Occupational Stress and Variation in Cigarette, Coffee, and Alcohol Consumption

TLDR

The study examined how occupational stress affects self‑reported cigarette, coffee, and alcohol consumption in a longitudinal field setting. The authors repeatedly measured substance use and subjective stress in 34 men working in a job with systematic stress variation. Cigarette and coffee use increased with chronic high stress, while alcohol did not, and daily consumption of all three varied with perceived stress—effects were driven by a few individuals, highlighting important individual differences in stress‑related substance use.

Abstract

The impact of occupational stress on self-reported cigarette, coffee, and alcohol consumption was investigated in a longitudinal field study. Substance consumption and subjective stress indicators were measured repeatedly for 34 men performing a job with known systematic variation in stress. Habitual cigarette smoking and coffee drinking were positively associated with chronic tendencies to perceive high stress; no associations were found between chronic alcohol consumption and stress perceptions. Consumption of all three substances varied significantly'across days that differed in perceived stress level. On the average, there was more cigarette smoking and more coffee drinking, but less alcohol consumption, under high stress. These general effects of stress appeared to depend largely on the behavior of only a few of the participants, as the association between subjective stress indicators and substance consumption within individuals was not consistent across all of them. These findings suggest that there can be important individual differences in the tendency to increase or decrease habitual substance consumption in response to varying levels of stress. This possibility should be considered when constructing models that include behavioral responses to stress.