Harms from a partner’s drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for women

Background: Partners of heavy drinking individuals can be detrimentally affected as a result of their partner’s drinking. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the proportion of heterosexual intimate partner relationships with a heavy drinking male that resulted in reported alcohol-relat...

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Main Authors: Callinan, S., Rankin, G., Room, R., Stanesby, O., Rao, G., Waleewong, O., Greenfield, T., Hope, A., Laslett, Anne-Marie
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2018
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1090904
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73811
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author Callinan, S.
Rankin, G.
Room, R.
Stanesby, O.
Rao, G.
Waleewong, O.
Greenfield, T.
Hope, A.
Laslett, Anne-Marie
author_facet Callinan, S.
Rankin, G.
Room, R.
Stanesby, O.
Rao, G.
Waleewong, O.
Greenfield, T.
Hope, A.
Laslett, Anne-Marie
author_sort Callinan, S.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Partners of heavy drinking individuals can be detrimentally affected as a result of their partner’s drinking. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the proportion of heterosexual intimate partner relationships with a heavy drinking male that resulted in reported alcohol-related harm and to investigate the impact of this on well-being in 9 countries. Methods: This study used survey data from the Gender and Alcohol’s Harm to Others (GENAHTO) Project on Alcohol’s Harm to Others in 9 countries (10,613 female respondents, 7,091 with intimate live-in partners). Respondents were asked if their partners drinking had negatively affected them as well as questions on depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life. Results: The proportion of partnered respondents that reported having a harmful heavy drinking partner varied across countries, from 4% in Nigeria and the US to 33% in Vietnam. The most consistent correlate of experiencing harm was being oneself a heavy episodic drinker, most likely as a proxy measure for the acceptability of alcohol consumption in social circles. Women with a harmful heavy drinking partner reported significantly lower mean satisfaction with life than those with a partner that did not drink heavily. Conclusions: Harms to women from heavy drinking intimate partners appear across a range of subgroups and impact on a wide range of women, at least demographically speaking. Women living with a heavy drinking spouse experience higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms and lower satisfaction with life.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-738112023-06-07T03:28:00Z Harms from a partner’s drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for women Callinan, S. Rankin, G. Room, R. Stanesby, O. Rao, G. Waleewong, O. Greenfield, T. Hope, A. Laslett, Anne-Marie Background: Partners of heavy drinking individuals can be detrimentally affected as a result of their partner’s drinking. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the proportion of heterosexual intimate partner relationships with a heavy drinking male that resulted in reported alcohol-related harm and to investigate the impact of this on well-being in 9 countries. Methods: This study used survey data from the Gender and Alcohol’s Harm to Others (GENAHTO) Project on Alcohol’s Harm to Others in 9 countries (10,613 female respondents, 7,091 with intimate live-in partners). Respondents were asked if their partners drinking had negatively affected them as well as questions on depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life. Results: The proportion of partnered respondents that reported having a harmful heavy drinking partner varied across countries, from 4% in Nigeria and the US to 33% in Vietnam. The most consistent correlate of experiencing harm was being oneself a heavy episodic drinker, most likely as a proxy measure for the acceptability of alcohol consumption in social circles. Women with a harmful heavy drinking partner reported significantly lower mean satisfaction with life than those with a partner that did not drink heavily. Conclusions: Harms to women from heavy drinking intimate partners appear across a range of subgroups and impact on a wide range of women, at least demographically speaking. Women living with a heavy drinking spouse experience higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms and lower satisfaction with life. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73811 10.1080/00952990.2018.1540632 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1090904 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1065610 fulltext
spellingShingle Callinan, S.
Rankin, G.
Room, R.
Stanesby, O.
Rao, G.
Waleewong, O.
Greenfield, T.
Hope, A.
Laslett, Anne-Marie
Harms from a partner’s drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for women
title Harms from a partner’s drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for women
title_full Harms from a partner’s drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for women
title_fullStr Harms from a partner’s drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for women
title_full_unstemmed Harms from a partner’s drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for women
title_short Harms from a partner’s drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for women
title_sort harms from a partner’s drinking: an international study on adverse effects and reduced quality of life for women
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1090904
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1090904
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73811