Youth Alcohol Consumption Research Articles

Influence of Masculinity and Femininity on Alcohol Consumption in Young People: A Scoping Review

Introduction: Alcohol consumption is a complex social practice that plays a role in building and consolidating friendships, as well as creating gender identities. The latter determines the limits of behaviors and defines what is considered appropriate or inappropriate in our daily routine; therefore, alcohol consumption patterns are not independent of gender. Objective: To identify and describe available evidence on the influence of gender on youth alcohol consumption. Materials and method: A review was conducted under JBI and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Original full-text articles published between 2018 and 2023 in the VHL, PubMed, EBSCOhost, Web of Sciences, Epistemonikos, ScienceDirect, and ProQuest databases, without language limitations, were analyzed. The search categories were “Alcohol Drinking” AND “Young Adult” AND “Gender Identity” OR “Gender role”. Results: A total of 403 records were identified, but only 12 studies were included in the synthesis. The main results of these studies showed that both gender identity and gender roles influence alcohol consumption in young adults. Social gender norms may pressure young women to maintain a physical image and young men to maintain a normative public image. Conclusions: Social gender norms influence alcohol consumption behaviors; therefore, it is necessary to take these gender differences into account in nursing interventions and prevention strategies.

Alcohol use among children and adolescents with chronic pain. Scoping review

AimTo examine and map alcohol consumption in children and adolescents with chronic pain (CP). MethodA scoping review of international databases (CINAHL, WOS, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Embase, and MEDLINE) and grey literature was conducted between September 2022 and February 2023. Documents addressing the relationship between alcohol consumption and CP in children and adolescents, published in English and Spanish between 2012 and 2023, were included. Those papers with a population suffering from CP derived from neurodegenerative diseases, chronic infectious diseases or cognitive impairment were excluded. We assessed the level of evidence (LE) and the degree of recommendation (DR) of the studies included in accordance with the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. Finally, 11 documents were considered out of the 479 reviewed. ResultsThe relationship between substance consumption and CP in adolescents is a scarcely investigated topic. While there is a trend towards lower rates of alcohol consumption in youth with pain, there is evidence suggesting an association, particularly in cases of intense pain. The use of various substances, both legal and illegal, for pain management underscores the importance of comprehensively addressing this phenomenon in this population. ConclusionsFurther research is needed to assess the relationship between alcohol consumption in children and adolescents with CP.

A latent class analysis of change and continuity in adolescent health and wellbeing in England during the decline in youth alcohol consumption: A repeat cross-sectional study

In England, the proportion of 13–15 year-olds who have ever drunk alcohol fell from 71% in 1999 to 35% in 2019. Despite substantial research literature studying this decline, we know little about connections with concurrent shifts in wider aspects of health and wellbeing. This paper aims to identify how indicators of health and wellbeing cluster within 15-year-olds in England, identify changes in clustering over time, and explore associations with sex and family affluence. We used latent class analysis of cross-sectional data from the Health Behaviours in School-aged Children study (n = 5,942; four waves 2001/02–2013/14). Classes were defined by indicators of substance use, sexual activity, diet, exercise, school-related measures, e-media use, parental relationships, and wellbeing. We identified three classes, which we labelled Overall unhealthy, Substance abstainers with behavioural risk indicators, and Overall healthy. The probability of being in the Overall unhealthy class fell (2001/02: 0.39; 2013/14: 0.18) while the probability of being in the Overall healthy class increased (0.21 to 0.41). The probability of weekly alcohol use fell in all classes (e.g. Overall unhealthy: 0.71 to 0.28). Females (female vs male OR: 1.74 95%CI: 1.30 – 2.34) and those with low family affluence (high vs low family affluence OR: 0.18 95%CI: 0.08 – 0.44) had significantly higher odds of being in the Overall unhealthy class. Overall, adolescents became more likely to have co-occurring indicators of good health and wellbeing, including reduced alcohol consumption, sexual activity and cigarette smoking. However, girls and those from poorer families remained more likely to have poor health and wellbeing.

