Driven to the Bottle

• Date: 01 April 2015
• Published date: 01 April 2015
• DOI: 10.1177/0022042615575373
• Author: Ayala Cohen,Peter A. Bamberger
• Subject Matter: Articles

Journal of Drug Issues

2015, Vol. 45(2) 180 –201

© The Author(s) 2015

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DOI: 10.1177/0022042615575373

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Article

Driven to the Bottle: Work-

Related Risk Factors and Alcohol

Misuse Among Commercial Drivers

Peter A. Bamberger1 and Ayala Cohen2

Abstract

This study examines the role of workplace risk factors associated with stress, social availability,

and policy enforcement in explaining the severity of alcohol misuse among truck and bus

drivers. Using a sample of 227 commercial (i.e., bus and truck) drivers drawn randomly from

the employees of eight Israeli transportation enterprises, findings indicate that less than 6%

of drivers engage in hazardous drinking, with a far smaller proportion engaging in more risky

forms of misuse (i.e., harmful or dependent drinking). Key work-related factors associated with

the severity of drivers’ alcohol misuse include the perception of permissive coworker drinking

norms, role conflict, and supervisory abuse. Consistent with tension relief models of alcohol

misuse, felt strain mediated the association between driver stressors and the severity of alcohol

misuse. Perceptions of coworker drinking norms moderated the associations between stressors

and supervisory monitoring (on one hand) and alcohol misuse (on the other). Implications for

theory and practice are discussed.

Keywords

alcohol, transport, workplace risk factors

The precise role that alcohol misuse—a pattern of heavy and/or frequent alcohol consumption

associated with negative physical, social, and/or psychological consequences—may play in the

disproportionate involvement of large motor vehicles (e.g., trucks and busses) in motor vehicle

accidents (MVAs) remains equivocal (Frone, 2013; Girotto, Mesas, de Andrade, & Birolim,

2014; Shattell, Apostolopoulos, Collins, Sonmez, & Fehrenbacher, 2012; Substance Abuse and

Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], Office of Applied Studies, 1996; van der

Beek, 2014). Nevertheless, given that commercial driving involves heavy vehicles demanding

quick response times, and that even limited substance use during or prior to the start of a driver’s

shift may adversely affect driver alertness, risk aversion, eye-hand coordination, information

processing, and/or reaction time, there is general consensus that the prevention of alcohol misuse

on the part of those driving such vehicles (i.e., commercial drivers) serves the interests of both

public and driver health (van der Beek, 2014).

1Tel Aviv University, Israel and Smithers Institute, ILR School, Cornell University, New York, USA

2Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

Corresponding Author:

Peter A. Bamberger, Department of Organizational Behavior, Recanati Business School, Tel Aviv University, Ramat

Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.

Email: peterb@post.tau.ac.il

575373JODXXX10.1177/0022042615575373Journal of Drug IssuesBamberger and Cohen

research-article2015

Bamberger and Cohen 181

Evidence from other occupations and work settings suggests that identifying and then inter-

vening to alter workplace conditions associated with misuse may be an important means of pre-

vention (Frone, 2013). Unfortunately, however, we know little about the work-related risk factors

associated with alcohol misuse among commercial drivers, and there is no evidence that findings

regarding the workplace characteristics associated with heightened levels of misuse in other

occupations are generalizable to commercial driving. For policy makers, employers, and union

leaders to adopt more efficacious prevention strategies, a better understanding of those aspects of

the drivers’ work environment that might be associated with more risky patterns of alcohol con-

sumption is needed.

Accordingly, drawing from the literature on work-related risk factors for alcohol misuse

(Frone, 2013), we generate and test hypotheses regarding the possible association between the

driver’s work environment and the severity of alcohol misuse. In particular, we focus on three

main sets of work-related risk factors found to contribute to the precipitation of alcohol misuse

and/or its exacerbation among those employed in a wide range of occupations, namely, work-

place stressors, social availability (i.e., permissive workplace drinking norms), and workplace

social control and policy enforcement (Frone, 2013). We test these hypotheses using data col-

lected from commercial drivers in Israel, a country in which, like many others, there is no legal

mandate for either pre-employment or random alcohol testing for commercial drivers.

Work-Related Risk Factors and Alcohol Misuse Among

Commercial Drivers

Alcohol misuse may range in severity from hazardous misuse (i.e., consumption above the rec-

ommended weekly [14-21 servings per week] or per occasion [4-5 servings per occasion] limits,

placing the individual at risk of being involved in an accident or fight, or being unable to execute

required functions) to harmful misuse (consumption at such a level that it poses a direct risk to

emotional or physical health) or even dependent misuse (consumption at such a level that the

person feels physically unable to manage without it; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and

Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2005). In contrast to modal alcohol consumption (which focuses on the

average frequency and quantity of alcohol consumed in a set period such as a week or month),

alcohol misuse is defined in terms of both consumption pattern and consequences. Accordingly,

it captures the degree to which an individual’s alcohol consumption is associated with a level of

practical and potentially harmful impairment that may manifest itself in a variety of contexts,

including the workplace. As such, a number of studies suggest that alcohol misuse severity offers

greater predictive validity with respect to work-related employee behavior than does modal con-

sumption (Bacharach, Bamberger, & Brion, 2010; Frone, 2013).

There is considerable empirical evidence not only that employees bring alcohol misuse to the

workplace but also that particular conditions in and around the workplace can increase employ-

ees’ vulnerability to hazardous drinking, thus precipitating or exacerbating such behavior

(Bacharach, Bamberger, & Sonnenstuhl, 2002; Frone, 2013; Liu, Wang, Zhan, & Shi, 2009).

These conditions are typically referred to as work-related risk factors. Accordingly, as in other

occupations, there are likely to be certain aspects of commercial driving that may be conducive

to the precipitation or exacerbation of hazardous misuse. Three major sets of work-related risk

factors have been identified that are potentially associated with the onset or exacerbation of

drinking problems, namely, occupational stress, social availability or permissive drinking norms,

and workplace social control or policy enforcement; Bacharach et al., 2002; Frone, 1999, 2013;).

Occupational Stress

Drawing from a tension-reduction perspective (Conger, 1956), several studies suggest that

employee risky drinking may represent a strategy to cope with negative emotions resulting from