Attitudes toward under-age drinking: the role of own drinking patterns and parenthood

Introduction: Regular serves of alcohol and repeated episodes of intoxication in adolescence are linked with increased risk of alcohol dependence and other social and health inequalities in adulthood. The Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol (National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), 2009) suggest that abstinence from alcohol is the safest option for young people under the age of 18 years, and that for those aged 15-17 years, it is preferable to delay initiation. For under-age Australian adolescents, parents are the most common source of supply of alcohol. However, there is a dearth of research on parents‟ beliefs and practices in relation to the supply of alcohol to young people. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which parent and adolescent characteristics may influence Australian parents‟ beliefs and practices in relation to the supply of full serves of alcohol (i.e., not simply sips) to their adolescent aged 14-16 years and their adolescents‟ attendance at parties where alcohol is available. Method: A cross-sectional sample of 388 Victorian parents of 14-16 year olds, registered with a market research company, completed an online survey about parental supply of alcohol to their adolescent and adolescents‟ party attendance. Parametric and non-parametric equivalent inferential statistics were used to measure associations between parental supply of alcohol and parental beliefs, behaviours and parent/adolescent socio-demographic characteristics. Linear and logistic regression was used to measure the association between parental supply of alcohol, adolescent attendance at parties, the supply of alcohol in such settings, and multiple independent variables. Results: Seventy percent of parents reported that that their adolescent may/does currently drink. Of these, 37% reported supplying their under-age adolescent with more than a sip of alcohol in the last three months. Alcohol supply was significantly positively associated with parents‟ perceptions that their adolescent drinks and higher levels of parental monitoring but was not significantly associated with parent/adolescent socio-demographic characteristics or parents‟ self-reported drinking patterns. Parents‟ plans to supply alcohol to their adolescent in the next six months were significantly positively associated with their reports of supplying alcohol in the last three months, perceptions that their adolescent drinks, parents‟ reports of not practising religion, and parents‟ alcohol consumption scores as measured by the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) (Saunders, Aasland, Babor, De la Fuente, & Grant, 1993). Forty-one percent of parents reported that their adolescent had attended a party in the last three months. Of these, 34% reported that their adolescent had been supplied with alcohol. Adolescents‟ friends were reported as the most common source of supply followed by parents. While 70% of parents reported that they were likely to contact the parents hosting a party, only 32% said they actually did so. Party attendance was significantly positively associated with parents‟ perceptions that their adolescent drinks, parents‟ beliefs about adolescents‟ access to alcohol and parents‟ AUDIT scores. Supply of alcohol at a party was significantly positively associated with parents‟ perceptions that their adolescent drinks, that their adolescents‟ friends drink and parenting a „middle‟ child. Discussion and conclusion: Consistent with reports from Australian students, parents are a major source of supply of alcohol to under-age adolescents. Parents‟ perceptions of their adolescent‟s drinking are a significant predictor of parental alcohol supply and adolescent alcohol use at a party. Parents report higher levels of monitoring when supplying their adolescent with alcohol. This may be a reflection of alcohol supply in the family home where many parents sanction the use of alcohol in the belief that this will teach their adolescent to “drink responsibly.” Parties represent “high-risk” alcohol use environments but few parents could be expected to be aware of recent neurobiological research that links changes in the brain at adolescence to increased sensation-seeking behaviour, particularly when in the company of peers. Parents‟ beliefs about adolescents‟ attendance at parties and the supply of alcohol to adolescents may be mediated by broader social and environmental factors (e.g., price and ease of availability) that contribute to the normalisation of alcohol use by adolescents. While there are legislative and policy guidelines regarding the use of alcohol by underage adolescents, there is arguably a need for policy change and national guidelines for parents, embedded in the broader social context and consistent with the Australian Alcohol Guidelines (NHMRC, 2009), to support parents in implementing strategies to reduce their adolescent‟s exposure to alcohol-related harm.

65: How Does Hazardous and Heavy Episodic Alcohol Drinking Relate to HIV Sexual Risk among Emergency Department Patients?

Alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are major contributors to global morbidity and mortality. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is often used for screening of alcohol use and potential alcohol problems, but less is known whether AUDIT can predict a diagnosis of AUD. Responses to the AUDIT questionnaire (N = 29 278) from two waves of a population health survey (The Tromsø study) were used to predict a diagnosis of AUD in national health registries over the following three years. Covariates included age, sex, educational level, family income, and mental health score. Overall, 13%–15% scored above the lowest level on AUDIT, with slightly higher figures in males and younger adults, among those with higher education, or with higher mental distress. Few were represented in national health registries (2.1% and 2.7% of these cases in the primary and specialist healthcare, respectively), but with higher figures among those with the highest AUDIT scores. Being female, of older age, having a lower income, and reporting more mental health symptoms increased the probability of receiving an AUD diagnosis. Younger age, male gender, higher education, and higher mental health score predicted higher AUDIT scores, but few, even with high AUDIT scores, were represented in national health registries with an AUD diagnosis. Furthermore, with a high AUDIT score, factors such as older age, lower income, and lower education increased the likelihood of receiving an AUD diagnosis. This suggests that relying on national health registries to monitor alcohol morbidity may be challenging.

Social cognition skills, such as emotion processing, empathy, and mental state attribution, are critical for regulating behavior and decision-making, including alcohol consumption. However, the literature did not reach a consensus on whether cognitive deficits are a risk factor or a consequence of alcohol use disorders. Most studies on this issue were conducted with people aged 40+, with a long drinking history. This study investigated the associations between social cognition skills and AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) scores in young adults, also considering the influence of the onset of alcohol and drinking patterns. 112 volunteers aged 18-25 completed online questionnaires: AUDIT, drinking history, and socio-demographic characteristics. Participants completed online tasks to evaluate facial emotion recognition, empathic abilities, and Theory of Mind. A significant negative association was found between AUDIT scores and facial emotion recognition performance (p=0.040). Path analysis revealed that earlier onset of alcohol use was associated with higher AUDIT scores (p <.001), which in turn predicted poorer performance on facial emotion recognition tasks (p=0.010). These findings support the hypothesis that higher AUDIT scores and early onset of consumption are associated with reduced accuracy in recognizing facial emotions among young adults.

Purpose: This study aimed to provide basic data for developing adolescent alcohol prevention program through the investigation of teachers' recognition and attitude about alcohol use of adolescents. Methods: 1,124 teachers working at middle and high schools located in Socho-gu, Seoul, were responded during the period from November 5 to 24 in 2002.Results: 1. For frequency of drinking, 39.9% of subjects responded to drink once a month, 15.2% drink more than two times a week.2. For the amount of drinking, 37.0% drink less than 2 glasses while 12.8% drink over 10 glasses at a time.3. Based on AUDIT score, drinkers with more than 8 points from AUDIT(Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test) are 33.5%. Male are 30.7% while female are 2,72%. So social drinker group represents 66.5%.4. Most of the subjects said education program for adolescent alcohol prevention is needed, but only 5.7% of them has counselled.5. The score of teachers* recognition and attitude about alcohol use of adolescents was significantly higher in non current drinker group, female, middle school teacher than that of current drinker group, male, high school teacher.It can be suggested that teachers* recognition and attitudes about adolescent drinking was important to prevent alcohol use of adolescent and teacher*s education programs are needed for effective education. And we will have to further study in nationwide.

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the risk of metachronous cancer after endoscopic resection of esophageal cancer.

