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Effect of Favorable Employment Change on Alcohol Abuse: One‐ and Five‐Year Follow‐Ups in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
Author(s) -
Dooley David,
Prause JoAnn
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1023/a:1022213229097
Subject(s) - underemployment , unemployment , binge drinking , national longitudinal surveys , health psychology , addiction , alcohol abuse , longitudinal study , psychology , substance abuse , public health , medicine , psychiatry , suicide prevention , environmental health , poison control , demographic economics , economics , economic growth , nursing , pathology
Job loss has been linked to adverse outcomes such as alcohol abuse, but improved employment, usually assumed to be beneficial, has seldom been evaluated and may not help with addictive disorders. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, young adults who were unemployed or underemployed (low income or involuntary part‐time) in 1984 were followed up in 1985 and 1989. Controlling for 1984 alcohol abuse, there were no effects of positive employment change on 1985 symptoms, but there were significant restorative effects on 1985 binge drinking among those who were heavy drinkers in 1984. There also appeared to be an indirect link of favorable 1984–1985 employment change to heavy drinking in 1989 via 1989 employment status. Because the effects of underemployment partially resembled those of unemployment, the discussion cautions against the conventional wisdom of promoting any work, including underemployment, as curative for the ills of unemployment.