ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION AND HEALTH - SYNERGISTIC INTERACTION WITH PERSONALITY

In this study, 6,386 males and 5,990 females, with a mean age of 55 ye ars, constituting a random sample, were administered questionnaires by interviewers relating to amount of self-regulation and drinking statu s. They were then followed up over a 20-yr. period, and health status (living well, chronically ill, or deceased) was ascertained. It was hy pothesized that the deleterious effect of alcohol would be worse for t hose low on self-regulation; that health status would be worse for tho se in whom drinking diminished self-regulation, as compared with those for whom drinking improved self-regulation; and that smoking would ha ve greater effects in lowering health status in those in whom drinking diminished self-regulation than in those in whom drinking improved se lf-regulation. All predictions were borne out by the data at high stat istical significance. The results confirmed findings from an earlier s tudy to the effect that psychological factors like self-regulation pow erfully influence the kind of effects drinking has with respect to hea lth.