Introduction The typical drinking pattern over the life course begins with a debut in the teenage-years, followed by increased consumption until early adulthood, and thereafter gradually decreased consumption. However, more recent cohorts show a slower decline in alcohol habits with increasing age. Given the progressing ageing of the population there is a need to understand how alcohol habits change with age and in different subgroups. The aim is to study stability and variations in alcohol habits for demographic subgroups over time.

Methods The data derives from the longitudinal population-based study of mental health (the PART-study) in Stockholm County, Sweden. The data were gathered using postal questionnaires and register data, including three measure points 1998–2000 (n_t1=10 441), 2000–2003 (n_t2=8613 persons), and 2010 (tentative n_t3=5776) with ages ranging between 20 and 64 years at t₁. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to measure alcohol habits. Intra-class correlations over the three time points are used as measures of stability, calculated from the AUDIT-scores for different subgroups.

Results The results will be presented for subgroups, comparing the intra-class correlations. The findings and the contextualisation of the results will be discussed for the subgroups with stabile and high variation in alcohol habits.

Conclusion While a vast number of studies have described the stability of alcohol habits for whole cohorts, the literature on stability and variation in specific subgroups is sparse. The findings will add to the knowledge about alcohol habits in demographic subgroups.