Problem-drinking patterns among American merchant seamen.

Despite an unfortunately small sample size, a readily understandable questionnaire was administered with relative ease to available American merchant seamen who met the necessary study criteria of sobriety and treatment. The findings suggest that problem-drinking patterns of active merchant seamen seem to be induced by their work environment rather than being indicative of a predisposition to periodic or episodic alcoholism. Possible reasons why relatively few seamen seek or remain in treatment programs designed to help them with their drinking problems are presented.