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Older and wiser? Men’s and women’s accounts of drinking in early mid-life

Most qualitative research on alcohol focuses on younger rather than older adults. To explore older people’s relationship with alcohol, we conducted eight focus groups with 36 men and women aged 35 to 50 years in Scotland, UK. Initially, respondents suggested that older drinkers consume less alcohol,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Emslie, Carol, Hunt, Kate, Lyons, Antonia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3491698/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22034902
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2011.01424.x
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author Emslie, Carol
Hunt, Kate
Lyons, Antonia
author_facet Emslie, Carol
Hunt, Kate
Lyons, Antonia
author_sort Emslie, Carol
collection PubMed
description Most qualitative research on alcohol focuses on younger rather than older adults. To explore older people’s relationship with alcohol, we conducted eight focus groups with 36 men and women aged 35 to 50 years in Scotland, UK. Initially, respondents suggested that older drinkers consume less alcohol, no longer drink to become drunk and are sociable drinkers more interested in the taste than the effects of alcohol. However, as discussions progressed, respondents collectively recounted recent drunken escapades, challenged accounts of moderate drinking, and suggested there was still peer pressure to drink. Some described how their drinking had increased in mid-life but worked hard discursively to emphasise that it was age and stage appropriate (i.e. they still met their responsibilities as workers and parents). Women presented themselves as staying in control of their drinking while men described going out with the intention of getting drunk (although still claiming to meet their responsibilities). While women experienced peer pressure to drink, they seemed to have more options for socialising without alcohol than did men. Choosing not to drink alcohol is a behaviour that still requires explanation in early mid-life. Harm reduction strategies should pay more attention to drinking in this age group.
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spelling pubmed-34916982012-11-09 Older and wiser? Men’s and women’s accounts of drinking in early mid-life Emslie, Carol Hunt, Kate Lyons, Antonia Sociol Health Illn Original Articles Most qualitative research on alcohol focuses on younger rather than older adults. To explore older people’s relationship with alcohol, we conducted eight focus groups with 36 men and women aged 35 to 50 years in Scotland, UK. Initially, respondents suggested that older drinkers consume less alcohol, no longer drink to become drunk and are sociable drinkers more interested in the taste than the effects of alcohol. However, as discussions progressed, respondents collectively recounted recent drunken escapades, challenged accounts of moderate drinking, and suggested there was still peer pressure to drink. Some described how their drinking had increased in mid-life but worked hard discursively to emphasise that it was age and stage appropriate (i.e. they still met their responsibilities as workers and parents). Women presented themselves as staying in control of their drinking while men described going out with the intention of getting drunk (although still claiming to meet their responsibilities). While women experienced peer pressure to drink, they seemed to have more options for socialising without alcohol than did men. Choosing not to drink alcohol is a behaviour that still requires explanation in early mid-life. Harm reduction strategies should pay more attention to drinking in this age group. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012-05 2011-10-28 /pmc/articles/PMC3491698/ /pubmed/22034902 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2011.01424.x Text en © 2011 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2011 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Emslie, Carol
Hunt, Kate
Lyons, Antonia
Older and wiser? Men’s and women’s accounts of drinking in early mid-life
title Older and wiser? Men’s and women’s accounts of drinking in early mid-life
title_full Older and wiser? Men’s and women’s accounts of drinking in early mid-life
title_fullStr Older and wiser? Men’s and women’s accounts of drinking in early mid-life
title_full_unstemmed Older and wiser? Men’s and women’s accounts of drinking in early mid-life
title_short Older and wiser? Men’s and women’s accounts of drinking in early mid-life
title_sort older and wiser? men’s and women’s accounts of drinking in early mid-life
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3491698/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22034902
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2011.01424.x
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