Table 2.
Characteristics of a Sample of Respondents to the 1984 and 1995 National Alcohol Surveys According to Volume-based Alcohol Consumption Group, 1984–2006a
| Alcohol Consumption Categoryb |
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| Lifetime Abstainer (n = 2,372) | Ex-Drinker (n = 1,651) | Current Drinker (Average No. of Drinks/Month) |
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| Occasional (0–<2) (n = 1,297) | Moderate (2–<30 (Women) or 2–<60 (Men)) (n = 3,397) | Heavier (30–<120 (Women) or 60–<120 (Men)) (n = 844) | Heavy (≥120) (n = 433) | |||
| No. of deaths | 489 | 331 | 183 | 392 | 106 | 51 |
| Mean age, years | 47.5 | 46.1 | 41.3 | 39.2 | 39.3 | 36.7 |
| % from the 1995 National Alcohol Survey | 51.7 | 51.9 | 49.0 | 47.9 | 41.3 | 43.0 |
| Male gender | 26.1 | 38.3 | 28.7 | 55.2 | 48.6 | 79.4 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| Non-Hispanic black | 39.3 | 35.8 | 33.4 | 31.2 | 31.9 | 38.6 |
| Hispanic | 35.6 | 30.2 | 29.8 | 28.8 | 23.6 | 24.5 |
| Non-Hispanic white | 23.0 | 33.1 | 35.5 | 38.7 | 43.0 | 35.6 |
| Other | 2.1 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 |
| Education | ||||||
| Less than high school | 51.1 | 41.1 | 28.6 | 25.9 | 28.7 | 36.6 |
| High school graduation | 28.1 | 31.3 | 34.7 | 33.1 | 30.8 | 37.4 |
| Some college | 14.4 | 18.0 | 22.4 | 23.3 | 23.8 | 16.1 |
| College graduation | 6.4 | 9.6 | 14.3 | 17.7 | 16.7 | 9.9 |
| Region of the United States | ||||||
| Northeast | 13.4 | 20.3 | 19.8 | 19.0 | 17.9 | 18.2 |
| Midwest | 11.2 | 17.7 | 17.7 | 18.5 | 22.0 | 14.8 |
| South | 58.2 | 41.4 | 42.3 | 38.5 | 37.4 | 37.6 |
| Pacific | 13.9 | 15.0 | 16.2 | 17.9 | 18.0 | 21.2 |
| Rocky Mountains | 3.3 | 5.5 | 4.1 | 6.1 | 4.6 | 8.1 |
| Born in the United States | 78.9 | 83.5 | 82.0 | 83.7 | 88.4 | 90.3 |
| Marital status | ||||||
| Married | 51.1 | 50.5 | 55.5 | 55.7 | 51.4 | 47.8 |
| Divorced/widowed | 30.7 | 30.0 | 26.4 | 21.9 | 23.2 | 21.0 |
| Never married | 18.2 | 19.6 | 18.1 | 22.4 | 25.4 | 31.2 |
| Depressionc | 19.1 | 21.5 | 17.0 | 15.1 | 16.1 | 25.2 |
| Impulsivity scaled | 0.77 | 0.98 | 1.05 | 1.23 | 1.40 | 1.63 |
| Household income, 1983 dollars | ||||||
| 0–<10,000 | 51.3 | 44.0 | 35.8 | 29.6 | 30.0 | 38.0 |
| 10,000–<20,000 | 21.6 | 22.2 | 25.2 | 25.3 | 24.9 | 26.3 |
| 20,000–<40,000 | 13.5 | 19.5 | 25.1 | 27.5 | 25.9 | 21.9 |
| 40,000–<60,000 | 2.4 | 4.2 | 5.8 | 8.6 | 9.3 | 6.9 |
| ≥60,000 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 2.8 |
| Missing data | 10.7 | 9.4 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.2 | 4.2 |
| Use of tobacco and other substances | ||||||
| Current smokere | 12.9 | 24.3 | 26.8 | 37.1 | 50.6 | 63.3 |
| Illegal drugs (past year)f | 5.7 | 12.4 | 12.2 | 11.7 | 13.0 | 9.5 |
| Cannabis (past year) | 0.8 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 10.8 | 18.0 | 35.8 |
All data are percentages except those for number of deaths, mean age, and impulsivity scale.
Lifetime abstainers reported no lifetime drinking. Ex-drinkers reported no past-year drinking but at least 1 drink in their lifetime. Current drinking groups were based on the beverage-specific frequencies shown.
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (23) score of 16 or higher.
Impulsivity was measured using the 3-item Impulsive Cognitive Style Scale (25).
Smoking on at least 1 occasion monthly in the past year at baseline interview.
Any use of uppers, cocaine, amphetamines, downers, codeine, methadone, hallucinogens, or heroin/opium.