DEMOGRAPHIC AND METHODOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN FREQUENCY OF ALCOHOL-USE - A METAANALYSIS FROM THE COLLABORATIVE ALCOHOL-RELATED LONGITUDINAL PROJECT

Frequency of alcohol use indicates the extent to which drinking is integrated into individuals' and groups' day to day social life and has potential public health implications. We used data from 25 longitudinal general population studies, disaggregated by gender and age group, to estimate the magnitude of changes in frequency of alcohol use over time, if any. Meta-analytic results indicated a reasonably consistent increase of about .08 standard deviation across studies. We assessed the associations of characteristics of individuals (gender, age, birth cohort, initial abstinence rate, initial frequency), social contexts (country, historical period), and studies (sampling frames, measures of frequency, attrition rate) with findings of changes in frequency. Frequency of alcohol use appeared to stabilize by the third or fourth decade of life, with inconsistent rates of change across studies of younger persons. The data suggested simultaneous age, period, and cohort effects on changes in drinking frequency. Studies measuring frequency over longer time frames showed a small, consistent (.06 standard deviation) increase in frequency over time.