This research asks whether the process of corporate restructuring in the United States has adverse drinking consequences for employees. It asks, in particular, whether """"""""downsizing"""""""" and """"""""reengineering"""""""", increasingly common among American corporations as they face an intensely competitive world economy, contribute to problematic drinking behavior by heightening levels of stress and dissatisfaction among employees, and undermining their feelings of worth and confidence. It asks, moreover, whether restructuring and drinking practices among workers adversely affects work performance. It also asks whether participation in self-directed work teams serves as a counterbalance to the potentially destructive effects of downsizing and job reengineering. A number of data collection methods are used: (l) interviews of employees selected from all levels of the corporation being used in this study; (2) focus groups using members from selected work teams; and (3) a two-stage, longitudinal panel questionnaire survey of employees. A longitudinal panel design is used so that causal statements can be advanced with greater confidence about the impact of restructuring on drinking behavior. The research builds upon a line of research by the investigators on the link between jobs, workplace organization, and problem drinking, and attempts to fill important empirical lacunae in their research as well as that of the research literature in general. The research will be conducted in a large, west coast """"""""cutting edge"""""""" industrial corporation characterized by wide variations in the demographic attributes and job skills (ranging from semi-skilled assembly work to engineering) of its employees, which has experienced the pressures of international competition, and which has, in response, undertaken a major program of restructuring. The proposed research has both theoretical and practical import. The research will enhance our theoretical understanding of the individual and joint effects of jobs, workplace organization, job attitudes, and psychological outlooks on drinking behavior. The proposed research also will enhance our intervention capabilities by identifying those aspects of the workplace and the job that either increase or decrease the probabilities of problematic drinking. Intervention strategies that are based on a sound understanding of the effects of the workplace and job on problem drinking should have important benefits for both individual employees and enterprise productivity.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AA010690-04
Application #
2894101
Study Section
Clinical and Treatment Subcommittee (ALCP)
Project Start
1996-05-01
Project End
2001-08-31
Budget Start
1999-05-01
Budget End
2001-08-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
1999
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Colorado at Boulder
Department
Psychology
Type
Other Domestic Higher Education
DUNS #
City
Boulder
State
CO
Country
United States
Zip Code
80309
Moore, Sarah; Sikora, Patricia; Grunberg, Leon et al. (2007) Work stress and alcohol use: Examining the tension-reduction model as a function of worker's parent's alcohol use. Addict Behav 32:3114-21
Moore, Sarah; Grunberg, Leon; Greenberg, Edward (2004) Repeated downsizing contact: the effects of similar and dissimilar layoff experiences on work and well-being outcomes. J Occup Health Psychol 9:247-57
Moore, Sarah; Grunberg, Leon; Greenberg, Edward (2003) A longitudinal exploration of alcohol use and problems comparing managerial and nonmanagerial men and women. Addict Behav 28:687-703
Grunberg, L; Moore, S Y; Greenberg, E (2001) Differences in psychological and physical health among layoff survivors: the effect of layoff contact. J Occup Health Psychol 6:15-25
Moore, S; Grunberg, L; Greenberg, E (2000) The relationships between alcohol problems and well-being, work attitudes, and performance: are they monotonic? J Subst Abuse 11:183-204
Grunberg, L; Moore, S; Anderson-Connolly, R et al. (1999) Work stress and self-reported alcohol use: the moderating role of escapist reasons for drinking. J Occup Health Psychol 4:29-36