ABSTRACT

Co-occurring alcohol use and anxiety disorders is common in older adults and contributes to poor healthoutcomes, higher health care utilization, heightened mortality, and social dysfunction in later life. Althoughthere are several proposed theoretical explanations for the association between drinking and mental healthdisorders (e.g., the precipitation model, the self-medication model, and the mutual maintenance model), fewstudies have tested the longitudinal time-dependent relationship between alcohol use and anxiety disordersin later life, in part, because longitudinal studies are limited. Better understanding of the temporal sequenceof the relationship between alcohol use and anxiety disorders will have implications for improvingprevention and treatment programs for at-risk drinking and anxiety in the older population.