Age Cohort Variation in Drinking Among People With Physical Impairments: Politically Oriented Coping in the Wake of the Great Recession

• Author: Kathleen M. Rospenda,Judith A. Richman,Robyn Lewis Brown
• Date: 01 July 2017
• Published date: 01 July 2017
• DOI: 10.1177/0022042617701254
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042617701254

Journal of Drug Issues

2017, Vol. 47(3) 467 –478

© The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/0022042617701254

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Article

Age Cohort Variation in Drinking

Among People With Physical

Impairments: Politically Oriented

Coping in the Wake of the Great

Recession

Judith A. Richman1, Robyn Lewis Brown2,

and Kathleen M. Rospenda1

Abstract

People with physical impairments are at greater risk of economic hardship and more alcohol-

related problems compared with the general population. We address age cohort differences

in modes of coping with economic adversity and the extent to which modes of coping explain

the relationships between age cohort membership and drinking outcomes among people with

physical impairments. One hundred seventy six respondents with physical impairments derived

from a national sample completed a mail survey. Using structural equation model (SEM), we

demonstrate that members of the Generation X age cohort manifest higher levels of alcohol

consumption and problem-related drinking compared with baby boomers due to their lesser

tendency to engage in politically oriented coping to deal with economic adversity. Within

the context of social movements contesting the disadvantaged social status of people with

disabilities, the Generation X age cohort manifests both more limited political engagement and

higher levels of alcohol consumption and problem-related drinking among people with physical

impairments.

Keywords

alcohol, coping, economic adversity

Introduction

Contemporary American society is currently challenged by the aging of the population and

a concomitant increase in the prevalence of Americans with physical impairments (Albrecht

& Verbrugge, 2000; Turner, Lloyd, & Taylor, 2006). A physical impairment—broadly

defined as a condition that “substantially limits one or more major life activities” (Americans

With Disabilities Act of 1990, 1991)—is often associated with high levels of stress, great

1University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

2University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA

Corresponding Author:

Judith A. Richman, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1601 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL

60612, USA.

Email: jrichman@psych.uic.edu

701254JODXXX10.1177/0022042617701254Journal of Drug IssuesRichman et al.

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