An analysis of the relationship between occupational characteristics, subjective appraisals of work and drug use and psychological well-being is proposed. The use of a variety of drugs on a year by year basis will be studied in relation to employment history and occupational mobility. Data concerning job characteristics and objective conditions of various occupations is to be linked to individual records from the Young Men and Drugs (YMD) ten year national panel study. This independent data from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and the Karasek system will provide information about the 322 occupations that are represented in this longitudinal data set of 1941 men born between the years of 1944 and 1954. The relationship between various characteristics of occupations and drug use will be assessed in conjunction with subjective appraisals of work and work environment. Using data from the YMD study will allow for analyses of the inter-relationship of work and drug use over a ten year period in the lifespan of a nationally representative sample of men 30 to 40 years old at the time of the follow-up interview. These analyses will consider these relationships while taking factors such as age of onset, friends' use and perceived availability into account.
Three specific aims are to be addressed. The first concerns the relationship between potentially stressful aspects of work and the use of drugs off as well as on the job. The second is to determine whether drug use conditions the relationship between various aspects of work and depression. The third is to determine the relationship between early drug use and occupational attainment as well as the characteristics of the occupation held in adulthood. Alternative causal models will be tested in the analysis in assessing the relationship between suspected predictor of drug use both on the job as well as level of drug use in general. These analyses should contribute to our understanding of the relationship between work and drug use and the role that drug use may play in exacerbating the impact of potentially stressful aspects of work on psychological well-being.
