General and job-related alcohol use and correlates in a municipal workforce.

We examined the prevalence and correlates of both general and workplace-related drinking measures using data from a telephone survey of 673 workers in a large municipal bureaucracy and tested the hypothesis that observed differences across job categories can be explained by compositional difference in terms of demographic variables known to be related to drinking behavior. Results suggest such factors account for much of the variation in general drinking measures (prior-28-day quantity, CAGE score, indicating risk for dependence), but that significant variation in a workplace-related drinking measure (times ever drank before, during, or just after work) remains even after such factors are controlled. Implications of these findings for existing theories of workplace effects on drinking are discussed, along with a consideration of appropriate levels of analysis for future studies.

Estimating genetic and environmental effects of alcohol use and dependence from a national survey: a "quasi-adoption" study.

OBJECTIVE: A growing number of studies have examined the role of genetic and environmental influences on various aspects of alcohol use and abuse for women and men. We briefly review relevant twin and adoption studies; overall, these studies suggest: (1) both genetic and environmental factors play a role in the development of various alcohol-related problems, (2) these factors affect both males and females, and (3) genetic factors may be more significant for males than females. METHOD: This study is the first to address the question of genetic and environmental effects using data from a nationally representative probability sample, the National Health Interview Survey, 1988 Alcohol Supplement (NHIS-88A). We model the effects of biological family history of alcoholism (FHB) and environmental exposure to alcoholism during childhood (FHE) on (1) whether the respondent ever drank (current/former drinker), and, given that the respondent is a current drinker, (2) whether he or she developed DSM-III-R symptoms of alcohol dependence. RESULTS: Results suggest (1) main effects of FHB and FHE on both current/former drinker and alcohol dependence and (2) evidence of greater FHB effects among males. No other gender differences were detected, and no gene by environment interaction effects were found, either for all respondents or by gender. CONCLUSIONS: Results are consistent with previous research showing a greater effect of genetic risk factors among men than women, yet important effects of both environment and genetic factors for both sexes. The study design appears to provide an alternative to standard twin and adoption studies as a way to separate genetic and environmental risk factors, with both advantages and disadvantages compared to such designs. Some of these disadvantages might be addressed in questionnaire construction, but some are probably inherent.

Aging and heterogeneity: genetics, social structure, and personality.

Life-course studies of human development suggest that birth cohorts become more internally differentiated with respect to personality characteristics as their members age. This article examines possible explanations for this macro-level phenomenon in terms of three micro-level research traditions: (1) individual differentiation, (2) social structure/allocation, and (3) behavioral genetics. We conclude that each tradition can marshal credible empirical support, and that, therefore, all three are needed for a full understanding of older-age heterogeneity processes. A model is developed, synthesizing all three approaches. Study designs in any one of these traditions that fail to take account of the others are likely to draw misleading or erroneous conclusions concerning sources of variation and covariation. Several types of study designs are suggested which would avoid such problems.