Home Drinking in the UK: Trends and Causes

Foster, John; Ferguson, Colin S.

doi:10.1093/alcalc/ags020

Cited by 43 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Sheffield modelling data supports this indicating that introducing a minimum price will have less effect on hazardous drinkers aged 18-24 compared with other age groups [10]. However, these data may not account for the increasing trends in drinking alcohol purchased from the off-trade by young binge drinkers prior to visiting on-trade establishments, a practice known as ‘pre-loading’ or ‘pre-partying’ [66], so minimum pricing may also affect these types of drinkers.…”

Section: Endnotementioning

confidence: 99%

A minimum price per unit of alcohol: A focus group study to investigate public opinion concerning UK government proposals to introduce new price controls to curb alcohol consumption

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundUK drinkers regularly consume alcohol in excess of guideline limits. One reason for this may be the high availability of low-cost alcoholic beverages. The introduction of a minimum price per unit of alcohol policy has been proposed as a means to reduce UK alcohol consumption. However, there is little in-depth research investigating public attitudes and beliefs regarding a minimum pricing policy. The aim of the present research was to investigate people’s attitudes and beliefs toward the introduction of a minimum price per unit of alcohol policy and their views on how the policy could be made acceptable to the general public.MethodsTwenty-eight focus groups were conducted to gain in-depth data on attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs regarding the introduction of a minimum price per unit of alcohol policy. Participants (total N = 218) were asked to give their opinions about the policy, its possible outcomes, and how its introduction might be made more acceptable. Transcribed focus-group discussions were analysed for emergent themes using inductive thematic content analysis.ResultsAnalysis indicated that participants’ objections to a minimum price had three main themes: (1) scepticism of minimum pricing as an effective means to reduce harmful alcohol consumption; (2) a dislike of the policy for a number of reasons (e.g., it was perceived to ‘punish’ the moderate drinker); and (3) concern that the policy might create or exacerbate existing social problems. There was a general perception that the policy was aimed at ‘problem’ and underage drinkers. Participants expressed some qualified support for the policy but stated that it would only work as part of a wider campaign including other educational elements.ConclusionsThere was little evidence to suggest that people would support the introduction of a minimum price per unit of alcohol policy. Scepticism about the effectiveness of the policy is likely to represent the most significant barrier to public support. Findings also suggest that clearer educational messages are needed to dispel misconceptions regarding the effectiveness of the policy and the introduction of the policy as part of a package of government initiatives to address excess alcohol consumption might be the best way to advance support for the policy.

show abstract

Section: Endnotementioning

confidence: 99%

A minimum price per unit of alcohol: A focus group study to investigate public opinion concerning UK government proposals to introduce new price controls to curb alcohol consumption

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…O therwise known as ‘pre‐loading’, ‘pre‐partying’, ‘pre‐gaming’ and ‘home drinking’, pre‐drinking entails consuming alcoholic beverages before going out to venues where alcohol is sold, such as clubs, bars and pubs. Pre‐drinking is increasingly recognised as part of young adults' contemporary drinking cultures in Europe 1–5 and North America 6,7 . For example, 60% of Swiss students in a recent study participated in pre‐drinking in the five weeks prior to completing a survey 1 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Fourteen Dollars for One Beer!” Pre‐drinking is associated with high‐risk drinking among Victorian young adults

MacLean¹,

Callinan²

2013

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: Pre-drinking entails consuming alcohol before attending licensed venues.We examined the relationship between pre-drinking, intention to get drunk and high-risk drinking among Victorians aged 18-24 years, to consider whether reducing pre-drinking might ameliorate alcoholrelated harm. Results: VYADS data show that predrinking was a significant predictor of high-risk drinking, even after intention to get drunk was controlled for. The most common explanation provided by interviewees for pre-drinking was because it is cheaper to purchase alcohol at bottle shops than at bars and clubs. This was particularly emphasised by those who drank at a high-risk level. Methods Conclusions:The study suggests that people pre-drink because they desire to be intoxicated, but also that pre-drinking patterns and product choices exacerbate the likelihood of high-risk drinking.Reducing availability of cheap packaged alcohol has potential to limit both predrinking and high-risk drinking among Victorian young adults. Implications:The study adds weight to calls to implement minimum alcohol pricing in Australia.

