The purpose of this Appendix is simply to provide some background detail on the type of drinking behaviour found among each of the main groups participating in the research.
This qualitative research used purposive sampling techniques to recruit people who are known to drink alcohol regularly and sometimes, if not often, heavily. Therefore, the picture presented here is in no way representative of the wider general population.
‘Drinkers’
All participants in the focus groups of so called ‘drinkers’ drank alcohol on a regular basis, although some drank more frequently and excessively than others. Without trying to place respondents into categories, it was clear that some of those who took part currently had an alcohol problem – or had done so in the past. One group – that with young males in Glasgow – stood out as being slightly different from the other groups. These males were all current or recently graduated university students and their attitudes and experiences provided an interesting comparison with the three other groups. In general, the participants in this group were also from more affluent socio-economic backgrounds. While they did engage in binge- drinking behaviour and did sometimes ‘drink to get drunk’, alcohol appeared to be a less- central to their lives. Drinking for them was almost a stage they were going through – an accepted part of being a student – and more isolated from their general day-to-day routine. For other participants, alcohol played a more central role in their lives – not only on an individual basis but also in terms of their communities. Excessive drinking was part of their culture – starting with very young people and continuing in old age. Most people in these groups knew at least one person with an alcohol problem.
Demographics of ‘drinkers’
Group Sex Location Age group SEG
1 Male Glasgow 18-25 C1
2 Male Borders 30+ C1C2DE
3 Female Fife 18-25 E
4 Female Edinburgh 30+ C2DE
SEG = Socio-economic grouping. See Page 10 for definitions of each category.
Families and friends of people with alcohol problems
Although it was discussed in most of the interviews and focus groups with families and friends of alcohol misusers, personal drinking behaviour was not the focus of the discussion and sometimes, because of the flow of conversation, it was not raised at all. Nevertheless, where this was discussed it highlighted an interesting divergence of behaviour, ranging from
total abstinence – often in support of the misuser – to excessive drinking which clearly constituted an alcohol problem. Many of those who actually lived with an alcohol misuser tended to drink little, if any, alcohol. Sometimes this was a result of feeling guilty and not wanting to tempt the misuser, for others it was because they simply saw alcohol as a destructive force. However, this again shows how the alcohol misusers behaviour can restrict the behaviour of those close to them – many felt they could not go to the pub, (either on their own or with the alcohol misuser), visit friends or have a celebratory drink on special occasions.
Demographics of friends and family members of non-service users
Interview Sex Location Age group SEG
1 Female Glasgow 30-44 DE 2 Female Borders 30-44 DE 3 Female Fife 18-29 C1 4 Female Edinburgh 60+ B 5 Male Fife 30-44 DE 6 Male Edinburgh 30-44 B
SEG = Socio-economic grouping
As friends and families of service users were recruited directly through the agencies, and not a recruitment questionnaire, it is not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of their demographic characteristics.
Current and previous service users: drinking behaviour past and present
It is worth noting that service users did not really focus on the amount of alcohol they were consuming, but were more concerned about the affect that drinking was having on their lives. Drinking behaviour, or the recognition of an alcohol problem is not seen in terms of how many bottles or units of alcohol for example.
“It is not the amount, it is what it does to us once we start drinking. We think we can control it, we will just have one, but we can’t.” (Previous user of private service.)
The groups and interviews did not specifically explore drinking patterns but were discussed in relation to when drink becomes a problem.
There are considerable differences in the past and present drinking patterns of the current and previous service users. The different patterns tend to be reflected in the type of service and treatment which people are currently involved in, and peoples’ reasons for contacting a service. The range of alcohol consumed by service users in the past ranged from binge- drinking (although this was less common than frequent drinking) and drinking a bottle of wine each day at one end of the scale to consuming multiple bottles of spirits a day at the
service users had been drinking heavily over a long period of time without perceiving it to be a problem but had come to a point where some kind of crisis occurred. For others, contact with alcohol services had been a recurring theme over a number of years with alcohol free periods of varying lengths in between contacts. Furthermore, some service users had made contact with alcohol services to prevent a problem becoming worse.
In terms of current drinking behaviours, many no longer drank alcohol at all, while some adhered to the controlled-drinking’ model.
As these participants were recruited directly through the agencies it is not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of their demographic characteristics.