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Education, Alcohol Use and Abuse Among Young Adults in Britain

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  • María del Carmen Huerta

    (OECD)

  • Francesca Borgonovi

    (OECD)

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. Measures of alcohol abuse include alcohol consumption above NHS guidelines, daily alcohol consumption and problem drinking. 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 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. Dans cet article, nous explorons le rapport entre l’éducation et la consommation d’alcool. Nous analysons si la probabilité de consommer de l’alcool de façon abusive diffère en fonction du niveau d’éducation. Nous utilisons des données de la British Cohort Study, une étude longitudinale menée pendant une semaine en Grande-Bretagne dans les années 70. L’évaluation de l’abus d’alcool inclut la consommation d’alcool située au dessus des normes NHS, la consommation quotidienne d’alcool et les problèmes d’alcoolisme. Le niveau d’éducation supérieur est associé à des risques accrus de consommation quotidienne d’alcool et à des problèmes avec l’alcool. La relation est plus forte chez les femmes que chez les hommes. Les individus qui obtiennent des notes élevées dans leur enfance ont significativement plus de risques d’avoir des problèmes avec l’alcool. Nos résultats suggèrent également que le niveau d’études ainsi que les performances scolaires augmentent les risques pour les femmes d’appartenir à ces différentes catégories de consommateurs d’alcool, alors que chez les hommes, le risque de consommation n’est pas lié au niveau d’éducation et est très faible en cas de performances scolaires élevées.

Suggested Citation

  • María del Carmen Huerta & Francesca Borgonovi, 2010. "Education, Alcohol Use and Abuse Among Young Adults in Britain," OECD Education Working Papers 50, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:eduaab:50-en
    DOI: 10.1787/5kmbqvsh57g0-en
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    Cited by:

    1. Gehrsitz, Markus & Williams, Jr., Morgan C., 2024. "The Effects of Compulsory Schooling on Health and Hospitalization over the Life Cycle," IZA Discussion Papers 17050, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Agnoli, Lara & Boeri, Marco & Scarpa, Riccardo & Capitello, Roberta & Begalli, Diego, 2018. "Behavioural patterns in Mediterranean-style drinking: Generation Y preferences in alcoholic beverage consumption," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 117-125.
    3. Dalberto Lucianelli Junior & Adenilson Leão Pereira & Ozélia Sousa Santos & Maria do Carmo Faria Paes & Yuji Magalhães Ikuta & Rodrigo Silveira & Fernanda Nogueira Valentin, 2023. "Sociobehavioral, Biological, and Health Characteristics of Riverside People in the Xingu Region, Pará, Brazil," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-16, April.
    4. Markus Gehrsitz & Morgan C. Williams, "undated". "The Effects of Compulsory Schooling on Health and Hospitalization over the Life Cycle," Working Papers 2303, University of Strathclyde Business School, Department of Economics, revised May 2020.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Raffaele Guetto & Maria Francesca Morabito & Elisa Benedetti & Sonia Cerrai & Daniele Vignoli, 2024. "When things do not change: non-intact families and adolescents'risks of substance use across 30 European countries and two decades," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2024_08, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    11. 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.
    12. Zhang, Zili & Tian, Qian & Hu, Xiao & Cheng, Nan, 2024. "Educational attainment and family health risk behaviors," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 432-439.

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