Psychiatric News August 20, 2004
Volume 39 Number 16
© 2004 American Psychiatric Association
p. 17
Alcohol Dependence Drops While Alcohol Abuse Rises
Eve Bender
Data on alcohol use in the 1990s underscore the need for more research
to identify youth at risk for alcoholism and to develop preventive
interventions.
The number of American adults who abused or were dependent on alcohol rose
from about 13.8 million to 17.6 million over the past decade, according to new
data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
The results of the 2001-02 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and
Related Conditions (NESARC) appeared in the June Drug and Alcohol
Dependence.
Researchers were able to assess trends in alcohol use disorders over the
1990s by comparing data from the NESARC with those of a similar survey
conducted a decade earlier, the 1991-92 National Longitudinal Alcohol
Epidemiologic Survey (NLAES).
The NIAAA research team was led by Bridget Grant, Ph.D., chief of the
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biometry in NIAAA's Division of Intramural
Clinical and Biological Research. The team found that while rates of alcohol
abuse among the general population increased from 3.03 percent to 4.65 percent
between 1991 and 2001, rates of alcohol dependence dropped from 4.38 percent
to 3.81 percent during that same period.
As part of the NESARC study, staff of the U.S. Census Bureau conducted
face-to-face interviews with a randomized, nationally representative sample of
43,093 respondents in 2001 and 2002.
The NLAES was also conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau using a randomized,
nationally representative sample of 42,862 respondents in 1991 and 1992.
In both surveys, researchers used DSM diagnostic criteria to
assess whether respondents were dependent on or had abused alcohol during the
previous year. Some of their findings are reported below:
Alcohol Abuse
- About 4.65 percent of American adults, or an estimated 9.7 million people,
abused alcohol in 2001-02.
- In 1991-92, 3.03 percent of Americans abused alcohol.
- Rates of alcohol abuse among males (6.93 percent) were much higher than
among females (2.55 percent) in 2001-02.
- Prevalence rates of alcohol abuse were significantly greater among whites
(5.1 percent) than Hispanics (3.97 percent) and African Americans (3.29
percent) in 2001-02.
- While rates of alcohol abuse over the decade remained steady at about 10
percent for white males aged 18 to 29, alcohol abuse rates rose for
African-American males (3.83 percent to 6.92 percent) and Hispanic males (5.85
percent to 9.08 percent) in that same age group.
Alcohol Dependence
- The prevalence of alcohol dependence among American adults was 3.81 percent
in 2001-02, representing 7.9 million people. A little more than twice as many
men as women were dependent on alcohol.
- In the early 1990s, 4.38 percent of American adults were dependent on
alcohol.
- Rates of alcohol dependence over the decade dropped slightly among whites
(from 4.35 percent in 1991-92 to 3.83 percent in 2001-02) and Native Americans
(9.01 percent to 6.35 percent).
"The NESARC report reinforces the need for ongoing research to define
genetic and environmental factors that contribute to alcohol abuse and
dependence, as well as current NIAAA initiatives for the early identification
of at-risk drinkers and the application of the research-based interventions in
vulnerable populations, especially underage drinkers," NIAAA Director
Ting-Kai Li, M.D., said in a press release.
An abstract of the article, "The 12-Month Prevalence Rates and
Trends in DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: United
States, 1991-1992 and 2001-2002," is posted online at
<www.sciencedirect.com>.
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