhtar A., Roche A., Allsop S., et al. Examining the Social and Economic Costs of Alcohol Use in Australia: 2017/18. National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University; Perth, Australia: 2021.

[3] Department of Health . National Alcohol Strategy 2019–2028. Commonwealth of Australia; Canberra, Australia: 2019.

[4] Department of Health . National Alcohol Strategy 2019–2028. Commonwealth of Australia; Canberra, Australia: 2019.

[5] Room R. Addiction and personal responsibility as solutions to the contradictions of neoliberal consumerism. Crit. Public Health. 2011;21:141–151. doi: 10.1080/09581596.2010.529424. - DOI

[6] Room R. Addiction and personal responsibility as solutions to the contradictions of neoliberal consumerism. Crit. Public Health. 2011;21:141–151. doi: 10.1080/09581596.2010.529424. - DOI

[7] Room R., MacLean S., Pennay A., Dwyer R., Turner K., Saleeba E. Changing risky drinking practices in different types of social worlds: Concepts and experiences. Drugs Educ. Prev. Policy. 2021;29:32–42. doi: 10.1080/09687637.2020.1820955. - DOI

[8] Room R., MacLean S., Pennay A., Dwyer R., Turner K., Saleeba E. Changing risky drinking practices in different types of social worlds: Concepts and experiences. Drugs Educ. Prev. Policy. 2021;29:32–42. doi: 10.1080/09687637.2020.1820955. - DOI

[9] ABS . Australian Bureau of Statistics: National Health Survey-First Results. 2017–2018. Australian Bureau of Statistics; Canberra, Australia: 2018.

[10] ABS . Australian Bureau of Statistics: National Health Survey-First Results. 2017–2018. Australian Bureau of Statistics; Canberra, Australia: 2018.

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Sober Curiosity: A Qualitative Study Exploring Women's Preparedness to Reduce Alcohol by Social Class

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Sober Curiosity: A Qualitative Study Exploring Women's Preparedness to Reduce Alcohol by Social Class

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