Alcohol Use

Information on familial history of alcohol abuse or dependency was collected during the 1988 survey and included a series of questions on whether relatives of the respondent had been alcoholics or problem drinkers, the relationship of the respondent to up to seven such alcoholic relatives, and the length of time, if any, that the respondent resided with each such relative. Tables 1-4 summarize the alcohol use variables collected for the NLSY79 and the survey years during which each type of variable was collected.

There is considerable variation in both the quantity and type as well as the wording of alcohol use questions. The 1989 questionnaire, for example, combined the typically asked 'drinking ever interfered with schoolwork or job' questions into a single 'kept drinking even though caused problems with work/home/school' question but expanded the number of questions dealing with the impact of alcohol use on other aspects of the respondent's life (such as personal relationships, health, participation in outside interests and activities). Many of the NLSY79 alcohol use questions have been adapted from those asked in the National Health Interview Surveys conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Table 1. Alcohol quantity and frequency variables by survey year
Variable	1982	1983	1984	1985	1988	1989	1992	1994	2002	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014	2018 Note 1.1	2020	2022
Ever had a drink	*	*	*	*	*	*		*
Age when started drinking	*	*
Age when started drinking at least once a month		*
Had any alcoholic beverages in last month	*	*	*	*	*	*		*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Frequency of 6+ drinks one occasion in last month	*	*	*	*	*	*		*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
# days drank in last week	*	*	*	*			*
# bottles/glasses/drinks of beer/wine/liquor in last week	*	*	*	*
# days drank in last month		*	*	*	*	*		*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
# days had 1/2/3/4/5/6+ drinks in last month		*	*	*
# days had hangover in last month		*	*	*
Total # days had drink in last month		*	*	*
Frequency of going to bars last month	*	*	*
# drinks per day/# R usually has on days R drinks					*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Note 1.1: In 2018, four alcohol use questions were reinstated for all respondents. Starting in 2020, these four questions became part of the Health at Age 60 module and have since been administered to specific birth cohorts in 2020 and subsequent survey years.

Table 2. Alcohol abuse and dependency variables by survey year: Physiological/behavioral symptoms
Survey Years	Variable	Question Name
1984, 1985, 1988	Felt aggressive/cross while drinking	ALCH-18A
1984, 1985, 1988	Got into heated argument	ALCH-18B
1984, 1985, 1988, 1994	Got into a fight	ALCH-18C
1989, 1994	Did things while drinking that caused others to be hurt	Q12-7G
1984, 1985, 1988	Can't remember activity while drunk	ALCH-18G
1984, 1985, 1988, 1994	Tried to cut down or quit but failed	ALCH-18D
1984, 1985, 1988	Afraid might be/become alcoholic	ALCH-18E
1989, 1994	Spent a lot of time drinking/getting over drinking	Q12-7U
1989, 1994	Sick/vomited after drinking	Q12-7F
1989, 1994	Difficult to stop once started	Q12-7D
1989, 1994	Sweat/shake after drinking	Q12-7L
1989	Needed drink so badly couldn't think of anything else	ALCH-21B
1989, 1994	Drank more than intended to	Q12-7C
1989	Got drunk instead of doing things supposed to	ALCH-21C
1989, 1994	So hung over that it interfered with things supposed to do	Q12-7V
1989, 1994	Heard/saw things not there	Q12-7X
1984, 1985, 1988	Difficult to stop until completely intoxicated	ALCH-18F
1984, 1985, 1988	Often take a drink first thing in the morning	ALCH-18H
1984, 1985, 1988	Hands shake in the morning	ALCH-18I
1984, 1985, 1988	Get drunk while drinking alone	ALCH-18J
1984, 1985, 1988	Kept drinking after promised self not to	ALCH-18K
1989	Had strong desire/urge to drink	ALCH-21A
1989, 1994	Found same amount of alcohol had less effect	Q12-7I
1989, 1994	Found you had to drink more than once did to get same effect	Q12-7H
1989, 1994	Continued drinking even though threat to health	Q12-7S
1989, 1994	Continued drinking even though caused emotional problems	Q12-7W

