LATE-LIFE DRINKING BEHAVIOR - THE INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS, LIFE CONTEXT, AND TREATMENT

Alcohol-related problems affect increasing numbers of older adults. Re cent studies have begun to investigate problem drinking among older ad ults based on a conceptual model proposing correlations between person al characteristics, life context (i.e., environmental factors), treatm ent, and drinking-related outcomes. In a community sample of older pro blem and nonproblem drinkers, alcohol consumption, life stressors, soc ial resources, and coping responses differed between the two groups, a lthough these factors did not directly and uniformly affect late-life drinking behavior. Furthermore, drinking behavior did not always have the expected effects on older drinkers' life contexts. Findings from a sample of treated alcohol and other drug-abusing older patients demon strated the importance of providing mental health aftercare for this g roup.