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Conference Proceedings
Abstract Details
2008 Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section Inaugural Conference
Conference Venue: University of Leeds
Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section
From: 09 Feb 2008
To: 09 Apr 2008
Peer-Reviewed
Continuity and change in heavy drinking: Narratives from a longitudinal study A. Rolfe
University of Birmingham
This paper draws on qualitative data from the Birmingham Untreated Heavy Drinkers project, a longitudinal mixed methods study of a sample of heavy drinkers in the English West Midlands. This 10-year study has aimed to chart the ‘natural history’ of untreated heavy drinking between 1997 and 2007, through interviews conducted at two-yearly intervals. Whilst 259 participants completed the study, this paper focusses particularly on the qualitative stories of 20 participants who were drinking at the highest levels at the start of the study, and aims to explore their accounts of what has happened in their lives over the past decade. For some, this has involved becoming abstinent, whilst others have continued to drink at levels likely to be harmful. Their biographies are explored primarily using qualitative interviews conducted in the final phase of the project, in which participants reflected on the last decade in their lives. Using a method of analysis influenced by narrative psychology, these biographies have been analysed according to story types, including success stories, tragedies, ‘settling down’ stories, and ‘coming through adversity’ stories. These narrative accounts are supplemented by ‘changes charts’, recorded at two year intervals, which are a way of visually representing significant life events and changes in drinking. The relationship between drinking, life events and identity is explored through these biographies. These accounts have important implications for understanding how and why untreated heavy drinkers may (or may not) make changes in their drinking. The paper will also briefly discuss some of the methodological issues and challenges relating to the analysis of qualitative longitudinal data.
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