Table 2 Overall analysis themes and sub-themes

Everyday pressures and demands- stress

• Not feeling cared for

• Lack of ‘time for me’

• Unmet expectations of care

• Negotiating informal/unpaid care practices and paid work

Social meanings of alcohol use

• Time out - ‘Time for me’/Adult time

• Time out - Not thinking/temporarily forget

• Social interaction/Social support

• Empowering

Regulation and control of alcohol use

• Performing roles and responsibilities

• Not drinking alone/at home

• Embodied ‘cut off limit’

• Not wanting to waste a day

• Alcoholic personality