Trends in adolescent drinking across 39 high-income countries: exploring the timing and magnitude of decline

Abstract

Background Evidence suggests adolescent alcohol consumption has declined since the turn of the millennium in almost all high-income countries. However, differences in the timing and magnitude of the decline have not been explored across countries. Methods We examined trends in adolescent past month or monthly alcohol consumption prevalence from cross-national or national survey reports for 39 countries and four US territories. For each country, we calculated the magnitude of the decline in youth drinking as the relative change in prevalence from the peak year to the most recent year available. Heat maps were utilized to present the timing and magnitudes of these declines. Results The timing and extent of youth drinking declines have varied markedly across countries. The decline began in the USA before 1999, followed by Northern European countries in the early 2000s; Western Europe and Australasia in the mid-2000s. The steepest declines were found for Northern Europe and the UK, and the shallowest declines were observed in Eastern and Southern European countries. Conclusions Previous analyses of the decline in adolescent drinking have emphasized the wide reach of the changes and their near-coincidence in time. Our analysis points to the other side of the picture that there were limits to the wide reach, and that there was considerable variation in timing. These findings suggest that as well as broader explanations that stretch across countries, efforts to explain recent trends in adolescent drinking should also consider factors specific to countries and regions.

Normalization of Non-Drinking? Health, School Situation and Social Relations among Swedish Ninth Graders That Drink and Do Not Drink Alcohol

“…Since 2013, when the prevalence of drinking dropped to 47 per cent, drinking is no longer the majority behaviour among Swedish ninth graders. Similar trends have been observed in most western countries [19][20][21][22]. Against this background with trends of declining drinking and increase of non-drinkers that has been so marked that it has also led to a shift in the majority behaviour, there is a need to assess what the changing social status of drinking implies for our understanding of non-drinking in adolescence.…”

Trends in adolescent alcohol and other risky health‐ and school‐related behaviours and outcomes in Australia

“…A list of key behaviours and outcomes was generated based on previous studies examining multiple adolescent behaviours and outcomes [11,20]. To identify the relevant data sources, a systematic search was conducted based on following criteria: (i) nationally representative Australian data or reliable administrative data focussed on adolescents (ranging from age 10–19 years); (ii) data available from the year 2000 onwards to focus on the time‐period during which the decline in drinking or decline in substance use or other risky behaviours have been reported in research studies from other countries [22]; and (iii) data sources containing at least two time points. In cases where multiple data sources for any adolescent behaviour or outcome were available, the source with longer time period data from 2000 to 2019 was chosen.…”

Young-Onset Carcinogenesis – The Potential Impact of Perinatal and Early Life Metabolic Influences on the Epigenome

“…Longitudinal studies have clearly demonstrated that foetal alcohol exposure was associated with alcohol problems in early adolescence (even after controlling for family history of alcoholism, prenatal nicotine exposure, parenting style, current parental drinking, household stress, and self-esteem) ( 45 ) and young adulthood ( 46 ). Thus, although there has been a demonstrable overall reduction in adolescent drinking worldwide ( 47 ), this does not hold true for the offspring of mothers who used alcohol during pregnancy.…”