Exploring othering and perceived harmful drinking contexts among risky drinkers: An arts‐based focus group study

Oldham, Melissa, Yang, Jiexi, Okpako, Tosan, Kale, Dimitra, Morris, James, Garnett, Claire, Finn, Sara Wallhed, Naughton, Felix and Brown, Jamie (2025) Exploring othering and perceived harmful drinking contexts among risky drinkers: An arts‐based focus group study. British Journal of Health Psychology, 30 (3). ISSN 1359-107X

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Abstract

Objectives: To explore whether people ‘other’ when making judgements about ‘harmful’ drinking and the drinking contexts (e.g., pub with friends) and features of drinking contexts (e.g., location, company) perceived as being indicative of harmful drinking. Design: Focus group design with arts-based methods. Methods: Risky drinkers (AUDIT-C ≥ 5; n = 20) in four focus groups, drew and discussed contexts and features of contexts they thought indicated harmful drinking. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted alongside content analysis of drawings informed by themes and prior research. Findings: There are three deductive themes. The first theme semblance of control referred to people's tendency to differentiate their own drinking practices as controlled and safe in relation to the out-of-control behaviours of a harmful drinker. This was seen in the content analysis of drawings where participants tended to draw drinking contexts which were different to those they drank in. The drinking practices perceived as being indicative of harmful drinking were further explored in the second theme harmful drinking contexts. This theme was made up of four subthemes: mental harms, physical harms, social harms and societal harms which were discussed as being differentially associated with different types of drinking contexts. The final theme, features which make drinking ‘harmful’, focused on the features of drinking contexts which participants felt were more indicative of harm. There were seven subthemes: alone, home, amount, drink type, having responsibilities, reason for drinking and timing/pattern. Conclusions: Drinking contexts fed into the construction of othering narratives among risky drinkers. This has implications for alcohol harm reduction campaigns.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This work was funded by the Society for the Study of Addiction and Cancer Research UK. DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in OSF at https://osf.io/3e4by/.
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Norwich Institute for Healthy Aging Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Behavioural and Implementation Science Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Promotion Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Mental Health and Social Care (fka Lifespan Health) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Public Health
Related URLs:	https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.c...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	24 Jul 2025 11:30
Last Modified:	30 Jul 2025 10:33
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/99990
DOI:	10.1111/bjhp.70008

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