Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:15:55.668Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Understanding older adults' attitudes and beliefs about drinking: perspectives of residents in congregate living

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2014

KAREN BURRUSS ,
PAUL SACCO  and
CRISTAN A. SMITH
KAREN BURRUSS*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA.
PAUL SACCO
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA.
CRISTAN A. SMITH
Affiliation:
Doctoral Programme in Gerontology, University Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, USA.
*
Address for correspondence: Karen Burruss, School of Social Work, University of Maryland Baltimore, 525 West Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Drinking motives may change as adults age, yet few studies in the United States of America have examined older adults' perspectives about their own drinking habits. The current study explored beliefs and attitudes of alcohol use of retired adults residing in a congregate care setting in the Baltimore/Washington DC metro area. Individual interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of 11 individuals who participated in a daily diary study on alcohol use among older adults. All participants in the study were identified as regular drinkers, meaning they had an alcoholic beverage on at least six of the eight days prior to screening. The participants' mean age was 81.5 years with a majority being women (54.5%). Older adults reported alcohol use as a long-term habit or routine. Participants also recognised that their alcohol use was influenced by peer drinking and by the availability of alcohol at the congregate care setting. Participants normalised their drinking as a form of routine socialisation carried from earlier life stages. Participants did not report reactive drinking, suggesting that older drinkers do not see their alcohol use as driven by specific reactions to life stresses or losses associated with ageing. The study also indicates that drinking may provide older adults in congregate care with a sense of continuity from before retirement and preserve their identity and autonomy.

