This document summarizes preliminary findings from Drinkaware's 2014 survey on drinking attitudes and behaviors in the UK. It identifies 5 segments of UK adult drinkers based on risk levels, moderation techniques, drinking motivations, well-being, and demographics. The segments range from "comfortable social drinkers" who are mostly low-risk and drink for social reasons, to "risky social and coping drinkers" who are more likely to be increasing/high risk and drink to cope or conform. Overall drinking levels and risk behaviors vary across age groups.

1. Drinkaware Monitor 2014
Drinking attitudes and
behaviours in the UK
Dr John Larsen
Director of Evidence and Impact

2. Evidence and Impact
Drinkaware in 2014 strengthened our approach to and
investment in evidence and impact by setting up the
Research and Impact team
We work to ensure:
 Projects underpinned by an understanding of
behaviour change theory and best practice
 Robust, independent evaluation (from the outset of
projects)
 Academic partnerships
 Publication and transparency
Our approach to
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3. Research and Impact 2015
Priorities for the year
Drinkaware Monitor
 Analysis of 2014 data – research collaborations
 Prepare and undertake 2015 data collection
Segmentation work – effective targeting
 Understanding who to reach and how to support
Evidence and evaluation of campaigns
 Talk campaign – targeting underage drinking
 Drunken Nights Out – regional roll-out
 Preparing 2016 campaign
Developing and testing the effectiveness of interventions
 Club Host intervention: setting up an intervention study to robustly
evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention to reduce drunken mis-
behaviour in venues on a night out for young people
 ‘What’s In Your Glass?’ engagement intervention: developing
guidance for use of the tool to assist professionals effectively
delivering alcohol brief intervention support – and test its
effectiveness
3

4. the talk
 Survey tool – what is it for?
 Drinking among adults in the UK
 Different types of adult drinkers
 Next steps and the role for Drinkaware
Plan for
4

5. Why is this important?
Drinkaware aims to reduce harmful drinking in the UK
by engaging directly with the public and professionals,
offering:
 Information
 Guidance
 Resources and support
To engage effectively we need to know:
 How people are drinking
 Why people are drinking
 The harms people may experience related to drinking
 Whether and how people may want to moderate their
drinking
Finding out about drinking in the UK
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6. Making it fit for purpose
Since 2009, Drinkaware has undertaken an annual survey
to monitor drinking attitudes and behaviours in the UK.
In 2014 we redesigned the survey questionnaire:
 One questionnaire for all adults aged 18 and over
(before: 18-24, 25-44, 45-65)
 Increasing the age range for adults to 75
 Young people (aged 10-17) continue to have separate
tool
 Including validated research tools (robust measures
and allowing comparison between studies)
Survey tool design
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7. Contributing to recognised research
Adults
Problem drinking
AUDIT assessment tool
Drinking motivations
Drinking Motivations Questionnaire
Revised Short Form (DMQ-R SF)
Assessing harm from alcohol
GENACIS CORE ‘consequences’
questions
Mental wellbeing
Short Warwick and Edinburgh Mental
Well-Being Score (SWEMWBS)
Young people
Problem drinking or drug use
CRAFFT screening tool
Drinking motivations
Drinking Motivations Questionnaire
Revised Short Form (DMQ-R SF)
Mental wellbeing
Short Warwick and Edinburgh Mental
Well-Being Score (SWEMWBS)
Standardised tools
7

8. data
Data collection by Ipsos MORI in November and
completed on 10th December 2014
Online panel
UK representative sample:
2,294 interviews with 18-75s
813 interviews with parents
754 interviews with 10-17s
2014
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9. Preliminary findings: adults
A full analysis and report will
be published in May 2014

10. 10
in the UK drink?
How often do adults
8%
11%
26%
14%
11%
5%
6%
5%
3%
11%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
At least once a week: 60% At least once a year: 87%
Source: Ipsos MORI
6 or more times
a week
4 to 5
times a week
2 to 3
times a week
Once a
week
2-3 times a
month
Once a
month
Once every
couple of
months
Once or
twice a year
Less often Never
10

11. 11
Different drinking motivations
Why do people drink?
How often would you say you drink for the following reasons?
At least some of the time..
72%
69%
67%
67%
68%
53%
51%
45%
44%
43%
37%
28%
Because it makes social gatherings more fun
Because it helps you to enjoy a party
Because it's fun
Because you like the feeling
Because it improves parties and celebrations
To cheer you up when you are in a bad mood
To get a buzz
To fit in with a group you like
Because it helps you when you feel depressed…
To forget about your problems
So you won't feel left out
To be liked
Social Enhancement Coping Conformity
The most common reasons relate to
‘social’ or ‘enhancement’ values
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12. 18-24
year olds
Younger less frequent, older more..
55% to 48%*
 Just under half of all
18-24 year olds drink at
least once a week -
48%;
 a drop from 55% who
said they drank at least
once a week in 2013
and 59% in 2012.
* Not statistically significant
61% to 56%
 56% of those aged 25-
44 report drinking at
least once a week
 This is lower than in
2013 and 2012 when
61% of 25-44 year olds
said they drank at least
once a week
61% to 66%
 Two thirds of those
aged 45-65 drink at
least once a week
(66%);
 an increase from 61%
in 2013
25-44
year olds
45-65
year olds
Changing drinking trends
12

13. 13
Drinking at increased and higher risk levels
Do they drink too much?
73%
20%
7%
Lower risk and non drinkers Increasing risk drinkers Higher risk drinkers
Base: All Participants (2,294)
Based on reported drinking in a typical
week:
Lower risk: F <14, M <21
Increasing risk: F 15-35, M 21-50
Higher risk: F >35, M >50
13

14. 18-24
year olds
45-65
year olds
Typically exceeding the weekly guidelines
19%
one in five
Down from 26% in 2012
Was also 19% in 2013
32%
one in three
Up from 26% in 2013
More older people drink too much
Base: All adults surveyed 14

15. 15
Findings are broadly comparable..
The clinical AUDIT score for harmful drinking
76%
18%
4%
3%
Zone 1 - Low risk (score 0-7)
Zone 2 - Hazardous (Score 8-15)
Zone 3 - Harmful (Score 16-19)
Zone 4 - Dependency (Score 20 or hogher)
Base: All Participants (2,294) | Source Ipsos MORI
Most likely ‘low risk’ individuals are:
 Female
 Older
 Higher wellbeing
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16. Considering the AUDIT scores
 Male
 Younger
 Lower levels of mental wellbeing
 Drink for reasons relating to coping and conformity rather
than being motivated by social or enhancement factors
Who are most likely to drink in harmful ways?
16

17. Drinking to cope and to fit in
Harmful drinking is more commonly associated with
drinking for the purposes of coping and/or conforming.
Drinking for these two purposes is higher amongst:
 Individuals with higher AUDIT scores (which
indicates more dangerous drinking
behaviours)
 Those that typically drink at increased and
higher risk levels
 Those who report lower levels of mental
wellbeing
Harmful drinking and motivation
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18. Do people know they drink at harmful levels?
One in five
22% of all drinkers think it is likely that they may have
increased health problems in the future if they continue to
drink at their current level
One in five
20% of people who drink at harmful levels (AUDIT) think their
drinking is unlikely to cause health problems
More than one in three
37% of people with increasing or high risk levels of drinking
think they drink safely:
 They tend to be younger and male
Awareness
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19. What people say:
12% of drinkers would like guidance on moderation
18% of drinkers would like to cut back on their drinking
Most likely to want to cut down are:
 Heavy drinkers
 Young adults
Appetite for moderation support
19

20. 20
Tried moderation strategies and if they work
20
What people do to cut down
Most (perceived) successful and
most used strategies are:
 Avoiding drinks on a school/work
night (82% say this helps them
drink less alcohol)
 Setting a drinking limit (80%)
 Alternating alcoholic with soft
drinks (79%)
 Staying off alcohol for a fixed
amount of time (78%)
Base Y axis: all participants | Base X axis: all who use each moderation method | Source Ipsos MORI
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65 70 75 80 85
This helps me to drink less alcohol
Drink smaller
glasses/bottles of
wine/beer
Drink within the
daily guidelines
Avoid drinking on a
work/school night
Set myself a drinking limit
Alternate alcoholic drinks
with soft drinks/water
Stay off alcohol for a fixed
time period
Avoid always having
alcohol in the house
Drink lower strength
alcoholic drinks
Record how much I am
drinking
Avoid being in a round of drinks

21. Trends and openness to change
Trends in strategies’ popularity – among 45-65 year olds:
 Recording drinking up from 9% in 2013 to 16% in 2014*
 Using smaller glasses up from 31% in 2013 to 36% in 2014
Looking at moderation strategies people are not currently
using, they appear to be most open to trying those that do
not involve reducing the frequency of their drinking:
 Drinking lower strength drinks (29%)
 Drinking from smaller glasses (29%)
* Note different wording used: 2013: ‘Keep a drink diary to monitor how much I
am drinking’; 2014: ‘Record how much I am drinking’
Moderation
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22. Different types of drinkers
Preliminary findings:
work in progress

23. How we found them..
We analysed the data
 Factor analysis (based on 35
survey items)
 Cluster analysis (based on 7
variables)
 K-means clustering solution
(identified 5 key variables)
The groups were formed
based on
 Risk (i.e. Low/Increasing/High per
unit guidelines)
 Moderation techniques
 Coping/Conformity motivations
 Social/Enhancement motivations
 Wellbeing
 5 segments were formed
 Size of smallest cluster 275
(17%)
 Size of largest cluster 449 (23%)
 Risk has the highest overall
importance as a clustering
variable, followed by moderation
techniques
Base: all drinkers
We found five main groups of drinkers
23

24. 24
How they differ..
The five groups of drinkers
Cluster 1
17%
Cluster 2
23%
Cluster 3
16%
Cluster 4
21%
Cluster 5
23%
Low risk drinker, who mainly
drinks for fun/enjoyment, and has
a high-level of well-being
Low risk drinker, with high-
moderation activity, and
average levels of well-being
Increasing risk drinker, with poor well-being, who drinks
primarily for coping/conformity reasons
High risk drinker, with low levels of
moderation activity, but with good
self-reported level of well-being
Low risk drinker, with low levels of
moderation activity and relatively
low levels of well-being
24

25. 25
How they compare
The five groups of drinkers
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4 Cluster 5
RISK
Moderation techniques
Coping/ Conformity
Social/ Enhancement
Well-being
Low Risk/ +ve
motivation /
Good wellbeing
Low Risk/ High
Moderation
Intermediate
Risk/ -ive
Motivation/
Poor wellbeing
Low risk/ Low
moderation
High risk/ Low
moderation/
Good wellbeing
Cluster 1
20%
Cluster 2
25%
Cluster 3
12%
Cluster 4
23%
Cluster 5
20%
25

26. ‘Comfortable social drinkers’
 95% in this group are low-risk
drinkers; however, 15% have binged
in the last 7 days.
 This group are the second most likely
to use moderation strategies; 96%
currently moderate their drinking in
some way.
 This group scores highest on social
motivations; 99% drink for social
reasons. 95% drink for enhancement
reasons.
 59% drink 1-3 times a week; 8% drink
4 times a week or more often.
 41% drink outside the home 1-3 times
a month, while 22% do this every
couple of months.
Demographics
 50% female, 50% male.
 56% aged 35-64, and 25% (highest
proportion across all segments) aged
25-34.
 75% employed (highest proportion
across all segments).
 58% in ABC1 social grades (highest
proportion across all segments).
 This group has the best mental
wellbeing on average.
Cluster 1: who they are
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27. ‘Controlled home drinkers’
 The majority are infrequent
drinkers; 40% drink once a month or
less often, and 35% drink 2-4 times a
month. Only 25% drink more than
once a week.
 This group are at the lowest risk,
with 98% classed as low risk drinkers.
Only 5% have binged in the last 7
days, and just 3% participate in
drunken nights out.
 People in this group are the most
likely to use moderation strategies,
with 100% currently using at least one
method.
 They are the least likely to drink for
social reasons (59%), enhancement
(53%) or coping (44%), and are also
unlikely to drink for conformity
reasons (39% do this).
Demographics
 61% female (highest proportion
across all segments).
 18% 65 or older (second highest
proportion across all segments). 43%
aged 45-64.
 Lowest proportion of employed
people; 60%. Highest proportion of
retired people; 16%.
 45% from C2DE social grades (joint
second highest across all segments).
Highest proportion with annual
household incomes of £19,999 or
less.
Cluster 2: who they are
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28. ‘Risky social and coping drinkers’
 The majority are frequent drinkers.
77% drink once a week or more often.
39% drink 2-3 times a week and 21%
drink 4 or more times a week. 38%
drink outside the home at least once
a week and 68% do so at least once
a month.
 This group scores second highest
on risk, and includes the second
highest proportions of increasing risk
(36%) and high risk drinkers (five per
cent).
 83% in this group try to moderate
their drinking in some way.
 They are the most likely group to
drink for coping and conformity
reasons; 99% and 93% respectively
do so. They also score highly on
enhancement and social motivations
(98% and 97% respectively).
Demographics
 52% male, 48% female.
 Highest proportion of 18-24 year-
olds; 24%. The vast majority in this
segment (73%) are under 45.
 Highest proportion (53%) from C2DE
social grades. Highest proportion of
students (11%) and people not
currently in work (21%).
 Lowest mental wellbeing of all
segments.
Cluster 3: who they are
28

29. ‘Self-contained moderate drinkers’
 55% drink once a week or more often.
24% drink 1-3 times a month; 21%
drink less often. 15% drink outside
the home at least once a week; 47%
do so less often than once a month.
 Lowest on risk: 99% are low risk,
1% increasing risk. Unlikely to binge
drink; 8% have done so in the last 7
days.
 Least likely to moderate; 64%
currently do so.
 Least likely to drink for conformity
reasons (35%) and low on coping
(46%). Second lowest on social
(66%) and enhancement (59%).
Demographics
 50% male, 50% female.
 Highest proportion aged 65 and over;
20%. Even mix of all other age
groups.
 Predominantly ABC1 social grades
(57%).
Cluster 4: who they are
29

30. ‘Risky career drinkers’
 Very frequent drinkers: 59% drink 4
or more times a week; 33% drink 2-3
times a week.
 56% drink outside the home at least
once a week. 32% do so more than
once a week.
 31% high risk drinkers, 69%
increasing risk drinkers.
 Relatively unlikely to moderate
(second lowest across all segments);
78% do so in some way.
 Relatively likely to drink for
enhancement (91%), social (89%)
and coping (78%) reasons.
Demographics
 The most male segment; 64%.
 Primarily older people; 62% are over
45.
 55% from ABC1 social grades.
 High proportion with annual
household incomes of £35,000 or
higher (49%).
 Highest proportion educated to
degree level (40%).
 Joint highest proportion married or
living with partner; 78%.
Cluster 5: who they are
30

31. Next steps
Suggestions arising from the
preliminary findings

32. Need to be looking at subgroups
In order to effectively target and engage individuals we need
to better understand subgroups within the five clusters
We need to know better:
 Who they are
 How and where we can reach them
 What they might be interested in in order to reduce
harmful drinking
We are undertaking further analysis and developing research
collaborations to explore the data
Great variation within groups
32

33. in progress…
But our findings suggest some
positive opportunities
Work
33

34. What the findings tell us
Moderation strategies can help:
 Cluster 2 in particular are actively using moderation strategies –
and it works! (they are low risk drinkers)
 Can others learn from them? (in particular people in clusters 3
and 5)
We may be able to reach harmful drinkers:
 Among those who would welcome guidance on how to cut back
(and would like to cut back) a higher proportion – 9% – continue
to drink to get as drunk as possible
Increased popularity of moderation strategies among 45-65
year olds:
 Recording drinking up from 9% in 2013 to 16% in 2014
 Using smaller glasses up from 31% in 2013 to 36% in 2014
 Is it a growing trend?
Opportunities for Drinkaware
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35. Engagement opportunities
Remember:
 Almost 1 in 5 (18%) of drinkers would like to cut back on
their drinking
 More than 1 in 10 (12%) of drinkers would like guidance
on moderation
Thanks for listening
Dr John Larsen
jlarsen@drinkaware.co.uk
Work to do
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