Transnational Collaboration Highlighted in NIAAA Director’s Report

An article by a transnational team of scientists from SDRG, Arizona State University, Deakin University, and the University of Melbourne was selected by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for inclusion in the Research Highlights section of its Director’s Report to the National Advisory Council. Looking at a sample of 25-year-olds in Washington State, United States, and Victoria, Australia, the researchers examined whether alcohol-tolerant workplace environments are associated with greater risk for alcohol use and misuse on and off the job among young adults.

The availability of alcohol at work, the absence of a written alcohol policy, and alcohol-tolerant workplace norms and attitudes were independently associated with a 1.5 to 3 times greater odds of on-the-job alcohol use or impairment. Alcohol-tolerant workplace norms were associated also with greater odds of high-risk drinking generally, independent of on-the-job alcohol use or impairment. Associations were mostly similar in Washington and Victoria, although young adults in Victoria perceived their workplaces to be more alcohol tolerant and were more likely to use alcohol or be impaired at work and to misuse alcohol generally than young adults in Washington. These findings led to the conclusion that workplace interventions restricting the availability of alcohol, banning alcohol at work, and reducing alcohol-tolerant norms have the potential to prevent and reduce young adults’ alcohol use and misuse on and off the job.