Does Joining the Police Service Drive You to Drink? A Longitudinal Study of the Drinking Habits of Police Recruits

The current study tracks the drinking behaviour of new police recruits from their first day in the academy, after six months training, through to one year into training (N = 177). Drinking behaviour was assessed with the AUDIT, a well researched instrument for assessing risk of harm from drinking behaviour. The results showed that recruits risk of harm from alcohol consumption increased as their training progressed. These findings, based on a longitudinal methodology suggest that the police service and training process introduces recruits into a culture of alcohol consumption which may impact on their individual consumption levels