RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the longitudinal inter-relationships among the consumption of specific alcoholic beverages (beer, wine and distilled spirits), physical symptoms and psychological distress. Two causal processes were examined for each type of beverage: (1) the use of alcohol to cope with pre-existing psychological distress and physical symptoms; (2) the impairment effects of alcohol on subsequent physical and mental health. METHOD: Data were collected at three points in time (baseline, 3-year follow-up, 6-year follow-up) from a household sample of 1,270 youths who were ages 12, 15 and 18 at the baseline interview. RESULTS: Consumption of all three beverages increased through early adolescence and leveled off at ages 18 and 21, and males reported more beer use than females. Structural equation models showed that the use of all three alcoholic beverages contributed significantly to longitudinal increases in physical symptoms, but not to changes in psychological distress. In contrast, no evidence supported the coping hypothesis. Finally, there were no significant interaction effects involving beverage type, gender or age on physical symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that the physical impairment process operated similarly for beer, wine and distilled spirits, for males and females, and for adolescents of different ages.
