SOLITARY DRINKING - A RISK FACTOR FOR ALCOHOL-RELATED PROBLEMS

This paper investigates whether solitary drinking is a risk factor for alcohol-related problems using data from a general population of drin kers in Montreal, Canada. Three indicators of solitary drinking were u sed: (1) having had a drink alone; (2) frequency of solitary drinking; and (3) having had five drinks or more in a solitary setting. Among t he 2015 respondent drinkers of a telephone survey, 31% reported drinki ng alone, of whom 27% did so move than once a week, and 17% had had fi ve drinks or more alone at least once. Problems with family or social relationships, physical health, work, budget, physical security and ha ppiness or view of life, self-reported as being alcohol-related were m easured by seven binary items. Strong positive associations were found at the univariate level between overall alcohol-related problems and both solitary drinking and having had Jive or more drinks alone, where as frequency of solitary drinking had no effect. Only the relationship with having five or more drinks alone remained statistically signific ant in logistic regressions controlling for potential confounders. No evidence was found that solitary drinking per se is a risk factor for alcohol-related problems unless large quantities of alcohol are involv ed.