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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
1. This report presents findings from a module of questions on the 2007 Scottish Social Attitudes survey on public attitudes towards drinking and the role of alcohol in Scottish culture. The Scottish Social Attitudes survey is an independent survey run by the Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen). It aims to provide high quality survey data on a wide range of social and political issues in order to inform public policy and facilitate the study of public opinion. The 2007 survey involved 1,508 interviews with a random probability sample of the Scottish population.
2. The module was designed to provide robust baseline data on attitudes to alcohol in 2007, in advance of the publication of the Scottish Government's long-term strategic approach to tackling alcohol problems. It explored issues including:
- Perceptions of the role of alcohol in Scottish culture.
- Attitudes towards different kinds of alcohol misuse - in particular, 'chronic', 'binge' and 'hazardous' drinking, and
- Awareness and knowledge of government advice on sensible drinking and the actual alcohol content of different drinks.
Perceptions of the role of alcohol in Scottish culture
3. Alcohol is widely viewed as something that is both a big part of Scottish culture and something that causes problems for Scotland. Two-thirds (67%) agree that 'drinking is a major part of the Scottish way of life', while at the same time alcohol is the drug most commonly chosen as causing problems for Scotland as a whole. Further, almost half (48%) think that the amount of alcohol people in Scotland drink is something everyone should be ashamed of. However, there is no consensus on whether Scotland's 'drinking culture' marks it out from its UK neighbours - 26% agree that 'adults in other parts of the UK tend to drink alcohol more sensibly than adults in Scotland', but more (47%) disagree.
4. Although alcohol is seen as creating problems for wider Scottish society, this does not necessarily translate into a sense of shared social responsibility as far as individuals with drink problems are concerned - 47% believe that most people with serious drink problems have only themselves to blame, while just 31% disagree. However, over half (53%) agree that they would feel partly responsible if a friend they were with got drunk and ended up in trouble.
5. The role of alcohol as a 'social lubricant' is highlighted by the finding that although 8 in 10 (81%) believe it is possible to enjoy a night out in the pub without drinking, 4 in 10 (39%) still think that it is 'easier to enjoy a social event if you've had a drink'. This view is more common among men than women (49% compared with 31%). Moreover, although most people (74%) disagree that they would find it strange if someone who normally drank refused a drink on a particular occasion, concerns about the social acceptability of choosing not to drink are still apparent in the finding that 31% of drinkers agree that a lot of people they know would think it odd if they did not drink at all.
6. The public is divided over whether increasing the price of alcohol to discourage excessive drinking is a good idea - a third (33%) agree with this proposal, while 46% disagree.
Attitudes towards different kinds of alcohol misuse
7. The survey used scenarios to explore respondents' attitudes towards three hypothetical drinkers, whose behaviours reflect patterns associated with 'chronic', 'binge' and 'hazardous' drinking respectively. These terms are used as follows in this report:
- 'Chronic' drinking describes drinking at levels that are already having a negative impact on physical and psychological health. Historically, a 'chronic drinker' would probably have been described as an 'alcoholic'
- 'Binge' drinking refers to heavy bouts of drinking to get drunk, punctuated by periods without drinking.
- 'Hazardous' drinking describes someone who regularly drinks at over both recommended daily and weekly unit limits, but below levels where the impacts on health, social and family life are more likely to be immediately obvious (as with 'chronic' drinking). A 2007 report by the North West Public Health Observatory defines 'hazardous drinking' as drinking 15-35 units per week for women and 22-50 units for men.
8. There is clear variation in how problematic different patterns of drinking are seen to be. For example, while 99% view the 'chronic' drinker as having a 'very' or 'fairly' serious problem, this falls to 80% for the 'binge' drinker and 71% for the 'hazardous' drinker. Similar patterns are apparent with respect to beliefs about how likely different drinking patterns are to seriously damage health if continued in the long-term.
9. Although 'chronic' drinking is viewed most seriously in terms of likely health impacts, slightly fewer people agree that 'chronic' drinkers should be embarrassed about their behaviour than say the same of 'binge' drinkers (56%, compared with 60%). This may reflect a tendency among some people to view 'chronic' drinking within a 'medical model' of alcohol misuse, whereby it is an illness over which the drinker may have limited control. Even fewer people think the 'hazardous' drinker should feel embarrassed about their behaviour - just 38%.
10. The notion that 'chronic' drinking is more likely to be viewed in a 'medical model' is reinforced by the fact that 49% of people think that a 'chronic' drinker who wants help should seek this from a doctor in the first instance, compared with 36% and 29% for the 'hazardous' and 'binge' drinker respectively. Family and friends are viewed as the most appropriate source of support for 'binge' drinkers (32%), and are also a popular choice for 'hazardous' drinkers (29%).
11. Respondents were also asked about their views on 'getting drunk' at the weekends and among people their age in general. While relatively few people agree that 'getting drunk is a perfectly acceptable thing to do at weekends' (15%) or that 'there's nothing wrong with people my age getting drunk regularly' (10%), a significant minority say they 'neither agree nor disagree' with these statements. This may suggest that for some people attitudes towards the acceptability of getting drunk are not fixed and may vary depending on context. Alternatively, it may indicate that some people are unwilling to admit that they do not see a particular problem with getting drunk.
12. Attitudes towards different kinds of alcohol misuse vary particularly by age. Young people hold more 'permissive' attitudes towards getting drunk and 'binge' drinking - for example, only 36% of 18-29 year-olds compared with 51% of 30-39 year-olds believe the 'binge' drinker should be embarrassed about their behaviour. However, the views of 30-39 year-olds are more similar to those of the youngest age group with respect to 'hazardous' drinking. For example, 64% of 30-39 year-olds compared with 59% of those aged 18-29 and 74% of those aged 40-64 think the 'hazardous' drinker has a 'very' or 'fairly' serious problem.
13. There is some evidence that women are slightly more concerned than men about the health impacts of 'hazardous' drinking - 89% of women compared with 80% of men think this kind of drinking is 'very' or 'fairly likely' to damage health if continued long-term.
14. Attitudes towards 'binge' drinking also appear to vary depending on the gender of the drinker, with some indication that women who drink in this way attract more concern than their male counterparts. For example, 34% say a hypothetical female 'binge' drinker has a 'very serious' problem, compared with 26% who say the same of a hypothetical male 'binge' drinker.
Knowledge and awareness of alcohol content and sensible drinking guidelines
15. Awareness of the term 'unit' is very high - 95% have heard of measuring alcohol in this way. Moreover, only 7% say they have not heard of government advice not to drink more than a certain number of units a day. However, this awareness does not necessarily translate into more detailed knowledge of either the alcohol content of specific drinks or the actual daily limits suggested in government guidance.
16. Although around half are able to correctly identify the number of units in a pint of normal strength beer or a single pub measure of spirits, around a third are unable to do so either because they simply do not know or because they have never heard of measuring alcohol in units. Knowledge of the unit content of wine appears even worse - only 15% are able to correctly identify that there are 8 to 10 units in a bottle of normal strength wine 1, with 4 in 10 underestimating it as 7 units or fewer and a further 4 in 10 unable to give an answer.
17. Knowledge of the recommended daily limits for men and women is also patchy - only 41% correctly identify the recommended limit for women as 2 or 3 units, falling to 34% who correctly identify that men are advised to drink no more than 3 or 4 units.
18. Those in both the youngest and the oldest age categories are the least likely to correctly identify either the number of units in different drinks or the recommended daily limits. Knowledge of unit content and recommended limits is better among high income groups and those in managerial and professional occupations compared to those on low incomes and in routine and semi-routine jobs. For example, 76% of those with incomes of £38,000 or more correctly identify the number of units in a pint of beer as 2 or 3, compared with only 34% of those on incomes under £10,000.
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