THE 1993 GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEY .2. ALCOHOL-PROBLEMS IN CANADA

Rates and correlates of problems associated with the use of alcohol ar e reported from the 1993 General social Survey in Canada. Approximatel y 1 in 11 drinkers (9.2%) reported that drinking has had an adverse ef fect on his or her social life, physical health, happiness, home life or marriage, work, or finances in the past year. The most commonly rep orted problems concerned physical health (5.1%), and financial positio n (4.7%). Approximately one in eight drinkers (12.9%) had driven a car within an hour after consuming two or more drinks in the previous yea r. Furthermore, more than two of every five respondents reported that they had experienced some problem due to other people's drinking. In a multivariate analysis, age, marital status, gender, religious attenda nce and employment status were the strongest predictors of problem dri nking. The number of heavy drinking occasions is a stronger predictor of drinking problems that is overall level of consumption.