Alcoholism and Alcohol Related Problems among USAF Civilian Employees

This report summarizes a research effort in an attempt to estimate the nature and extent of alcohol-related problems among Air Force civilian employees. Nine thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine surveys were returned, representing a 75.6% response rate. A total of 1.1% of the sample were determined to be alcohol-dependent, indicated by chronic behaviors representative of physical dependence on alcohol. An additional 5.8% of the sample have experienced one or more serious consequences related to drinking and are classified as adversely affected. A variety of demographic variables were included in the survey, and these permit comparisons of alcohol-related problems among specific categories of respondents. Additional criterion measures of job satisfaction, work involvement, stress, and psychological dependence provide potential correlates for alcohol dependent and adversely affected behavior. Also presented in the survey were questions dealing with respondent attitudes about organizational help in dealing with alcohol-related problems, and questions about perceptions of the career impact of being identified as an individual with a drinking problem. Because of the nature of the study methodology and the problem under examination, all alcohol prevalence estimates derived from the research are felt to be conservative.