Políticas públicas como factor protector del consumo de alcohol en universitarios mexicanos

IntroductionIn environments where public policies regulating alcohol consumption are stricter, alcohol consumption decreases, by virtue of reduced availability, marketing, and price regulation of alcoholic beverages. ObjectiveTo determine the relationship and effect of the perception of policies to reduce alcohol-related problems with alcohol consumption and the four prevalence of alcohol consumption in young Mexican university students. MethodologyA descriptive, correlational and predictive study with a sample of 367 students from a public university in the state of Tabasco, Mexico, selected by stratified random probability sampling. A Personal Data and Prevalence of Alcohol Consumption Questionnaire, the Scale of Support for Public Policies to Reduce Problems Associated with Alcohol and the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) were used. The study adhered to the provisions of the Regulations of the General Health Law on Research. ResultsThe general index of perception of public policies was negatively and significantly related (rs=−.34, P<.001) with alcohol consumption and with the three types of consumption, low risk, dependent and harmful. Perception of harm reduction public policy (B=−.356, P<.001) was identified as a predictor of alcohol consumption in college youth. The general index of perception of public policies has a protective effect on current and instantaneous prevalence (OR=.98), likewise the pricing policy has a protective effect on the four prevalence of alcohol consumption. ConclusionThe general perception of public policy, as well as the perception of harm reduction policies are predictor of alcohol consumption in young university students, therefore, these should be clear and widely known by this population, to facilitate compliance and have the expected effect.

Examining the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on youth Alcohol Consumption: longitudinal Changes From Pre-to Intra-pandemic Drinking in the COMPASS Study

PurposeTo date, there are few longitudinal studies on the COVID-19 pandemic's ongoing impact on youth drinking. This study examines the changes in drinking during two phases of the pandemic in a sample of Canadian youth. MethodsWe used four-year longitudinal data from the COMPASS study, including 14,085 secondary school students from Quebec and Ontario, Canada who provided linked data for any two consecutive years between 2017/18 and 2018/19 (pre-pandemic) waves, and 2019/20 and 2020/21 (during the initial and ongoing pandemic). A difference-in-difference (D-I-D) model was used to compare changes in the frequency of drinking and binge drinking between pre-COVID-19 to initial- and ongoing-pandemic period, while adjusted for age-related effects. ResultsThe expected escalation in the frequency of drinking and binge drinking from the pre-pandemic wave (2018/19) to the initial pandemic (2019/20) was less than the changes seen across the 2017/18 to 2018/19 waves among sex and age groups. However, the second year of COVID was associated with an increase in the frequencies of both drinking and binge drinking. Male and younger students (aged 12–14) differentially increased their consumption. DiscussionAfter a reduction in the initial pandemic period, the frequency of drinking and binge drinking rebounded in the second year, indicating that the pandemic's effects are not singular and have changed over time. Further examination is needed to understand the ongoing effects of the pandemic by continuing to monitor drinking in youth toward informing public health measures and harm reduction strategies.

Serious Games Supporting the Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Consumption in Youth: Scoping Review.

BackgroundThe consumption of alcohol and drugs, particularly in adolescents and young adults, has increased worldwide in the last several years, representing a significant public health challenge. Serious games have the potential to support preventive and treatment interventions for substance use, facilitating the acquisition of relevant knowledge and the motivation for changes in attitudes and behaviors regarding substance consumption.ObjectiveThis scoping review aims to analyze a set of 7 relevant characteristics of current serious games designed to support the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug consumption in adolescents and young adults—the substance addressed, the type of intervention, the theoretical basis, the computational techniques used, the mechanism for data security and privacy, the evaluation procedure followed, and the main results obtained.MethodsThe review was performed by following the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. Data were retrieved from January 2010 to May 2022, using PubMed, Scopus (Elsevier), IEEE Xplore, and ACM Digital as data sources. The eligibility criteria included studies that described serious games designed to support the prevention or treatment of alcohol and drug consumption, targeted a population aged between 12 and 30 years, and included an evaluation procedure. Authors (JMM and IEEC) individually screened the titles and abstracts, and then full articles were reviewed for a final inclusion decision.ResultsA total of 629 records were obtained, and 29 (4.6%) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Most of the serious games (14/29, 48%) were focused on the prevention or treatment of alcohol use. The type of intervention that was the most supported was prevention (18/29, 62%), and most studies mentioned the theory, theoretical construct, or therapeutic technique used as a foundation (22/29, 76%). Most of the studies only provided information about the platform for execution (23/29, 79%), and few described the use of computational techniques, such as virtual reality or motion-based interaction (5/29, 17%). A small set of studies (10/29, 34%) explicitly mentioned how data security and privacy were addressed. Most of the reported evaluation protocols were pilot studies (11/29, 38%), followed by randomized controlled trials (10/29, 34%), and the reported results were positive in terms of acceptability, usability, and efficacy. However, more research is needed to assess long-term effects.ConclusionsGiven the increasing interest in the use of serious games as digital interventions to support the prevention or treatment of substance use, knowing their main features is highly important. This review highlights whether and how current serious games incorporate 7 key features that are useful to consider for the further development of the area.