Habitual behavior and attentional bias are distinct cognitive processes that both contribute to inflexible behavior and are commonly observed in addiction. While animal studies provide strong evidence for an association between adolescent alcohol use and impairments in behavioral flexibility in adulthood, such a link in human research has not yet been explored. Moreover, since reduced flexible behavior serves as a risk factor for escalating alcohol intake, continued alcohol consumption use in adulthood may further exacerbate any deficits associated with adolescent drinking. We used principal component analysis to create composite scores for adolescent and past year alcohol use, based on self-report measures from a healthy adult sample. Group differences in alcohol use were examined in relation to habitual responding (n=71) and attentional bias (n=44) toward non-drug reward cues, using two behavioral flexibility tasks. We used linear regression analyses to explore associations between past year alcohol use and behavioral flexibility outcomes in adults with histories of light versus heavy adolescent alcohol use. Heavy adolescent alcohol use was characterized by earlier drinking onset and higher binge-drinking frequency before age 18. Adults with a history of heavy adolescent alcohol use demonstrated significantly greater habitual responding compared to those with lighter use. Among this group, greater past year alcohol use was also associated with increased difficulty disengaging attention from non-drug reward cues. These results indicate that adolescent and current alcohol use may differentially impact habitual responding and attentional bias towards non-drug reward cues. Notably, this is the first human study to explore both aspects of behavioral inflexibility in relation to different periods of alcohol use within the same adult sample.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdown have been a significant life event for many individuals, particularly adolescents. The immense psychological pressure could drive risky behavior, e.g., substance use, while lockdown might lead to decreased use. This study aimed to observe the change in substance use among adolescents in Indonesia and the moderating variables to consumption during the COVID-19 lockdown period.Methods: This study utilized an online survey from April 28, 2020 to June 30, 2020. The hyperlink was disseminated to school administrators and parenting groups through social media and direct messages. A total of 2,932 adolescents (17.4 ± 2.24 and 78.7% females) submitted valid responses. The survey was comprised of a sociodemographic section, substance use details, and psychometric sections, including the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Cigarette Dependence Scale 12 (CDS-12), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).Results: Overall, adolescent alcohol use during the pandemic was 5.1%, cigarette smoking was 3.1%, and drug consumption was 0.4%. Over half (53.4%) of alcohol drinkers reported increased drinking, and 33.1% had harmful or dependence-like drinking behavior; in contrast, 44.4% of adolescent smokers disclosed reduced cigarette consumption. Around 37.8% of the drug users indicated increased use. During the pandemic, adolescent alcohol use was associated with higher education [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–4.86, p = 0.04], higher AUDIT scores (AOR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.25–1.42, p < 0.001), and very low prosocial behavior (AOR = 2.46, 95% CI 1.52–3.88, p < 0.001). Cigarette smoking was correlated with male sex (AOR = 9.56, 95% CI 5.64–16.62, p < 0.001), age (AOR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.14–1.75, p < 0.001), and higher CDS score (AOR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.13–1.20, p < 0.001).Conclusions: Rates of adolescent substance use were significant, with sizeable proportions reporting higher usage. This appeared to occur predominantly in specific demographics and those with a lower protective psychosocial attribute, i.e., prosocial behavior, during the lockdown. These findings should urge the strengthening of adolescent addiction care during and after the pandemic.

Aims:This study investigates demographic, personality, and psychological health correlates of different drinking patterns.Design:Students at the four largest institutions of higher education in Bergen municipality were invited via email to complete an internet-based questionnaire. The final sample size was 11,236 (39.4%), mean age 24.9 years (SD = 6.5), and 63.3% were women. The survey included the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) and questions about demographics, personality traits, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Binary logistic regressions were used to identify correlates of different drinking patterns.Results:A total of 53.0% of the students had an AUDIT score of or above 8 (i.e., hazardous drinking). Being native Norwegian, male, single, without children, non-religious, extroverted, unconscientious, and less open to experience were associated with higher AUDIT scores, drinking frequently, and binge drinking. Having parents with high alcohol or drug use increased the odds of engaging in binge drinking, but this factor was not associated with frequent drinking. Students scoring higher on neuroticism and openness were less likely to report problematic alcohol usage.Conclusions:A majority of the students reported alcohol habits that are associated with harm if they persist. This emphasises the need to examine the long-term consequences of students’ alcohol use.

