Worsening of Health and a Cessation or Reduction in Alcohol Consumption to Special Occasion Drinking Across Three Decades of the Life Course

Background: Ex-drinkers suffer from worse health than drinkers; however, whether a worsening of health is associated with a change in drinking status from early adulthood has not been previously investigated. We assess whether a worsening of health is associated with a cessation in consumption or reduction to special occasion drinking from early adulthood to middle age. Methods: Multinomial logistic regression assessing whether a change in self-reported limiting long-standing illness (LLI) was associated with ceasing alcohol consumption, or a reduction to special occa-sion drinking compared with being a persistent drinker from age 23 in separate models at ages 33, 42, and 50. All models adjusted for sex, poor psychosocial health, education, marital status, and children in the household. Sample included participants fromGreat Britain followed longitudinally in the National Child Development Study from ages 23 to 33 (N = 5,529), 42 (N = 4,787), and 50 (N = 4,476). Results: Developing an LLI from the previous wave was associated with ceasing alcohol consump-tion at ages 33 (odds ratio [ORs] = 2.71, 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 1.16–4.93), 42 (OR = 2.44, 95%CI = 1.24–4.81), and 50 (OR = 3.33, 95%CI = 1.56–7.12) and a reduction to special occasion drinking at ages 42 (OR = 2.04, 95%CI = 1.40–2.99) and 50 (OR = 2.04, 95%CI = 1.18–3.53). Having a persistent LLI across 2 waves increased the odds of ceasing consumption at ages 42 (OR = 3.22, 95