show abstract

“…The interaction between social class and alcohol consumption has been more consistent over time (Elliott and Dodgeon, 2007), and most respondents come from manual/routine occupational backgrounds among whom consumption is less compared to more advantaged groups. Yet there has also been a shift in geography of drinking, with a trend towards home drinking (Foster and Ferguson, 2012;Holloway, 2008). In contrast to present-day drinking behaviours our participants did not talk about their parents as 'moderate' drinkers at home.…”

Section: Inter-generational Drinking Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Drinking definitely wasn’t something that we’d seen anybody do”: the relevance of childhood experiences of family drinking for parenting strategies of alcohol socialisation

Holdsworth

Laverty

Robinson

2017

Families, Relationships and Societies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The importance of inter-generational relations in informing adolescents' socialisation with alcohol is well recognised (Bremmer et al, 2011). Various studies in different national contexts have confirmed the contribution of parental behaviour and advice in shaping adolescents' awareness of drink and alcohol consumption, though how parental influence can be effectively channelled in intervention programmes is less clear Lowe 1991 and1997; Ledoux et al, 2002; Randolph et al, 2010; Shucksmith, 1997). A recent European wide study challenged central assumptions that 'tough love' authoritative parenting styles (Birdwell et al, 2012), characterised by both discipline and warmth, are the most effective way through which parents should seek to influence children's alcohol consumption into adulthood (Calafat et al. 2014). Instead, Calafet et al (2014) found that it was parental warmth, rather than discipline, that was important. Yet while parental behaviours and strategies may present politically expedient and cost-effective ways of tackling social problems associated with young people's drinking, little consideration has been given to how parents themselves draw on their own childhood experiences of alcohol as a guide to inform their children's behaviour.One of the most important unknowns that might go some way to developing a working model of socialisation strategies is the relevance of parents' own childhood experiences of family drinking. Our proposal is that to understand how parents may influence adolescents' drinking behaviours it is relevant to consider how they themselves grew up with and learnt about alcohol consumption. In this paper we present an analysis of 21 parental narrative accounts of family drinking to examine the relationship between parents' childhood 3 experiences and their own attempts to socialise their teenage children around drinking. Our analysis considers how parents remember their childhood experiences and second, how these memories are relevant in their adult lives. Our interpretation of parental strategies is underpinned by our understanding that parents do not necessarily seek to reproduce their own experiences when parenting their own children.In order to develop a more dynamic account of socialisation our account of drinking across generations draws on two important theoretical approaches to family and life course. The first is that of personal life (Smart, 2007), which draws on the conceptualisation of family practices to emphasise what family actually does and is imagined to do, or be, and thus widens the remit of family beyond the immediacy of parent-child relationships, to include other family members and friends and how these relationships are mediated within specific contexts. The second approach relates to time, which is intrinsic to debates about socialisation yet one that is rarely explored. Our analysis considers how memory is essential to socialisation over the life course through considering how parents remember their own childhoods. This approach seeks to contextualise drin...

show abstract

Home Drinking in the UK: Trends and Causes

Abstract: Home drinking trends may have long-term public health consequences. Greater understanding of the drivers of this trend will help policy-makers to respond to these societal changes.

Cited by 43 publications

References 9 publications

A minimum price per unit of alcohol: A focus group study to investigate public opinion concerning UK government proposals to introduce new price controls to curb alcohol consumption

A minimum price per unit of alcohol: A focus group study to investigate public opinion concerning UK government proposals to introduce new price controls to curb alcohol consumption

“Fourteen Dollars for One Beer!” Pre‐drinking is associated with high‐risk drinking among Victorian young adults

“Drinking definitely wasn’t something that we’d seen anybody do”: the relevance of childhood experiences of family drinking for parenting strategies of alcohol socialisation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About