0 someone who does not do something, especially something they would like to do:
Abstainers do not necessarily enjoy better health than moderate drinkers.
Jimmy Carter and both Presidents George Bush were reportedly abstainers, but Bill Clinton liked cigars from time to time.
The government may lose the vote if there are too many abstainers.
It was also observed that maternal hostility in early childhood significantly differentiated abstainers from the other groups of adolescents.
Adolescents who experimented with substances also experienced a lower level of internalizing problem behavior at age 16 compared with abstainers.
Negative expectancies about the effects of alcohol distinguished abstainers from light/typical users, such that abstainers maintained stronger negative expectancies.
Stress and emotional distress did not distinguish abstainers from moderate or light/typical users, and did not distinguish problem users from moderately impaired users.
A different pathway to adolescent substance use is suggested by studies that have compared abstainers and light/experimental or moderate users.