Adolescent substance use: Findings from a state-wide pilot parent education program

BackgroundAdolescent substance use has long been a top public health priority. In Indiana, concerning recent trends show high rates of youth alcohol consumption coupled with increasing use of opioids, synthetic marijuana, and over-the-counter drugs. Based on research indicating that parent-based prevention efforts may be a particularly effective way to target adolescent substance use, and in a direct effort to address Indiana’s 2017 Strategic Plan to Address Substance Use, we conducted an applied research study targeting parents’ knowledge regarding adolescent substance use in Indiana.MethodsThis community-based applied research study included: (i) a needs assessment of Indiana Extension Educators’ concerns regarding adolescent substance use, (ii) creation and dissemination of an evidence-informed parent education program on adolescent substance use in collaboration with Purdue Extension (a key community stakeholder), and (iii) qualitative focus group discussions at the end of each program that assessed the challenges families face regarding adolescent substance use, the types of information and resources they wish they had, and the usefulness of our program.ResultsThe needs assessment revealed that Indiana communities would most benefit from education regarding ways to spot and monitor substance use in teens, and strategies to communicate with teens about substance use. Additionally, Extension Educators thought that existing resources to tackle substance use largely did not match the needs of Indiana communities. Qualitative analysis of the focus group discussions across 8 pilot programs revealed five important themes: (1) The need for current, evidence-informed information regarding adolescent substance use among parents and youth-involved professionals in Indiana, (2) Concern regarding Indiana adolescents’ ease of access to substances and lack of healthy recreational activities, (3) Communicating with teens about substance use is crucial but difficult to implement, (4) Indiana communities’ need to prioritize funding for evidence-informed prevention programming, and (5) The need for community-based parent and caregiver support groups.ConclusionsOverall, the program was well-received and participants indicated that there was a strong need for this programming in their communities, but suggested collaborating with schools or similar local community stakeholders to increase attendance. Findings from this pilot study can inform future community-based adolescent substance use prevention efforts state-wide.

Impact of minimum unit pricing on youth alcohol consumption: insights from Lebanon

This paper analyses the impact of introducing an alcohol minimum unit pricing policy on youth's off-premise alcohol consumption. We rely on price elasticities derived using stated preference alcohol purchase data from a survey of 1024 university students in Lebanon. Selectively targeting drinks with high ethanol concentration by applying a minimum unit pricing (MUP) corresponding to the maximum price that respondents are willing to pay per beverage achieves a reduction in ethanol intake close to 0.23 l/month (∼28% of pre-MUP ethanol intake). Imposing a flat MUP corresponding to the average price respondents are willing to pay for all alcoholic beverages decreases ethanol intake by nearly half the reduction from the previous targeted MUP. This work provides evidence in favour of MUP in conjunction with taxation capable of substantially reducing alcohol consumption. We also document a positive welfare benefit of MUP.

Distilling the curriculum: An analysis of alcohol industry-funded school-based youth education programmes.

Background and aimFor decades, corporations such as the tobacco and fossil fuel industries have used youth education programmes and schools to disseminate discourses, ideas and values favourable to their positions, and to pre-empt regulation that threatens profits. However, there is no systematic research into alcohol industry-funded youth education programmes. This article serves to address this important gap in the literature.MethodsUsing a discourse theoretical approach informed by poststructural discourse theory and critical discourse analysis, we analysed teaching materials from three school-based youth education initiatives which focus on alcohol consumption and health harms: Drinkaware for Education, The Smashed Project (funded by Diageo), and Talk About Alcohol (Alcohol Education Trust). These materials, some of which are disseminated internationally, are provided to schools through intermediary bodies in receipt of alcohol industry funding.FindingsThe analysis found that these materials drew from and presented discourses of personal responsibility, moderate alcohol consumption, and involved a narrowing of the problem definition and causes. The locus of the problem is located by the discourses within individuals including youth, with causes of youth alcohol consumption repeatedly presented as peer pressure and ‘poor choices’, with little or no mention of alcohol industry marketing or other practices. All programmes promoted familiarisation and normalisation of alcohol as a ‘normal’ adult consumer product which children must learn about and master how to use responsibly when older. The discourses constructed in these materials closely align with those of other alcohol industry corporate social responsibility discourses which employ selective presentation of harms, including misinformation about cancer, and ambiguous terms such as “responsible drinking”. Furthermore, the role of alcohol price, availability and access, and the impacts of alcohol and the industry on inequities were not articulated within the discourses. The research was limited to an analysis of teaching materials and further research is needed to explore their impact on youth, teachers and wider discourses and social norms.ConclusionAlcohol industry-sponsored youth education programmes serve industry interests and promote moderate consumption while purportedly educating children about harms and influences of alcohol use. There are considerable conflicts of interest in the delivery of alcohol education programmes funded by the alcohol industry and intermediary bodies in receipt of such funding. Alcohol education materials should be developed independent from industry, including funding, and should empower children and young people to understand and think critically about alcohol, including harms and drivers of consumption, and effective interventions needed to protect them and others from alcohol-related harms. Independent organisations can use this analysis to critique their materials to strengthen alignment with meeting student and public health interests. The ongoing exposure of children and young people to such conflicted and misleading materials needs urgent attention from policymakers, practitioners, teachers and parents, and resources dependent on industry support should cease being used in schools.