Table 3. Alcohol abuse and dependency variables by survey year: Lifestyle symptoms (impact on school, work, relationships)
Survey Years	Variable	Question Name
1982-1985	Drinking ever interfered with schoolwork	ALCH-10
1982-1985	Drinking ever interfered with job	ALCH-11
1989, 1994	Kept drinking even though caused problems with work, home, school	Q12-7Z
1984, 1985, 1988, 1994	Stayed away from work because of hangover	Q12-7P
1984, 1985, 1988	Got drunk on the job	ALCH-20B
1984, 1985, 1988	Lost/nearly lost job because of drinking	ALCH-20C
1984, 1985, 1988, 1994	Drinking led to quitting job	ALCH-20D
1984, 1985, 1988, 1994	Drinking hurt chances for promotion	Q12-7T
1989, 1994	Significant other left/threatened to leave	Q12-7J
1994	Arrested/trouble with police after drinking	Q12-7N
1989, 1994	Drink to keep from shaking after drinking/morning after drinking	Q12-7Y
1989, 1994	Lost ties with/drifted apart from family members	Q12-7Q
1989, 1994	Gave up/cut down activities/interests	Q12-7M
1989, 1994	Drove a car after drinking too much	Q12-7E

Table 4. Familial history of alcohol abuse/dependency variables by survey year
Survey Years	Variable	Question Name
1988	Any relatives been alcoholics/problem drinkers at any time	ALCH-21
1988	Relationship to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th alcoholic relative	ALCH-22
1988	Number of years lived with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th alcoholic relative	ALCH-23
2012-2016	Lived with alcoholic/problem drinker before age of 18?	Q11-RCH-HLTH-5

Additional alcohol use variables

Two additional sets of alcohol use variables, not included in the tables, have been collected for select NLSY79 respondents:

Alcohol use during pregnancy
Female respondents provided information on alcohol use during pregnancy in the 1983–1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, and 1994–2018 surveys.
Underage alcohol consumption
The 1980 illegal activities supplement included a question for underage respondents about the number of times they had consumed alcoholic beverages without their parents' permission.

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys	Beginning in 1988 the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult surveys included several questions about alcohol use for children ages 10 and older. A more extensive sequence about alcohol use and abuse was included in the Young Adult survey beginning in 1994. The NLSY97 round 1 survey first established whether the respondent had ever consumed an alcoholic beverage and asked for the respondent's age at first use. In subsequent rounds respondents were asked whether they had a drink of an alcoholic beverage since the date of last interview and, if so, what was the quantity and frequency of alcohol use. The 1989 and 1995-2003 interviews of the Mature Women, the 1991-2003 surveys of the Young Women, and the 1990 survey of Older Men also gathered data on the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption.
Survey Instruments and Documentation	Alcohol use questions can be found within the following sections of the youth questionnaires: Section 12 (1982); Section 13 (1983-85 and 1988); Section 11 (1989); 1992 Self-Administered Drug Use Supplement; and Section 12 (1994, 2002-current). The alcohol use during pregnancy questions can be found in the "Fertility" section of the questionnaire.
Areas of Interest	Alcohol use variables for all years except 1992 can be found within the "Alcohol" area of interest on the main NLSY79 data set; the 1992 variables are located in "Drugs." The alcohol use during pregnancy items are located in the various "Birth Record" and "Birth Record xxxx" areas of interest.

Comparison to Other NLS Surveys

Beginning in 1988 the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult surveys included several questions about alcohol use for children ages 10 and older. A more extensive sequence about alcohol use and abuse was included in the Young Adult survey beginning in 1994.

The NLSY97 round 1 survey first established whether the respondent had ever consumed an alcoholic beverage and asked for the respondent's age at first use. In subsequent rounds respondents were asked whether they had a drink of an alcoholic beverage since the date of last interview and, if so, what was the quantity and frequency of alcohol use.

The 1989 and 1995-2003 interviews of the Mature Women, the 1991-2003 surveys of the Young Women, and the 1990 survey of Older Men also gathered data on the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption.

Survey Instruments and Documentation

Alcohol use questions can be found within the following sections of the youth questionnaires: Section 12 (1982); Section 13 (1983-85 and 1988); Section 11 (1989); 1992 Self-Administered Drug Use Supplement; and Section 12 (1994, 2002-current). The alcohol use during pregnancy questions can be found in the "Fertility" section of the questionnaire.

Areas of Interest

Alcohol use variables for all years except 1992 can be found within the "Alcohol" area of interest on the main NLSY79 data set; the 1992 variables are located in "Drugs." The alcohol use during pregnancy items are located in the various "Birth Record" and "Birth Record xxxx" areas of interest.

A Program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Crime & Substance Use

Additional alcohol use variables