일 도시 직장인의 문제성 음주에 영향을 미치는 요인들

The Contributing Factors on the Problem Drinking of Workers in Chuncheon

Objectives：Drinking problems among employees cause decreased productivity, injuries, and increased health insurance claims. In this study the relationships between 7 measures of alcohol-related psychosocial factors and employee’s drinking problems were investigated. Methods：Cross-sectional data were collected from 898 employees living in Chuncheon. Data from 678 employees were subjected to final analysis. All subjects completed a set of self-report questionnaires that included the demographic data, problematic drinking behavior (AUDIT-K), expectations about the effect of drinking (Alcohol Belief Scale), a job stress questionnaire (Korean Occupational Stress Scale), and questions about the workplace drinking environment (e.g., the workplace subculture about drinking), social support, and self- esteem. Results：The AUDIT-K score was significantly and positively correlated with alcohol withdrawal experiences, expectations about the effect of drinking, workplace drinking environment, social support, and self-esteem. Analysis by binary logistic regression showed that sex, the amount of daily drinking, expectations about the effect of drinking, and characteristics of the subculture about drinking predicted problem drinking. How-ever, job stress, which had been known to be a contributing factor for employee drinking problem was not related to problem drinking behavior in this study. Conclusion：Previous evidence indicates that job stress can contribute to alcohol problems among employed persons. However, this study does not support this linkage between job stress and alcohol problems. Instead, positive expectations about the effects of drinking and the degree of positive environment about drinking in work-place contributed to the severity of employee alcohol problems in this study. These results, have important implications for the development of preventive programs for employee alcohol abuse by changing the office subculture through educational programs that correct distorted expectations about the effects of alcohol.