Social groups can influence individuals’ drinking habits: Study

A new study found that the influence of your friends and people you have connections with can affect your health just as much as your family history or your genetic background. According to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine the drinking habits of the people in your extended social group can determine if you're likely to drink heavily or not at all. The study found a person was 50% more likely to drink heavily if a person they are directly connected with also drinks heavily. The effect wasn't limited to immediate contacts, it also found a person was 36% more likely to drink heavily if a friend of a friend was a heavy drinker and at three degrees of separation was still 15% more likely to do so.

Researchers used data from the landmark Framingham Heart Study, which followed 12,067 people for more than 30 years and helped to define the patterns in social networks of other health issues such as obesity, smoking, and sexually transmitted diseases. In this analysis, the researchers sought to explore patterns of alcohol use in a large social network.

This data gives doctors and clinicians a new way of looking at interventions and treatment approaches to reduce problematic drinking. In addition to treating the individual patient it may be necessary to look at his or her entire social network to identify and eliminate obstacles to abstaining.

SOURCE Annals of Internal Medicine