Alcohol consumption and marital status of French women in the GAZEL cohort: a longitudinal analysis between 1992 and 1996.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this research was to describe women's consumption of alcoholic beverages as it related to their marital status over a 5-year period (1992 through 1996) and to study alcohol consumption around the time of marriage or divorce.


METHODS
The study sample comprised 4,782 women who worked for Electricité de France-Gaz de France and belonged to the GAZEL cohort. The relevant variables collected by five successive annual questionnaires included marital status and alcohol consumption characteristics. Marginal models were used, reflecting the fact that the data were not independent.


RESULTS
Divorcees and widows drank less than married women as measured in fewer glasses per day and fewer days per week drinking wine. Women in the oldest generation drank more than the younger women. Getting married was accompanied by an increased level of drinking, especially of wine, beginning a year before the wedding and lasting until 4 years after it. Consumption declined briefly during the year after a divorce.


CONCLUSIONS
These results may be useful for designing prevention programs aimed at groups of women in the general population in France.
Zins
M
M
INSERM U 88-IFR 69, Hôpital National de Saint-Maurice, 14 Rue du Val d'Osne, F-94 415 Saint-Maurice Cedex, France. Marie.Zins@st-maurice.inserm.fr
Gueguen
A
A
Leclerc
A
A
Goldberg
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires