Older Adult Health and Remission of Risky Drinking and Alcohol Use Disorder: A Lifespan-Developmental Study. (17th December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lee, Matthew; Yeung, Ellen; Kwan, Thomas; Sher, Kenneth
• Is Part Of: Innovation in aging. Volume 5(2021)Supplement 1
• Page Start: 287
• Page End: 287
• Publication Date: 2021-12-17
• Subjects: Aging -- Periodicals; Gerontology -- Periodicals; 612.67
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igab046.1114
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2399-5300

Abstract

Abstract: Older-adult drinking is a growing public-health concern. As part of a larger project investigating older adulthood by contrasting this with other adult developmental periods, this study used longitudinal U.S.-representative data to test bidirectional associations between drinking and health, emphasizing aging-related health concerns as potential mechanisms of remission from risky/problem drinking. In multiple-group cross-lag models, we found that effects of poor self-reported health on drinking reductions increased with age, reached significance around midlife, and were strongest in older adulthood. However, a caveat revealed by additional Markov transition models was that these effects did not extend to relatively severe older-adult drinkers (indexed by DSM-5 AUD). In some instances, poor health even predicted less older-adult AUD remission. Altogether, findings support the notion of aging-related health concerns as important mechanisms of older-adult drinking reduction; but highlight a need to understand barriers to these mechanisms among severe older-adult drinkers, in part toward guiding lifespan-developmentally-informed interventions.