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Education, alcohol use and abuse among young adults in Britain

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  • Huerta, Maria C.
  • Borgonovi, Francesca

Abstract

In this article we explore the relationship between education and alcohol consumption. We examine whether the probability of abusing alcohol differs across educational groups. We use data from the British Cohort Study, a longitudinal study of one week's birth in Britain in 1970. We analysed data collected at age 34 (in 2004) and complement it with information gathered at previous sweeps. Measures of alcohol abuse include alcohol consumption above NHS guidelines, daily alcohol consumption and problem drinking. We found that higher educational attainment is associated with increased odds of daily alcohol consumption and problem drinking. The relationship is stronger for females than males. Individuals who achieved high educational test scores in childhood are at a significantly higher risk of abusing alcohol across all dimensions. Our results also suggest that educational qualifications and academic performance are associated with the probability of belonging to different typologies of alcohol consumers among women while this association is not present in the case of educational qualifications and is very weak in the case of academic performance among males.

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  • Huerta, Maria C. & Borgonovi, Francesca, 2010. "Education, alcohol use and abuse among young adults in Britain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 143-151, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:71:y:2010:i:1:p:143-151
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    4. Borgonovi, Francesca, 2010. "A life-cycle approach to the analysis of the relationship between social capital and health in Britain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(11), pages 1927-1934, December.
    5. Sutherland, Alex, 2012. "Is parental socio-economic status related to the initiation of substance abuse by young people in an English city? An event history analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(7), pages 1053-1061.
    6. Cerdá, Magdalena & Johnson-Lawrence, Vicki D. & Galea, Sandro, 2011. "Lifetime income patterns and alcohol consumption: Investigating the association between long- and short-term income trajectories and drinking," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(8), pages 1178-1185.
    7. Joon-Yong Yang & Aeree Sohn, 2022. "The Association of Gender Role Attitudes and Risky Drinking: Changes in the Relationship between Masculinity and Drinking in Korean Young Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-12, November.
    8. Jiafeng Gu & Xing Ming, 2020. "Perceived Social Discrimination, Socioeconomic Status, and Alcohol Consumption among Chinese Adults: A Nationally Representative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-13, August.
    9. Minsun Kang & Jae-Hyun Kim & Woo-Hyun Cho & Eun-Cheol Park, 2014. "The Gender-Specific Association between Age at First Drink and Later Alcohol Drinking Patterns in Korea," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(3), pages 1-7, March.

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