The influence of consumer Socialization agents and personal attitude in the consumption of alcohol among youth in South Africa

PurposeThis paper aims to estimate the effects of three socialization agents in the form of advertising exposure, parental influence and peer influence and effects of personal attitude on youth alcohol consumption behaviour in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachA structural equation model was used to test the proposed conceptual model of four hypotheses based on the validated survey data gathered from 300 youth in Johannesburg, South Africa.FindingsEmpirical results show that advertising, parental influence, peer influence and personal attitude has positive effects on youth alcohol consumption behaviour, with advertising and personal attitude exhibiting statistical significance on alcohol consumption behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsThe study involves only youthful demographic in the age range of 18–35 and hence suffers from generalizability. The cross-sectional design also limits the findings with respect to time.Practical implicationsIt provides policymakers insights into important factors to focus on changing drinking behaviour in South Africa.Social implicationsIt also improves the understanding of how consumer socialization agents and personal attitudes affect alcohol consumption of young people in South Africa and help deal with the problem through policy changes and social marketing interventions.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to estimate three socialization agents and personal attitude of youth in alcohol consumption behaviour in an emerging market context.

Company-Specific Revenues From Underage Drinking

Alcohol is the most commonly used illegal drug among U.S. high school students. This study aimed to estimate the proportion of drinks and sales revenue accruing to alcoholic beverage companies that were attributable to underage consumption in 2011 and 2016. We used national survey data to estimate the number of adult and underage past-30-day drinkers, median volume of alcohol consumed, beverage preferences, and alcohol price by beverage type. We used Impact Databank to determine the total number of alcoholic drinks sold. After adjusting for underreporting, we applied the percentage of alcohol reported to be consumed by underage youth on surveys to the alcohol sales data by beverage type and assigned a beverage-specific cost. Underage youth drank 11.73% of the alcoholic drinks sold in the U.S. market in 2011 and 8.6% in 2016. Total sales revenue attributable to underage consumption was $20.9 billion (10.0%) out of a total of $208.0 billion in 2011 and $17.5 billion (7.4%) out of $237.1 billion in 2016. Three alcoholic beverage companies represented nearly half (43.5%) of the market share of beverages consumed by underage youth. Despite the alcoholic beverage industry's stated commitment to reducing underage drinking, significant revenues appear to accrue from this activity. This presents an opportunity to enact and enforce policies--such as alcohol taxes or required company funding of independently managed youth drinking prevention initiatives--that recover these revenues from the industry and use them to help achieve the goal of preventing youth alcohol consumption.

A community intervention to reduce alcohol consumption and drunkenness among adolescents in Sweden: a quasi-experiment

BackgroundSeveral studies have examined the effect of community interventions on youth alcohol consumption, and the results have often been mixed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a community intervention known as the Öckerö Method on adolescent alcohol consumption and perceived parental attitudes towards adolescent drinking.MethodThe study is based on a quasi-experimental design, using matched controls. Self-report studies were conducted among adolescents in grades 7–9 of compulsory education in four control and four intervention communities in the south of Sweden in 2016–2018. Baseline measures were collected in autumn 2016 before the intervention was implemented in the intervention communities. Outcomes were the adolescents’ alcohol consumption, past-year drunkenness, past-month drunkenness and perceived parental attitudes towards alcohol.ResultsEstimating Difference-in-Difference models using Linear Probability Models, we found no empirical evidence that the intervention has any effect on adolescents’ drinking habits, or on their perceptions of their parents’ attitudes towards adolescent drinking.ConclusionThis is the first evaluation of this method, and we found no evidence that the intervention had any effect on the level of either young people’s alcohol consumption or their past-year or past-month drunkenness, nor on their parents’ perceived attitudes toward adolescent drinking. A further improvement would be to employ a follow-up period that is longer than the three-year period employed in this study.Trial registrationISRCTN registry: Study ID: 51635778, 31th March 2021 (Retrospectively registered).

Adapting research methodology during COVID-19: lessons for transformative service research

PurposeCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has created a challenging, yet opportunistic, environment in which to conduct transformative service research (TSR) and assess research methodology. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and gain important new insights of a group interviewing method with vulnerable people and their support group, adapted and transferred online during COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachThis research examines the experiences of 35 participants (nine family groups composed of parents and young people), involved in a research project that explores a sensitive topic, youth alcohol consumption and family communication, that was moved online during lockdown. Researcher reflections on running group interviews face-to-face prior to COVID- 19 and online during lockdown are included in the data.FindingsThematic analysis of participant interviews and researcher reflections reveals four key benefits and three limitations of online group interviews with vulnerable people and their support group. The benefits include being comfortable, non-intrusive and safe; engaging and convenient; online communication ease and easy set-up. The limitations relate to lack of non-verbal communication, poor set-up, and privacy and access issues.Practical implicationsThe global environment is uncertain and being able to implement effective qualitative research online is essential for TSR and service research in the future. This paper provides a step by step procedure for an innovative online group interviewing technique that can be used by TSR and qualitative service researchers.Originality/valueConducting research during a pandemic has provided unprecedented insights into qualitative research approaches and methodology. This paper contributes to literature on service and TSR methodology by providing a framework for researchers to investigate vulnerable groups online in an effective, safe and non-intrusive way. The framework also has the potential to be applied to other service contexts.

The impact of broad-based vs targeted taxation on youth alcohol consumption in Lebanon

This study aims to model youth's off-premise alcohol demand and forecasts ethanol intake responsiveness to alcohol taxes. Using stated preference alcohol purchase data from a survey of 1024 university students in Lebanon, we derive price elasticities that we use to forecast the effects of two excise tax scenarios on overall ethanol intake. The first scenario imposes a broad-based 20% tax on all types of alcoholic beverages, and the second scenario imposes a targeted 20% tax only on the high ethanol content, while exempting the lower ethanol beverages. Overall, targeted taxes are found to achieve a reduction in ethanol intake that is nearly three times that achieved by broad taxes (15.7% vs 5.3%). For 'past-month binge drinkers', targeted taxes would decrease alcohol intake by 16.3%, while broad taxes increase it by 3.3%. Finally, ethanol intake among participants who prefer low ethanol content would decrease under targeted taxes by more than five times as much as under broad taxes. For 'high-ethanol drinkers', targeted taxes decrease alcohol intake by an even larger proportion than for 'low-ethanol drinkers' (19.0% vs 15.6%), while broad taxes increase their ethanol intake by ∼16.0%. This study contributes evidence that taxation policy substantially reduces alcohol consumption and that alcohol consumption patterns should be accounted for when designing taxes.

The decline in youth drinking in England-is everyone drinking less? A quantile regression analysis.

Background and AimsYouth alcohol consumption has declined significantly during the past 15 years in many high‐income countries, which may have significant public health benefits. However, if the reductions in drinking occur mainly among lighter drinkers who are at lower risk, then rates of alcohol‐related harm among young people today and adults in future may not fall in line with consumption. There is conflicting evidence from Swedish school studies, with some suggesting that all young people are drinking less, while others suggest that alcohol consumption among heavier drinkers may be stable or rising while average consumption declines. This paper extends the geographical focus of previous research and examines whether the decline in youth drinking is consistent across the consumption distribution in England.DesignQuantile regression of 15 waves of repeat cross‐sectional survey data.SettingEngland, 2001–16.ParticipantsA total of 31 882 schoolchildren (50.7% male) aged 11–15 who responded to the Smoking Drinking and Drug Use among Young People surveys.MeasurementsPast‐week alcohol consumption in UK units at each fifth percentile of the consumption distribution.FindingsReductions in alcohol consumption occurred at all percentiles of the consumption distribution analysed between 2001 and 2016, but the magnitude of the decline differed across percentiles. The decline in consumption at the 90th percentile [β = −0.21, confidence interval (CI) = −0.24, −0.18] was significantly larger than among either lighter drinkers at the 50th percentile (β = −0.02, CI = −0.02, −0.01) or heavier drinkers at the 95th percentile (β = −0.16, CI = −0.18, −0.13).ConclusionsAlcohol consumption among young people in England appears to be declining across the consumption distribution, and peaks among heavy drinkers. The magnitude of this decline differs significantly between percentiles of the consumption distribution, with consumption falling proportionally less among the lightest, moderate and very heaviest youth drinkers.

