Safety and Health at Work

Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (산업안전보건연구원)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Norms about Alcohol Use among US Firefighters

  • Christopher K. Haddock (Center for Fire, Rescue, & EMS Health Research, NDRI-USA) ;
  • Nattinee Jitnarin (Center for Fire, Rescue, & EMS Health Research, NDRI-USA) ;
  • Raul Caetano (Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation) ;
  • Sara A. Jahnke (Center for Fire, Rescue, & EMS Health Research, NDRI-USA) ;
  • Brittany S. Hollerbach (Center for Fire, Rescue, & EMS Health Research, NDRI-USA) ;
  • Christopher M. Kaipust (Center for Fire, Rescue, & EMS Health Research, NDRI-USA) ;
  • Walker S.C. Poston (Center for Fire, Rescue, & EMS Health Research, NDRI-USA)
  • Received : 2022.04.13
  • Accepted : 2022.08.28
  • Published : 2022.12.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Background: Problem drinking is a perennial concern in the US fire service. A large literature has documented the importance of addressing alcohol norms in intervention research. The purpose of this study was to explore alcohol norms in a national cohort of firefighters (FFs) to inform intervention development in this occupational group. Methods: Data were from a national online survey of career and volunteer FFs (N = 674). Participants were recruited through national fire service listservs and a database of FFs who had agreed to be contacted for research. Results: When asked about "acceptable" levels of alcohol consumption, FFs on average suggested levels which exceeded public health guidelines. Further, approximately half of career and volunteer FFs believed that, at least under some circumstances, drinking until intoxicated was normative. When asked how long should elapse between a FFs last drink and reporting for duty, the average suggested lag was 11.2 hours (sd = 4.6). However, among male volunteer FFs who reported heavy drinking, the average was 6.68 hours (sd = 4.77). Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of heavy and binge drinking in the fire service, it is not surprising that the alcohol norms found in this study were consistent with a culture of drinking. Participants' reports of alcohol use among their peers were consistent with the actual prevalence of problem drinking. Thus, education and prevention efforts in this occupation should focus on changing norms about alcohol use, including linking heavy drinking to other health and safety issues they face.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the firefighters who participated in this research and Chief Billy Goldfeder for assisting with recruitment.

References

  1. Karter M, National Fire Protection Association. Fire loss in the United States during; 2011; 2013.
  2. North CS, et al. Coping, functioning, and adjustment of rescue workers after the Oklahoma City bombing. J Trauma Stress 2002;15(3):171-5. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015286909111
  3. North CS, et al. Psychiatric disorders in rescue workers after the Oklahoma City bombing. Am J Psychiatry 2002;159(5):857-9. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.5.857
  4. Carey MG, et al. Sleep problems, depression, substance use, social bonding, and quality of life in professional firefighters. J Occup Environ Med 2011;53(8):928-33. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0b013e318225898f
  5. Haddock CK, et al. Tobacco use among firefighters in the central United States. Am J Ind Med 2011;54(9):697-706. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20972
  6. Pyle S, et al. Depressive symptoms, self-rated mental health, daily functioning and job satisfaction among firefighters. Int J Fire Serv Leadersh Manage 2009;3(1):19-24.
  7. Regehr C, Hill J, Glancy GD. Individual predictors of traumatic reactions in firefighters. J Nerv Ment Dis 2000;188(6):333-9. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005053-200006000-00003
  8. Haddock CK, et al. Alcohol use and caloric intake from alcohol in a national cohort of U.S. career firefighters. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2015;76(3):360-6. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2015.76.360
  9. Haddock CK, et al. Alcohol use among firefighters in the Central United States. Occup Med (Lond) 2012;62(8):661-4. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqs162
  10. Jahnke S, Poston WC, Haddock CK. Perceptions of alcohol use among US firefighters. J Substance Abuse Alcoholism 2014;2(2).
  11. Piazza-Gardner AK, et al. Covariates of alcohol consumption among career firefighters. Occup Med (Lond) 2014;64(8):580-2. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqu124
  12. Haddock CK, et al. Alcohol use and problem drinking among women firefighters. Womens Health Issues; 2017.
  13. Boxer PA, Wild D. Psychological distress and alcohol use among fire fighters. Scand J Work Environ Health 1993;19(2):121-5. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.1497
  14. Bacharach SB, Zelko H. On the front line: the work of first responders in a post 9/11 world; 2004.
  15. Roman P, Blum T. The workplace and alcohol problem prevention; 2002.
  16. Haug S, et al. Overestimation of drinking norms and its association with alcohol consumption in apprentices. Alcohol Alcohol 2011;46(2):204-9. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agq103
  17. Perkins HW. Social norms and the prevention of alcohol misuse in collegiate contexts. J Stud Alcohol Suppl 2002;(14):164-72.
  18. Lee CM, et al. The social norms of alcohol-related negative consequences. Psychol Addict Behav 2010;24(2):342-8. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018020
  19. Anderson P, et al. Changing collective social norms in favour of reduced harmful use of alcohol: a review of reviews. Alcohol Alcohol 2018;53(3):326-32. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agx121
  20. Wolter C, et al. Finding the right balance: a social norms intervention to reduce heavy drinking in university students. Front Public Health 2021;9.
  21. Ames GM, Grube JW, Moore RS. Social control and workplace drinking norms: a comparison of two organizational cultures. J Stud Alcohol 2000;61(2):203-19. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsa.2000.61.203
  22. Trice HM, Sonnenstuhl WJ. On the construction of drinking norms in work organizations. J Stud Alcohol 1990;51(3):201-20. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsa.1990.51.201
  23. Frone MR. Does a permissive workplace substance use climate affect employees who do not use alcohol and drugs at work? A U.S. national study. Psychol Addict Behav 2009;23(2):386-90. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015965
  24. Jahnke SA, et al. The prevalence and health impacts of frequent work discrimination and harassment among women firefighters in the US fire service. BioMed Research International 2019;2019. 6740207-6740207.
  25. Jahnke SA, et al. Maternal and child health among female Firefighters in the U.S. Maternal and child health. Journal 2018;22(6):922-31.
  26. Qualtrics XM. Qualtrics XM platform; 2021. 29 December 2021]; Available from, www.qualtrics.com.
  27. Haddock, C.K., et al., Alcohol use and caloric intake from alcohol in a national cohort of U.S. Career Firefighters. J Stud Alcohol Drugs, in press.
  28. Core Institute SIU Campus survey of alcohol and other drugs; 2000.
  29. The higher education center for alcohol and other drug abuse and violence prevention methods for assessing college student use of alcohol and other drugs; 2008.
  30. Ghee AC, Johnson CS. Emotional intelligence: a moderator of perceived alcohol peer norms and alcohol use. J Drug Educ 2008;38(1):71-83. https://doi.org/10.2190/DE.38.1.f
  31. Wang MP, et al. Overestimation of peer smoking prevalence predicts smoking initiation among primary school students in Hong Kong. J Adolesc Health 2011;48(4):418-20.
  32. Lai MK, Ho SY, Lam TH. Perceived peer smoking prevalence and its association with smoking behaviours and intentions in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. Addiction 2004;99(9):1195-205. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2004.00797.x
  33. Reid JL, Manske SR, Leatherdale ST. Factors related to adolescents' estimation of peer smoking prevalence. Health Educ Res 2008;23(1):81-93.
  34. Ecker AH, Cohen AS, Buckner JD. Overestimation of close friend drinking problems in the prediction of one's own drinking problems. Addict Behaviors 2017;64:107-10.
  35. Rinker DV, et al. Evaluations and perceptions of others' evaluations of negative alcohol-related consequences predict negative alcohol-related consequences among college drinkers. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2017;78(2):249-57. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2017.78.249
  36. Shono Y, et al. The Rutgers alcohol problem Index for adolescent alcohol and drug problems: a comprehensive modern psychometric study. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 2018;79(4):658-63. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2018.79.658
  37. R Core Team. The R project for statistical consulting; 2021.
  38. National Institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism What is a standard drink?; 2022.
  39. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Drinking levels defined. Available from, https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/moderate-binge-drinking 2021; 2021.
  40. Wickham H. ggplot2 2018. February 22, 2018]; Available from: https://www.ggplot2.org; 2018.
  41. National Fire Protection Agency U.S. Fire department profile; 2020.
  42. NIAAA. Drinking Patterns and their definitions. Alcohol Res Curr Rev 2018.
  43. Elsey H, et al. Do children overestimate the extent of smoking among their peers? A feasibility study of the social norms approach to prevent smoking. Addict Behav 2015;41:7-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.09.015
  44. Jahnke SA, Poston WC, Haddock CK. Perceptions of alcohol use among US firefighters. J Substance Abuse Alcoholism 2014;2(2):1012.