title: The impact of retirement on the drinking patterns of older adults: a review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Due to the aging of the population, there is renewed focus on the public health issues of middle-aged and older adults. One area of such focus is unhealthy drinking, and researchers seek to understand the unique developmental risk and protective factors among those entering older adulthood. Retirement has been hypothesized as a contributing factor in the onset and maintenance of unhealthy drinking in late life. This review describes the relevant theories and critically reviews empirical evidence that explores the relationship between alcohol and retirement drawn from both the industrial and organizational psychology and substance misuse literatures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using four research databases, thirteen studies published in the last 25years that investigated the relationship of retirement and alcohol use and met specific selection criteria were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The literature suggests that retirement may not have a strong direct impact on drinking behaviors or problems, but attributes of the process (e.g. retirement voluntariness) of transition to retirement and individual attributes, such as having a history of problem drinking, may facilitate or inhibit drinking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Future research should delve into the social context of drinking in retirement with a goal of understanding the aspects and conditions of retirement that increase risk of alcohol problems. Investigation should also examine heterogeneity in retirement drinking patterns with a goal of identifying subpopulations that are at greater risk.
authors.affiliation: Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc., and Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, c/o Columbia Addiction Services and Psychotherapy Intervention, 3 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019, USA. Kuerbis@nyspi.columbia.edu
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuerbis
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sacco
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology