Anomie, alcohol abuse and alcohol consumption: a prospective-analysis.

Cross-sectional and 36-month prospective analyses of the relationships among anomie and both alcohol abuse and alcohol consumption patterns provided little support that anomie was directly associated with ethanol ingestion patterns in a sample of 302 male air traffic controllers. This lack of association was observed for self-reported alcohol consumption, interview-established alcohol abuse and biochemical markers of alcohol intake. In addition, anomie was not predictive of change in alcohol use/abuse over 36 months, controlling for baseline levels of alcohol use and abuse and for relevant demographic factors. Measurement of anomie and alcohol use/abuse, the relative importance of anomie in various socioeconomic groups and issues related to prospective research on this topic are discussed.