335 Correlation Between a Direct Alcohol Biomarker, Phosphatidylethanol, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test

BackgroundMany primary care patients with raised blood pressure or depression drink potentially hazardous levels of alcohol. Brief interventions (BI) to reduce alcohol consumption may improve comorbid conditions and reduce the risk of future alcohol problems. However, research has not established their effectiveness in this patient population. This study aimed to establish the feasibility of definitive trials of BI to reduce excessive drinking in primary care patients with hypertension or mild to moderate depression.MethodsThirteen general practices in North East England were randomized to the intervention or control arm of one of two parallel pilot trials. Adult patients drinking excessively and diagnosed with hypertension or mild-to-moderate depression received the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) by postal survey. Consenting respondents scoring more than 7 on AUDIT (score range 0 to 40) received brief alcohol consumption advice plus an information leaflet (intervention) or an information leaflet alone (control) with follow-up at six months. Measurements included the numbers of patients eligible, recruited, and retained, and the AUDIT score and systolic/diastolic blood pressure of each patient or the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score. Acceptability was assessed via practitioner feedback and patient willingness to be screened, recruited, and retained at follow-up.ResultsIn the hypertension trial, 1709 of 33,813 adult patients (5.1%) were eligible and were surveyed. Among the eligible patients, 468 (27.4%) returned questionnaires; 166 (9.6% of those surveyed) screened positively on AUDIT and 83 (4.8% of those surveyed) were recruited (50.0% of positive screens). Sixty-seven cases (80.7% of recruited patients) completed follow-up at six months. In the depression trial, 1,044 of 73,146 adult patients (1.4%) were eligible and surveyed. Among these eligible patients, 215 (20.6%) responded; 104 (10.0% of those surveyed) screened positively on AUDIT and 29 (2.8% of those surveyed) were recruited (27.9% of positive screens). Nineteen cases (65.5% of recruited patients) completed follow-up at six months.ConclusionsRecruitment and retention rates were higher in the hypertension trial than in the depression trial. A full brief intervention trial appears feasible for primary care patients with hypertension who drink excessively. High AUDIT scores in the depression trial suggest the importance of alcohol intervention in this group. However, future work may require alternative screening and measurement procedures.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN89156543; registered 21 October 2013.

BackgroundThis study objective was to evaluate the prevalence of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and related factors (smoking, internet addiction, social anxiety, child abuse, and bullying) among a representative sample of Lebanese adolescents, and to validate and confirm psychometric properties of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).MethodsA cross-sectional study, conducted between January and May 2019, enrolled 1810 adolescents aged between 14 and 17 from schools of all Lebanese districts. From the total number of schools, a proportionate number was selected in each district. AUD was defined as a high AUDIT score (≥8; score range 0–40). A principal component analysis technique to confirm the validity of the construct of the AUDIT scale score was done and a confirmatory analysis to assess the structure of the instrument was conducted. Spearman correlation was used for linear correlation between continuous variables. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the means of two groups, while the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare three groups or more. A stepwise linear regression was conducted, taking the AUDIT total score as the dependent variable and taking child abuse (psychological, sexual, physical and verbal), cigarette and waterpipe smoking dependence, bullying, social phobia, and internet addiction as independent variables.ResultsThe mean AUDIT score was 6.46 ± 8.44 and high risk of AUD was found in 507 (28.0%) adolescents [95% CI 0.259–0.301]. One factor solution of the AUDIT scale was found after running the factor analysis (αCronbach = 0.978). Higher AUDIT scores were significantly associated with higher cigarette (Beta = 0.527; p < 0.001) and waterpipe (Beta = 0.299; p < 0.001) dependence, higher childhood sexual abuse (Beta = 0.656; p < 0.001) and neglect (Beta = 0.126; p < 0.001), higher bullying victimization (Beta = 0.236; p < 0.001).ConclusionAlcohol use disorder among Lebanese adolescents seems to be associated with several factors, such as cigarette and waterpipe dependence, parents’ divorce, higher internet addiction, bullying victimization, and childhood sexual abuse and neglect. Parents and healthcare professionals could use this data for early interventions.

ABSTRACTAlcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation, yet no validated immune‐based markers exist to support assessment or monitoring. This study identifies interleukin‐1 beta (IL‐1β) in whole blood as a promising candidate biomarker of AUD risk, based on Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores. Twenty‐eight non–treatment‐seeking adults, with AUDIT scores between 2 and 22, provided whole blood samples. We aimed to identify biomarkers that signal immune changes associated with early AUDIT score risk, where interventions may be most effective. Luminex multiplex immunoassays quantified 14 immune‐related mediators in combined cell lysates and supernatants. IL‐1β, IL‐18, IL‐7 and CCL11 were significantly elevated in individuals with higher AUDIT scores. IL‐1β showed the largest effect size (Cohen's d) and was the most consistent predictor of both AUDIT and AUDIT‐Consumption (AUDIT‐C) scores across random forest and linear regression analyses. Moderated multiple regression (MMR) confirmed that IL‐1β predicted both scores independent of other immune mediators. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses demonstrated discriminative potential, with IL‐1β achieving an AUC of 0.81 (good discrimination) for AUDIT ≥ 6 (true positive rate [TPR] = 0.71; false positive rate [FPR] = 0.14) and an AUC of 0.94 (excellent discrimination) for AUDIT‐C thresholds (TPR = 0.80; FPR = 0.00). Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed greater immune variability in the high‐risk group, particularly among proinflammatory mediators, suggesting immune dysregulation. This study demonstrates the utility of integrating whole blood immune profiling with high‐sensitivity multiplex immunoassays, and applying both traditional statistical methods and machine learning to explore potential biomarkers for AUD risk. IL‐1β is a statistically robust and clinically relevant candidate biomarker of AUD risk assessed by AUDIT scores. These findings require replication in larger, independent samples to determine their translational potential in addiction medicine.

Everyone experiences the natural ebb and flow of task-unrelated thoughts. Given how common the fluctuations in these thoughts are, surprisingly, we know very little about how they shape individuals’ responses to alcohol use. Here, we investigated if mind wandering is associated with a risk of developing problematic alcohol use. We undertook an online survey among the general population in China (N = 1123) and Germany (N = 1018) from December 2021 to February 2022 and examined the subjective experience of mind wandering and problematic alcohol use through the Mind Wandering Questionnaire (MWQ) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). We compared mind wandering and problematic alcohol use between two countries and investigated the association between MWQ scores with AUDIT scores. We found higher scores on the MWQ and a high percentage of problematic alcohol use (i.e., AUDIT score ≥ 8) in Germany (22.5%) as compared to in China (14.5%). Higher self-reported mind wandering was associated with higher AUDIT scores. AUDIT scores were increased mostly in male, elder, and high-mind wandering people. Our findings highlight that mind wandering and problematic alcohol use enhanced in Germany as compared to in China. Our study sheds light on the relationship between mind wandering and problematic alcohol use that may help to further investigate causal effects of interventions.

BackgroundPrevious studies have examined the association between alcohol consumption and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adults, but studies in the elderly are lacking. We examined the relationship between high-risk alcohol consumption and MetS in elderly Korean men using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire from the 2010–2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.MethodsAmong 25,534 subjects, 2,807 were men >60 years of age; after exclusions, we included 2,088 men in the final analysis. We categorized the study participants into three groups according to AUDIT score: low risk (0–7), intermediate risk (8–14), and high risk (≥15 points).ResultsAmong the study population, 17.0% of the men were high-risk drinkers, who had the highest mean waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and triglyceride (TG) levels. The overall prevalence of MetS was 41.9% in the elderly men, and it was significantly higher in the group with high (48.3%) versus low (31.9%) AUDIT scores. The prevalence of MetS components (elevated BP, high FPG, high TG, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) was associated with a high AUDIT score. The odds ratios (95%confidence interval) of the high-risk group for MetS, elevated BP, and high TG were 1.40 (1.03–1.89), 1.82 (1.28– 2.60), and 1.77 (1.30–2.41) after adjustment for confounding variables. ConclusionAUDIT score was correlated with most MetS components in elderly Korean men.