Modeling the evolution of drinking behavior: A Statistical Physics perspective

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple compartmental model for drinking behavior evolution, revealing phase transitions and aligning well with Brazilian alcohol consumption data, offering insights into social dynamics of drinking.

Contribution

The study introduces a minimal compartmental model capturing phase transitions in drinking behavior, connecting statistical physics concepts with social alcohol consumption dynamics.

Findings

Identifies two nonequilibrium phase transitions to absorbing states.

Model's predictions align well with Brazilian alcohol consumption data.

Reveals coexistence of different drinking subpopulations in certain conditions.

Abstract

In this work we study a simple compartmental model for drinking behavior evolution. The population is divided in 3 compartments regarding their alcohol consumption, namely Susceptible individuals $S$ (nonconsumers), Moderate drinkers $M$ and Risk drinkers $R$. The transitions among those states are ruled by probabilities. Despite the simplicity of the model, we observed the occurrence of two distinct nonequilibrium phase transitions to absorbing states. One of these states is composed only by Susceptible individuals $S$, with no drinkers ($M=R=0$). On the other hand, the other absorbing state is composed only by Risk drinkers $R$ ($S=M=0$). Between these two steady states, we have the coexistence of the three subpopulations $S$, $M$ and $R$. Comparison with abusive alcohol consumption data for Brazil shows a good agreement between the model's results and the database.