Adolescent predictors and environmental correlates of young adult alcohol use problems

Abstract

Aims To examine: rates of young adult alcohol and drug use and alcohol problems; adolescent predictors of young adult alcohol problems; and correlations with young adult social, work, and recreational environments. Design Adolescents were longitudinally followed into young adulthood. Predictors were measured in grade 9 (av., age 15), and environmental correlates and outcomes in young adulthood (av., age 21). Setting Students recruited in Victoria, Australia in 2002, were resurveyed in 2010/11. Participants Analytic N = 2,309, 80% retention. Measurements Adolescent self-report predictors included past-month alcohol use. Young adults completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) together with reports of environmental influences. Findings Comparisons to United States of America (U.S.) national school graduate samples revealed higher rates of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use (other than cannabis) in Victoria. For example rates of past month use at age 21–22 were: alcohol 69.3% U.S. vs 84.9% (95% Confidence Interval [CI]) 81.3 – 88.6% Victoria; illicit drugs (other than cannabis) 8.8% vs 12.7%, CI 9.7 – 15.7%. AUDIT alcohol problems (scored 8+) were identified for 41.2%, CI 38.8 – 43.6% of young adults in Victoria. The likelihood of young adult alcohol problems was higher for frequent adolescent alcohol users, and those exposed to environments characterised by high alcohol use and problems in young adulthood. Conclusions High rates of alcohol problems are evident in over two in five Australian young adults and these problems appear to be influenced both by earlier patterns of adolescent alcohol use and by young adult social work, and recreational environments.

Correlates of problematic unrecorded alcohol consumption in Sikkim, Northeast India – Results from a cross-sectional pilot survey

“…Although higher alcohol problems are expected among people with more years of alcohol consumption, a more recent public health problem emerging is younger people with alcohol problems. High rates of alcohol problems among young people have been reported from Australia and the uSA (Toumbourou et al, 2014). This study also identifies the presence of friends using alcohol as a predictor of alcohol problems.…”

Contextual predictors of AUDIT scores among adult men living in India

“…Our data were analyzed using generalized Poisson regression models to estimate the association between one's overall AUDIT score and dependent individual and contextual variables. Poisson regression is often utilized for modeling count data and similar methods have been utilized to assess AUDIT data in past research (Reisdorfer, Buchele, Pires, & Boing, 2012;Toumbourou et al, 2014). Although a sample size of only 98 participants is potentially problematic due to the possibility of under-or over-dispersion, generalized models are an appropriate method with this type of count data (Harris, Yang, & Hardin, 2012).…”

Consumo de alcohol y actividad física en adolescentes de entorno rural

“…Este estudio pretende complementar a numerosos trabajos de investigación realizados sobre el consumo de alcohol y la actividad física, arrojando datos e información con la finalidad de describir una muestra de adolescentes de entorno rural sobre estos aspectos y sus posibles relaciones (Chacón, Castro, Caracuel, Padial, Collado y Zurita, 2016;Donath et al, 2011;Obradors-Rial, Ariza y Muntaner, 2014;Toumbourou, Evans-Whipp, Smith, Hemphill, Herrenkohl y Catalano, 2014).…”

“…Por ello, existe una gran preocupación por atender a la influencia de los estilos de vida en el marco de la promoción de la salud como vitales para alcanzar unas condiciones de vida apropiadas y factibles (Bonilla, Romero y Cabrera, 2015). Fundamentando estas premisas, diversos estudios muestran la relación inversa existente entre el consumo de sustancias nocivas como el alcohol o el tabaco y hábitos físico saludables como la práctica de físico-deportiva (Cerkez et al, 2015;Obradors-Rial et al, 2014;Toumbourou et al, 2014). De hecho, Castro et al (2015) revelan como la práctica de actividad física genera conductas más autodeterminadas hacia el deporte que promueven un consumo menos elevado de alcohol.…”