To your health!: Re-examining the health benefits of moderate alcohol use

•Moderate drinking is associated with positive health outcomes among older adults.•We examine the effects of moderate drinking on health status among young adults.•Findings are similar to older adults, but gender differences are present.•For women, moderate drinkers have better health than abstainers and other drinkers.•For men, the effects are less pronounced and mixed across drinking categories.

Although excessive alcohol use and alcohol misuse contribute to a broad range of health problems, recent research indicates that moderate alcohol consumption may in fact be beneficial. The present study builds on previous research to investigate the associations between alcohol use and self-rated health status among young adults. Using data collected in 2008 from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we use ordered probit models to determine whether the protective effects of moderate alcohol use are present after controlling for demographic, lifestyle, family background, and health-related characteristics. Our findings generally support earlier research with older samples, but some key gender differences are present. For women (n = 8275), moderate drinkers have better self-rated health status relative to former drinkers, infrequent drinkers, and light drinkers. Among men (n = 7207), the effects are mixed and less often significant. Differences in results between men and women point to the need for further gender-specific research and studies with other measures of health.