Keywords

alcohol consumptionqualitative analysiscontinuing care retirement communityolder adultscongregate living
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 35 , Issue 9 , October 2015 , pp. 1889 - 1904
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aira, M., Hartikainen, S. and Sulkava, R. 2008. Drinking alcohol for medicinal purposes by people aged over 75: a community-based interview study. Family Practice, 25, 6, 445–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Akers, R. L., La Greca, A. J., Cochran, J. and Sellers, C. 1989. Social learning theory and alcohol behavior among the elderly. Sociological Quarterly, 30, 4, 625–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atchley, R. C. 1989. A continuity theory of normal aging. Gerontologist, 29, 2, 183–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bacharach, S. B., Bamberger, P. A., Cohen, A. and Doveh, E. 2007. Retirement, social support, and drinking behavior: a cohort analysis of males with a baseline history of problem drinking. Journal of Drug Issues, 37, 3, 525–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, A. J., Moore, A. A., Xu, H., Ang, A., Tallen, L., Mirkin, M. and Ettner, S. L. 2010. Prevalence and correlates of at-risk drinking among older adults: the project SHARE study. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25, 8, 840–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blow, F. C., Brockmann, L. M. and Barry, K. L. 2004. Role of alcohol in late-life suicide. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 28, S1, 48S–56S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borson, S., Scanlan, J. M., Chen, P. and Ganguli, M. 2003. The Mini-Cog as a screen for dementia: validation in a population-based sample. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 51, 10, 1451–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brennan, P. L., Schutte, K. K. and Moos, R. H. 2005. Pain and use of alcohol to manage pain: prevalence and 3-year outcomes among older problem and non-problem drinkers. Addiction, 100, 6, 777–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryant, A. N. and Kim, G. 2013. The relation between frequency of binge drinking and psychological distress among older adult drinkers. Journal of Aging and Health, 25, 7, 1243–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castle, N. G., Wagner, L. M., Ferguson-Rome, J. C., Smith, M. L. and Handler, S. M. 2011. Alcohol misuse and abuse reported by nurse aides in assisted living. Research on Aging, 34, 3, 321–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crabtree, B. F. and Miller, W. L. 1999. Using codes and code manuals: a template organizing style of interpretation. In Crabtree, B. F. and Miller, W. L. (eds), Doing Qualitative Research. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California, 163–77.Google Scholar
Ferreira, M. P. and Weems, M. K. S. 2008. Alcohol consumption by aging adults in the United States: health benefits and detriments. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 108, 10, 1668–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gfroerer, J., Penne, M., Pemberton, M. and Folsom, R. 2003. Substance abuse treatment need among older adults in 2020: the impact of the baby-boom cohort. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 69, 2, 127–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilson, K.-M., Bryant, C., Bei, B., Komiti, A., Jackson, H. and Judd, F. 2013. Validation of the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ) in older adults. Addictive Behaviors, 38, 5, 2196–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Han, B., Gfroerer, J., Colliver, J. D. and Penne, M. A. 2009. Substance use disorder among older adults in the United States in 2020. Addiction, 104, 1, 88–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holahan, C. J., Schutte, K. K., Brennan, P. L., Holahan, C. K., Moos, B. S. and Moos, R. H. 2010. Late-life alcohol consumption and 20-year mortality. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 34, 11, 1961–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Immonen, S., Valvanne, J. and Pitkälä, K. H. 2011. Older adults’ own reasoning for their alcohol consumption. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26, 11, 1169–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lang, I., Guralnik, J., Wallace, R. B. and Melzer, D. 2007. What level of alcohol consumption is hazardous for older people? Functioning and mortality in U.S. and English national cohorts. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 55, 1, 49–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lemke, S., Brennan, P. L., Schutte, K. K. and Moos, R. H. 2007. Upward pressures on drinking: exposure and reactivity in adulthood. Journal of Studies on Alcohol & Drugs, 68, 3, 437–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCaul, K. A., Almeida, O. P., Hankey, G. J., Jamrozik, K., Byles, J. E. and Flicker, L. 2010. Alcohol use and mortality in older men and women. Addiction, 105, 8, 1391–400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M. and Saldaña, J. 2013. Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook. Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.Google Scholar
Moore, A. A., Karno, M. P., Grella, C. E., Lin, J. C., Warda, U., Liao, D. H. and Hu, P. 2009. Alcohol, tobacco, and nonmedical drug use in older U.S. adults: data from the 2001/02 National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 57, 12, 2275–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, A. A., Whiteman, E. J. and Ward, K. T. 2007. Risks of combined alcohol/medication use in older adults. American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy, 5, 1, 64–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mukamal, K. J., Chung, H., Jenny, N. S., Kuller, L. H., Longstreth, W. T. Jr., Mittleman, M. A., Burke, G. L., Cushman, M., Psaty, B. M. and Siscovick, D. S. 2006. Alcohol consumption and risk of coronary heart disease in older adults: the Cardiovascular Health Study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 54, 1, 30–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mukamal, K. J., Kuller, L. H., Fitzpatrick, A. L., Longstreth, W. T. Jr., Mittleman, M. A. and Siscovick, D. S. 2003. Prospective study of alcohol consumption and risk of dementia in older adults. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 289, 11, 1405–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 2010. Rethinking Drinking: Alcohol and Your Health. US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.Google Scholar
National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 2014. Alcohol Facts and Statistics. Available online at http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics. Accessed on January 6, 2014.Google Scholar
Neugarten, B. L., Moore, J. W. and Lowe, J. C. 1965. Age norms, age constraints, and adult socialization. American Journal of Sociology, 70, 6, 710–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Resnick, B. 2003. Alcohol use in a continuing care retirement community. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 29, 10, 22–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roepke, S. K. and Ancoli-Israel, S. 2010. Sleep disorders in the elderly. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 131, 2, 302–10.Google ScholarPubMed
Sacco, P., Bucholz, K. K. and Spitznagel, E. L. 2009. Alcohol use among older adults in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions: a latent class analysis. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 70, 6, 829–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sacco, P., Burruss, K., Smith, C., Kuerbis, A., Harrington, D., Moore, A. A. and Resnick, B. Drinking behavior among older adults at a continuing care retirement community: affective and motivational influences. Aging & Mental Health, in press-a. doi:10.1080/13607863.2014.93330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sacco, P., Kuerbis, A., Goge, N. and Bucholz, K. K. 2013. Help seeking for drug and alcohol problems among adults age 50 and older: a comparison of the NLAES and NESARC surveys. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 131, 1/2, 157–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sacco, P., Smith, C. A., Harrington, D., Svoboda, D. V. and Resnick, B.Feasibility and utility of experience sampling to assess alcohol consumption among older adults. Journal of Applied Gerontology, in press-b. doi: 10.1177/07334648135.Google Scholar
Satre, D. D. and Arean, P. A. 2005. Effects of gender, ethnicity, and medical illness on drinking cessation in older primary care patients. Journal of Aging and Health, 17, 1, 70–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, B. A., Krause, N., Liang, J. and McGeever, K. 2011. Age differences in long-term patterns of change in alcohol consumption among aging adults. Journal of Aging and Health, 23, 2, 207–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sorock, G. S., Chen, L. H., Gonzalgo, S. R. and Baker, S. P. 2006. Alcohol-drinking history and fatal injury in older adults. Alcohol, 40, 3, 193–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tolvanen, E. and Jylhä, M. 2005. Alcohol in life story interviews with Finnish people aged 90 or over: stories of gendered morality. Journal of Aging Studies, 19, 4, 419–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, G. B., Kaner, E. F. S., Crosland, A., Ling, J., McCabe, K. and Haighton, C. A. 2013. A qualitative study of alcohol, health and identities among UK adults in later life. PLoS ONE, 8, 8, e71792.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed