The irony of drinking to health and happiness

Abstract

In testing the relationship between alcohol consumption in young people and depression in young adulthood, in The Lancet Psychiatry, Gemma Hammerton and colleagues 1 Hammerton G Lewis G Heron J Fernandes G Hickman M Lewis G The association of alcohol dependence and consumption during adolescence with depression in young adulthood, in England: a prospective cohort study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2023; (published online June 1.)https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(23)00138-4 Google Scholar address a very important question. Depression causes an enormous public health burden. WHO identifies depression as affecting more than 4% of the world's population and causing substantial disability. 2 WHODepression and other common mental disorders: global health estimates. World Health Organization, Geneva2017 Google Scholar Understanding how modifiable risk factors, such as alcohol consumption, influence the onset of depression in adulthood is therefore a crucial question for epidemiology to tackle. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) is a highly appropriate data resource to use to address this question. ALSPAC is well placed in the UK's catalogue of large birth cohort studies, sitting between the 1970 British Cohort Study and the Millennium Cohort Study, uniquely assessing the development of children born in the 1990s. I was involved in a systematic review of available evidence on the adult outcomes of late adolescent alcohol consumption, 3 McCambridge J McAlaney J Rowe R Adult consequences of late adolescent alcohol consumption: a systematic review of cohort studies. PLoS Med. 2011; 8e1000413 Crossref PubMed Scopus (313) Google Scholar which concluded that the area needed more high-quality prospective cohort studies, and Hammerton and colleagues' work strongly contributes to this need. The association of alcohol dependence and consumption during adolescence with depression in young adulthood, in England: a prospective cohort studyPsychosocial or behavioural interventions that reduce the risk of alcohol dependence during adolescence could contribute to preventing depression in young adulthood. Full-Text PDF Open Access