Are workplace factors associated with employee alcohol use? The WIRUS cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: Sociodemographic predictors of employee alcohol use are well established in the literature, but knowledge about associations between workplace factors and alcohol use is less explored. The aim of this study was to explore whether workplace factors were associated with employee alcohol use (consumption and alcohol-related problems). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. Linear and binary logistic regression analyses. SETTING: Heterogeneous sample of employees (workers and supervisors) from 22 companies across geographical locations and work divisions in Norway. PARTICIPANTS: Employees (N=5388) responded on survey items measuring workplace factors and alcohol use. OUTCOMES: Data on alcohol use were collected with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Consumption was measured with the AUDIT-C (the first three items), and alcohol-related problems were operationalised as a sum score of eight or higher on the full ten-item AUDIT. RESULTS: Higher levels of alcohol consumption were associated with more liberal workplace drinking social norms (b=1.37, p