Churchill SA, et al. - This study strived to gauge the link between depression and alcohol consumption. Though drinking appeared to be generally accepted, it served as a matter of concern, with regard to its impact on physical and mental health, in England. Public policy substantially targeted the physical aspects of excessive alcohol consumption. Yet, it is possible that these policies would exert a direct positive spillover in the mental health costs, through the impact of lower alcohol consumption on quality of life and wellbeing.

Methods

• This research comprised of 5828 respondents from the Health Survey for England (HSE).
• It re-analyzed the association between alcohol and depression and targeted the endogenous nature of this relationship.
• Data on self-assessed depression, and control for endogeneity were utilized through the Lewbel two-staged least square (2SLS) estimation technique.

Results

• Drinking alcohol promoted depression.
• This finding appeared to be consistent across several measures of drinking behaviour, with the inclusion of the amount of alcohol consumed, consumption intensity, alcohol dependence and risk of dependence.