The Benefit of Moderate Alcohol Use on Mood and Functional Ability in Later Life: Due to Beers or Frequent Cheers?

Background and Objectives: Evidence relates moderate alcohol consumption in later life to fewer depressive symptoms and greater functional ability. This study evaluated social interaction as a mediator of these outcomes.

Research Design and Methods: Data included older adults in the Health and Retirement Study. In Study 1, cross-sectional mediation analyses evaluated social interaction as a mechanism through which moderate alcohol use was related to decreased depressive symptomatology (Model 1; N = 2,294) and less functional limitation (Model 2; N = 2,357). In Study 2, longitudinal cross-lagged path analyses further evaluated the impact of moderate alcohol use and social interaction on future depressive symptoms and functional limitation.

Results: In Study 1, results from Model 1 indicated that moderate alcohol use was associated with decreased depressive symptomatology indirectly via greater social interaction. In Model 2, moderate alcohol use was associated with less functional limitation indirectly via greater social interaction. In Study 2, significant indirect effects corroborated findings from Study 1. In Model 3, moderate alcohol use in 2012 inversely predicted depressive symptomatology in 2014 via greater levels of social interaction in 2012. In Model 4, moderate alcohol use in 2012 predicted less functional limitation in 2014 via greater social interaction in 2012.

Discussion and Implications: Social interaction is essential to the seemingly beneficial effect of moderate alcohol use on depressive symptomatology and functional ability. Clinically, this suggests caution in attributing health benefits to consumption of alcohol itself and identifies social interaction as a treatment target for improved health outcomes in later life.