Retirement and drinking outcomes: lingering effects of workplace stress?

This study assesses the degree to which sexual harassment (SH), generalized workplace abuse (GWA), and psychological workload (PWL) impact drinking behaviors in retirement. A mail survey was completed at four points in time by a cohort of 1654 employees initially drawn from a university workplace. Questionnaires assessed experiences of SH, GWA, PWL and drinking behaviors. Hypotheses were tested involving (1) the extent to which SH, GWA, and PWL experienced while working were associated with frequency and quantity of drinking in retirement, (2) the extent to which drinking levels of retirees differed from those of current employees experiencing similar stress levels, and (3) the extent to which gender moderated these relationships. Retirees reporting earlier stressful work environments report higher levels of alcohol consumption during retirement compared to those retirees reporting less stressful earlier work environments. Gender moderated these relationships. The findings of this study suggest that there may be a residual effect of workplace stress during retirement.