Affective disorders, anxiety disorders and the risk of alcohol dependence and misuse

Authors:
LIANG Wenbin, CHIKRITZHS Tanya
Journal article citation:
British Journal of Psychiatry, 199(3), September 2011, pp.219-224.
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press

It remains unclear whether affective disorders and anxiety disorders increase the risk of alcohol dependence and alcohol misuse. This retrospective cohort study is based on data collected from the 2007 Australia Mental Health and Well-Being survey. Both Poisson and logistic regression models were used for multivariate analysis. There were 8841 participants in the MHW study of whom 342 had received a diagnosis of alcohol dependence at some time prior to the start of the study; full data was available and analysed for 336. Those with affective and anxiety disorders appeared to be at higher risk of alcohol misuse or dependence. For affective disorders the relative risk of alcohol dependence within five years was 5.46; for anxiety disorders it was 3.33. The authors conclude that common affective disorders and anxiety disorders may increase the risk of alcohol dependence and alcohol misuse among the Australian population.

Subject terms:
mental health problems, risk, alcohol misuse, anxiety;
Content type:
research
Location(s):
Australia
Link:
Journal home page
ISSN online:
1472-1465
ISSN print:
0007-1250

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