Social patterning and perceptions of alcohol use amongst mothers with pre-school aged children. A multi-methods study.

Social factors have been linked to patterns of alcohol use amongst women. However, conflicting evidence on the ways in which socio-economic circumstances are linked to women’s alcohol use impedes our understanding. Interest in women’s alcohol use has moved up the policy agenda in recent years. Nevertheless, an examination of the literature revealed a dearth of contemporary UK specific research and few qualitative or mixed/multi-methods studies. Furthermore, the existing literature framed women’s alcohol use as a public health issue focused on a small minority of ‘risky’ drinkers and fails to attend to differences amongst groups of women according to their social circumstances, including whether or not they were mothers.
Using a multi-method approach, this thesis aims to enhance our understanding of everyday patterns and perceptions of alcohol use amongst mothers with pre-school aged children by including the majority of mothers who drink moderate amounts of alcohol infrequently, as well as the minority who engage in ‘risky’ alcohol use. The research is UK focused thus enabling us to contextualise the findings and increase our understanding of alcohol use amongst mothers with pre-school aged children in the UK.
Alcohol use varied depending on the socio-economic measure used. Social gradients were evident for drinking frequency, quantity, and ‘risky’ alcohol use amongst mothers with pre-school aged children. Qualitative data obtained from focus group discussions with advantaged and disadvantaged mothers helped explain to some extent the social patterning of alcohol use evident in the quantitative analysis of the MCS (Millennium Cohort Study) and, provided a unique portrayal of the ways in which alcohol was integrated into the daily lives of women with children.