Proportions of over the limit drinkers are higher in the younger age groups. These figures represent a slight increase since 1991. A later survey of mental health problems in the general population found that 7.5 per cent of men and 2.1 per cent of women aged 16 - 64 reported symptoms of alcohol dependence, in terms of age the highest prevalence being in young adults aged up to 25. Apart from age and gender, other groups with a raised prevalence of alcohol dependence include people, especially men, living alone who are more than twice as likely to report alcohol dependence than couples living together. In women, alcohol dependence is highest among adults living with one parent.
Drug dependence is also highest among adults, both men and women, living with one parent.
Lone parents with children also have relatively high rates of alcohol dependence. Social Class V. In relation to education however, in women alcohol and drug dependence are most prevalent among students. In men, the highest prevalence of drug dependence is also found in students, but alcohol dependence is highest in those who finish full-time education at age 16. Male students have the second highest prevalence of alcohol dependence. The prevalence of both alcohol and drug dependence is around twice as high in urban as in rural populations.