Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec;59(12):2177-2188.
doi: 10.1007/s00127-024-02670-w. Epub 2024 Apr 26.

Socioeconomic status, alcohol use and the role of social support and neighbourhood environment among individuals meeting criteria for a mental health problem: a cross-sectional study

Jo-Anne Puddephatt  1   2   3 , Andrew Jones  4 , Suzanne H Gage  5 , Laura Goodwin  6
Affiliations

Socioeconomic status, alcohol use and the role of social support and neighbourhood environment among individuals meeting criteria for a mental health problem: a cross-sectional study

Jo-Anne Puddephatt et al. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: Indicators of socioeconomic status (SES), such as education and occupational grade, are known to be associated with alcohol use but this has not been examined among individuals with a mental health problem. This study developed latent classes of SES, their associations with alcohol use, and examined the indirect effect via social support and neighbourhood environment.

Methods: A secondary analysis of the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey was conducted among participants with a mental health problem (N = 1,436). SES classes were determined using a range of indicators. Alcohol use was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test. Social support and neighbourhood neighbourhood environment were measured using validated questionnaires. A latent class analysis was conducted to develop SES classes. Multinomial logistic regression examined associations of SES and alcohol use. Structural equation models tested indirect effects via social support and neighbourhood environment.

Results: A four-class model of SES was best-fitting; "economically inactive,GCSE-level and lower educated,social renters", "intermediate/routine occupation,GCSE-level educated,mixed owner/renters", "retired, no formal education,homeowners", and "professional occupation,degree-level educated,homeowners". Compared to "professional occupation,degree-level educated, homeowners", SES classes were more likely to be non-drinkers; odds were highest for "economically inactive,GCSE-level and lower educated,social renters" (OR = 4.96,95%CI 3.10-7.93). "Retired, no formal education,homeowners" were less likely to be hazardous drinkers (OR = 0.35,95%CI 0.20-0.59). Associations between "economically inactive,GCSE-level and lower educated,social renters" and "retired, no formal education,homeowners" and non- and harmful drinking via social support and neighbourhood environment were significant.

Conclusions: In contrast to the alcohol harms paradox, among individuals with a mental health problem, lower SES groups were more likely to be non-drinkers while no associations with harmful drinking were found. There is also a need to examine the alcohol harms paradox in the context of the area in which they live.

Keywords: Alcohol use; Mental health; Neighbourhood environment; Social support; Socioeconomic status.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
A flow chart of the data analysis strategy
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The indirect associations of each SES class and alcohol use via social support and neighbourhood environment, *The paths from each SES class to social support or neighbourhood environment are unstandardized coefficients. The paths from social support or neighbourhood environment to alcohol use are multinomial logit regression coefficients. The paths from each SES class to alcohol use are exponentiated multinomial logit regression coefficients
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Glantz MD, Bharat C, Degenhardt L, Sampson NA, Scott KM, Lim CC et al (2020) The epidemiology of alcohol use disorders cross-nationally: findings from the World Mental Health surveys. Addict Behav 102:106128 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nutt DJ, King LA, Phillips LD (2010) Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis. The Lancet 376(9752):1558–1565 - PubMed
    1. Puddephatt JA, Irizar P, Jones A, Gage SH, Goodwin L (2022) Associations of common mental disorder with alcohol use in the adult general population: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Addiction. 10.1111/add.15735 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Grant BF, Goldstein RB, Saha TD, Chou SP, Jung J, Zhang H et al (2015) Epidemiology of DSM-5 alcohol use disorder: results from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions III. JAMA Psychiat 72(8):757–766 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Whiteford HA, Degenhardt L, Rehm J, Baxter AJ, Ferrari AJ, Erskine HE et al (2013) Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet 382(9904):1575–1586 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources