Trial Lecture – time and place
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Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Senior Scientist Friedrich Martin Würst, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
- Second opponent: Associate Professor Ole Jakob Møllerløkken, University of Bergen
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Researcher Anne Bukten, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Einar Heiervang, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor Reidar Tyssen, University of Oslo
Summary
Hazardous drinking over time increases the risk of alcohol dependence and, in addition reduced life satisfaction among doctors may be caused by high levels of work pressures. We lack representative longitudinal studies that can identify both individual and work-related risk factors associated with hazardous drinking and life satisfaction among established doctors, i.e. beyond the first postgraduate years.
This thesis aims to identify risk factors associated with hazardous drinking and life satisfaction among Norwegian doctors who were followed from the end of medical school to 15 years post-graduation. The data used in the present thesis have been derived from The Longitudinal study of Norwegian medical students and doctors (NORDOC) and are based on two nationwide cohorts of doctors (The Medical Student Cohort and The Young Doctor Cohort). Work-related factors were measured repeatedly and data analysed by repeated measures models.
Individual factors such as drinking to cope with tension and low levels of the personality trait of conscientiousness at medical school were independent predictors of hazardous drinking after doctors had left medical school, and males were at higher risk of hazardous drinking. Doctors’ work-related stress was not associated with hazardous drinking, but co-occurring mental distress and life stress were. With regard to work-related factors and life satisfaction, work-home stress and perceived job demands were both negatively associated with life satisfaction, whereas colleague support was positively associated with life satisfaction after controlling for other individual factors. Hazardous drinking and drinking to cope with tension were both independent factors associated with low levels of life satisfaction. In addition, high levels of the personality trait of neuroticism and low colleague support predicted a decrease in life satisfaction over time.
Additional information
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