An exploration of the dynamic longitudinal relationship between mental health and alcohol consumption: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Despite intense investigation, the temporal sequence between alcohol consumption and mental health remains unclear. This study explored the relationship between alcohol consumption and mental health over multiple occasions, and compared a series of competing theoretical models to determine which best reflected the association between the two. METHODS: Data from phases 5 (1997 to 1999), 7 (2002 to 2004), and 9 (2007 to 2009) of the Whitehall II prospective cohort study were used, providing approximately 10 years of follow-up for 6,330 participants (73% men; mean ± SD age 55.8 ± 6.0 years). Mental health was assessed using the Short Form (SF)-36 mental health component score. Alcohol consumption was defined as the number of UK units of alcohol drunk per week. Four dynamic latent change score models were compared: 1) a baseline model in which alcohol consumption and mental health trajectories did not influence each other, 2) and model in which alcohol consumption influenced changes in mental health but mental health exerted no effect on changes in drinking and 3) vice versa, and (4) a reciprocal model in which both variables influenced changes in each other. RESULTS: The third model, in which mental health influenced changes in alcohol consumption but not vice versa, was the best fit. In this model, the effect of previous mental health on upcoming change in alcohol consumption was negative (γ = -0.31, 95% CI -0.52 to -0.10), meaning that those with better mental health tended to make greater reductions (or shallower increases) in their drinking between occasions. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health appears to be the leading indicator of change in the dynamic longitudinal relationship between mental health and weekly alcohol consumption in this sample of middle-aged adults. In addition to fuelling increases in alcohol consumption among low-level consumers, poor mental health may also be a maintaining factor for heavy alcohol consumption. Future work should seek to examine whether there are critical levels of alcohol intake at which different dynamic relationships begin to emerge between alcohol-related measures and mental health.