The natural history of risky drinking and associated harms from adolescence to young adulthood: findings from the Australian Temperament Project

The experience of physiological and psychosocial alcohol-related harms across adolescence and its association with alcohol use disorder in early adulthood: A prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Different forms of alcohol-related harm (e.g., hangovers, fighting) may confer differential risk of clinically relevant alcohol problems. We examine: (i) patterns of transition in experiencing alcohol-related harms across adolescence; (ii) whether factors in early adolescence predict transition patterns; and (iii) whether transition patterns predict later alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms.

METHODS

We used a longitudinal Australian cohort (n = 1828) to model latent class transition patterns of alcohol-related harms across three timepoints (M_age  = 13.9, 16.8, 18.8 years). Regression models assessed whether child, peer, and parent factors in early adolescence (M_age  = 12.9) predicted harms transition patterns and whether these patterns predicted AUD symptoms in early adulthood (M_age  = 19.8).

RESULTS

Five transition patterns characterized most of the cohort (n ≈ 1609, 88.0%): (i) minimal harms (n ≈ 381, 20.8%); (ii) late physiological harms (n ≈ 702, 38.4%); (iii) early physiological harms (n ≈ 226, 12.4%); (iv) late all harms (n ≈ 131, 7.2%); and (v) gradual all harms (n ≈ 169, 9.2%). With late physiological harms as the reference, females had increased risk of experiencing early physiological harms (relative risk [RR]: 2.15; 99.5% CI: 1.19, 3.90). Late all harms (RR: 1.71; CI: 1.19, 2.47) and gradual all harms (RR: 1.84; CI: 1.37, 2.47) were each associated with increased odds of meeting criteria for AUD, even when patterns of alcohol consumption are considered.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents display heterogeneous transition patterns across physiological and psychosocial alcohol-related harms. Females are at greater risk of experiencing early physiological harms. Experience of both physiological and psychosocial harms in late adolescence is an important and potentially modifiable precursor to clinically relevant alcohol problems in early adulthood.

Psychosocial predictors of binge-drinking residual harm in adolescence and young adulthood: Findings from the Australian Temperament Project

AIMS

We examine the extent to which adolescent and young adult psychosocial factors are associated with variation in the experience of common types of harm (e.g., injuries, violence, sexual regrets) with respect to binge-drinking frequency - termed residual harm.

METHODS

Data were from the Australian Temperament Project, a population-based cohort study that has followed a sample of young Australians from infancy to adulthood since 1983. The current sample comprised 1,081 (565 women). Residual harm was operationalised by saving residuals from models regressing number of alcohol harms onto binge-drinking frequency at each of 5 waves, two in adolescence (15-16 and 17-18 years) and three in young adulthood (19-20, 23-24, and 27-28 years). Psychosocial factors (mental health, social skills, quality of parent and peer relationships) were assessed prior to binge drinking in early adolescence (13-14 years) and then again in young adulthood (19-20 years).

RESULTS

Adolescent predictors of decreased residual harm were lower depressive symptoms, and higher cooperation, self-control, and peer and parent attachment. Young adult predictors of decreased residual harm were lower depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms and peer and parent negative appraisal, and higher responsibility, and peer and parent emotional support. Associations were evident in males and females, although the strength of some associations diminished with age.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents and young adults with better mental health, social skills, and relationship quality experienced less harm with respect to their binge-drinking frequency. Future research should examine the potential of investment in strength-based interventions for young people.

Gender-Specific Drinking Contexts Are Associated With Social Harms Resulting From Drinking Among Australian Young Adults at 30 Years

Aims

Understanding contexts in which social harms from drinking occur can help develop context-based harm reduction efforts. However, there is little knowledge of specific drinking contexts where such harms occur and whether these are gender or age specific. We aimed to investigate associations of a range of drinking contexts and social harms from drinking among young adults at age 30.

Methods

We used data from 2187 30-year-old adults. Latent constructs of gender-specific drinking contexts were created using factor analysis. We performed multivariate logistic regression between drinking contexts and a range of social harms from drinking, separately by gender.

Results

After accounting for social roles and binge drinking, gender-specific solitary drinking contexts (‘home drinking’ for men and ‘daytime drinking’ for women) were positively associated with marital problems and problems with other family members and friends. Conversely, ‘social drinking’ was not. Work-related drinking among men was associated with marital/intimate relationship problems and friendship problems. After accounting for mental health symptoms, women’s home drinking was associated with marital problems.

Conclusion

We found that experiences of social harms from drinking at 30 years differ depending on the drinker’s gender and context. Our findings suggest that risky contexts and associated harms are still significant among 30-year-old adults, indicating that a range of gender-specific drinking contexts should be represented in harm reduction campaigns. The current findings also highlight the need to consider gender to inform context-based harm reduction measures and to widen the age target for these beyond emerging adults.

Gender differences in social harms from drinking among young Australians: findings from the Mater University Study of Pregnancy and its Outcomes

Background: Despite the growing interest in investigating social harms from drinking, little is known about drinkers' reports of these harms and their gender differences among Australian young adults at age 30. We aimed to examine gender differences of social harms from drinking as reported by drinkers.Methods: 2,200 young adults at age 30 with complete data on social harms from drinking were drawn from the 30-year follow-up of the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy. Measures included percentages of 11 past-year drinkers' self-reported social harms stratified by gender. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between gender and each social harm, accounting for relevant confounding.Results: More than one in five young adults (22%) reported at least one social harm in the past year. Among binge drinkers, 44% reported at least one social harm. After adjustments for social roles and binge drinking, we found no gender differences on several self-reported social harms: friendship problems, people criticizing drinking, non-marital family problems, employment problems, and alcohol-fuelled fights. However, men were more likely to report spousal threats to leave, drink-driving legal problems and financial problems.Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that young adults are still vulnerable to risky drinking at age 30 and the social harm resulting from drinking. Thus, alcohol prevention campaigns should target this age group and include women in their focus. Strategies aiming to reduce alcohol-related harms, such as screening in clinical settings for risky drinking and alcohol-related harms, followed by motivational behavior interventions, could be beneficial among these vulnerable groups.