title: Harm Experienced from the Heavy Drinking of Family and Friends in the General Population: A Comparative Study of Six Northern European Countries.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epidemiological research on alcohol-related harm has long given priority to studies on harm to the drinker. A limitation with this perspective is that it neglects the harm drinking causes to people around the drinker, and thus, it fails to give a full picture of alcohol-related harm in society.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to compare the prevalence and correlates of experiencing harm from the heavy drinking by family and friends across the Nordic countries and Scotland and to discuss whether potential differences match levels of drinking, prevalence of binge drinking, and alcohol-related mortality.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from recent national general population surveys with similar questions on experiences of harms from the drinking of family and friends were collected from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Scotland.
  
  
  RESULTS
  National estimates of the overall population prevalence of harm from the drinking of family and friends ranged from 14% to 28% across these countries, with the highest prevalence in Finland, Iceland, and Norway and lower estimates for Denmark, Sweden, and Scotland. Across all countries, the prevalence of harm from heavy drinking by family and friends was significantly higher among women and young respondents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study revealed large differences in the prevalence of harm across the study countries, as well as by gender and age, but the differences do not match the variation in population drinking and other indicators of harm. The implications of the findings for future research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Senior Research Specialist, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet and The Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN), Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramstedt
authors.affiliation: PhD Student, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet and The Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN), Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sundin
authors.affiliation: Researcher, Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research (SIRUS), Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Inger Synnøve
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Moan
authors.affiliation: Research Director, Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research (SIRUS), Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Elisabet E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Storvoll
authors.affiliation: Researcher, Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research (SIRUS), Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ingunn Olea
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Lund
authors.affiliation: Professor, Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research (CRF), Aarhus University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bloomfield
authors.affiliation: Research Associate, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hope
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Scientist, Directorate of Health, Reykjavik, Iceland.
authors.forename: Sveinbjörn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kristjánsson
authors.affiliation: Senior Researcher, Alcohol and Drugs Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tigerstedt
keywords: Nordic countries; alcohol’s harm to others; comparative studies