%0 Journal Article
%J Environmental Research and Public Health
%D 2023
%T Alcohol-tolerant workplace environments are a risk factor for young adult alcohol misuse on and off the job in Australia and the United States
%A Sabrina Oesterle, Jennifer A. Bailey, Richard F. Catalano, Marina Epstein, Tracy J. Evans-Whipp, & John W. Toumbourou
%X <strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Alcohol-tolerant workplace environments are a risk factor for young adult alcohol misuse on and off the job in Australia and the United States.<strong>ABSTRACT: </strong>The workplace has been understudied as a setting for the prevention of young adult alcohol misuse. This study examined if alcohol-tolerant workplace environments are associated with greater risk for alcohol use and misuse on and off the job among young adults. Data were collected in 2014 from state-representative, sex-balanced samples (51% female) of 25-year-olds in Washington, U.S. (n = 751) and Victoria, Australia (n = 777). Logistic regressions indicated that availability of alcohol at work, 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. Cross-nationally, workplace interventions that restrict the availability of alcohol, ban alcohol at work, and reduce alcohol-tolerant norms have the potential to prevent and reduce young adults’ alcohol use and misuse on and off the job.
%B Environmental Research and Public Health
%V 20
%P 6725
%8 September
%G eng
%U https://www.mdpi.com/2469184
%N 18
%R 10.3390/ijerph20186725