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19 august 2015
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Drinking pattern during midlife and risk of developing depression during 28 years of follow-up: A prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: The long-term impact of alcohol intake in midlife on developing depression is not clear. We aimed to investigate drinking pattern during midlife as a risk factor for developing depression during 28 years of follow-up.

METHODS: We used data from a well characterised prospective cohort study (the Whitehall II study) of 7478 men and women (70% male) aged 35 to 55 years, and free from depression in 1985-1988, followed up regularly until 2013. Drinking pattern was defined in terms of usual and maximum amounts consumed within a single drinking session, total weekly volume of alcohol consumed and drinking frequency. Depression was assessed using the General Health Questionnaire Depression Subscale at multiple follow-up occasions (up to eight times in total). Associations between different drinking pattern components during midlife and depression were estimated using flexible parametric survival models.

RESULTS: After adjustment for confounding factors only abstaining from alcohol during midlife was associated with an increased risk of developing depression during long-term observation. However, this association became non-significant after adjusting for baseline self-reported health.

CONCLUSIONS: In this community dwelling population, drinking pattern during midlife was not associated with an increased risk of developing depression.

Additional Info

  • Authors

    Bell S.; Britton A.

  • Issue

    Drug Alcohol Depend. 2015 Aug 19. pii: S0376-8716(15)01599-9. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.08.008. [Epub ahead of print]

  • Published Date

    19 august 2015

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