Norms about alcohol use among US firefighters
Open accessAbstract
Background: Problem drinking is a perennial concern in the US fire service. A large literature has documented the importance of addressing alcohol norms in intervention research. The purpose of this study was to explore alcohol norms in a national cohort of firefighters (FFs) to inform intervention development in this occupational group. Methods: Data were from a national online survey of career and volunteer FFs (N = 674). Participants were recruited through national fire service listservs and a database of FFs who had agreed to be contacted for research. Results: When asked about "acceptable" levels of alcohol consumption, FFs on average suggested levels which exceeded public health guidelines. Further, approximately half of career and volunteer FFs believed that, at least under some circumstances, drinking until intoxicated was normative. When asked how long should elapse between a FFs last drink and reporting for duty, the average suggested lag was 11.2 hours (sd = 4.6). However, among male volunteer FFs who reported heavy drinking, the average was 6.68 hours (sd = 4.77). Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of heavy and binge drinking in the fire service, it is not surprising that the alcohol norms found in this study were consistent with a culture of drinking. Participants' reports of alcohol use among their peers were consistent with the actual prevalence of problem drinking. Thus, education and prevention efforts in this occupation should focus on changing norms about alcohol use, including linking heavy drinking to other health and safety issues they face.
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Firefighters have been identified as a population at significantly greater risk for substance abuse.
“Firefighters have been identified as a population at significantly greater risk for substance abuse.”
From The Cyclical Battle of Insomnia and Mental Health Impairment in Firefighters: A Narrative Review (2024) · cites this paper as [88]
The Introduction (page unavailable) says firefighters have among the highest rates of heavy and binge drinking of all occupations. That supports elevated problem drinking, but the paper does not establish significantly greater risk of substance abuse more broadly. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn a recent national survey of 674 firefighters, over 48% displayed heavy drinking behaviors and over 43% met the criteria for binge drinking.
“A recent national survey of 674 firefighters concluded over 48% displayed heavy drinking behaviors and over 43% met the criteria for binge drinking [88].”
From The Cyclical Battle of Insomnia and Mental Health Impairment in Firefighters: A Narrative Review (2024) · cites this paper as [88]
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- Authors
- Haddock, C. K., Jitnarin, N., Caetano, R., Jahnke, S. A., Hollerbach, B. S., Kaipust, C. M., & Poston, W. S. C.
- Affiliations
- National Development and Research Institutes (US)
- Corresponding author
- Haddock, Christopher K.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Safety and Health at Work
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-12
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 387-393
- ISSN
- 2093-7911 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9772477
- OpenAlex
- W4296663456
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3
- FWCI
- 3.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Safety and Health at Work (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security (EMW-2018-FP-00593)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Performance
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
- Keywords
- alcohol norms, firefighters, problem drinking, heavy drinking, binge drinking, volunteer firefighters, career firefighters, peer norms
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