Electrophysiological Correlates of an Alcohol-Cued Go/NoGo Task: A Dual-Process Approach to Binge Drinking in University Students.

Binge drinking is a common pattern of alcohol consumption in adolescence and youth. Neurocognitive dual-process models attribute substance use disorders and risk behaviours during adolescence to an imbalance between an overactivated affective-automatic system (involved in motivational and affective processing) and a reflective system (involved in cognitive inhibitory control). The aim of the present study was to investigate at the electrophysiological level the degree to which the motivational value of alcohol-related stimuli modulates the inhibition of a prepotent response in binge drinkers. First-year university students (n = 151, 54 % females) classified as binge drinkers (n = 71, ≥6 binge drinking episodes, defined as 5/7 standard drinks per occasion in the last 180 days) and controls (n = 80, <6 binge drinking episodes in the last 180 days) performed a beverage Go/NoGo task (pictures of alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks were presented according to the condition as Go or NoGo stimuli; Go probability = 0.75) during event-related potential recording. In binge drinkers but not controls, the amplitude of the anterior N2-NoGo was larger in response to nonalcohol than in response to alcohol pictures. No behavioural difference in task performance was observed. In terms of dual-process models, binge drinkers may require increased activation to monitor conflict in order to compensate for overactivation of the affective-automatic system caused by alcohol-related bias.

Disentangling the role of social cognition processes at early steps of alcohol abuse: The influence of affective theory of mind

Excessive alcohol use among adolescents has become a pressing challenge among Western societies. Accordingly, one of the current research objectives is to identify the processes associated with this harmful habit. Although numerous studies have underlined the role of executive and motivational processes, few have explored emotional and interpersonal abilities at early steps of alcohol abuse. The present study evaluated the role of two social cognition processes, namely theory of mind (ability to infer others’ mental states at cognitive and affective levels) and empathy (ability to understand others’ feelings at cognitive and affective levels) in adolescents’ alcohol consumption. Two hundred and two adolescents (13–20 years old) performed a behavioral task evaluating theory of mind and filled in questionnaires measuring personal data, empathy, alcohol consumption (alcohol abuse and specific binge drinking), as well as depressive and anxiety symptoms. Findings showed that cognitive and affective empathy were negatively associated with alcohol consumption in youth whereas affective theory of mind was related to specific binge drinking. Importantly, affective theory of mind predicted binge drinking in adolescents, even after controlling for age, gender, and education level. These results emphasized the role of social cognition in early alcohol abuse and showed that, beyond inhibition, interpersonal abilities might precipitate excessive drinking in youth.

Correlates of Alcohol Consumption and Drug Injection among Homeless Youth: A Case Study in the Southeast of Iran.

BackgroundAlcohol use and drug injection are prevalent among homeless youths. The aim of this study was to identify the associated factors of alcohol consumption and drug injection among homeless youths aged 18-29 years.MethodsData on 202 homeless youths (111 males and 91 females) were collected using a standardized questionnaire and face-to-face interview. Lasso logistic regression was applied to determine the impact of associated factors on alcohol consumption and drug injection.FindingsThe mean age of the participants was 26.30 ± 3.19 years. Also, the prevalence of alcohol consumption and drug injection was 33.0% [95% confidence interval (CI): 30-36] and 4.0% (95% CI: 0-8), respectively; 6 people (3.0%) consumed alcohol and injected drugs at the same time. Correlates of alcohol consumption and drug injection were male sex [odds ratio (OR)Alc = 5.7], age (ORAlc = 0.96 and ORDI = 0.98), bachelor or higher education level (ORAlc = 1.34), non-Iranian nationality (ORAlc = 0.05 and ORDI = 0.18), food score (ORDI = 0.92), smoking (ORAlc = 2.05), substance use (ORAlc = 1.12), opposite sex relationship (ORAlc = 1.6), homosexual relationship (ORAlc = 3.56 and ORDI = 2.69), and mental disorder (ORAlc = 0.99).ConclusionBased on our findings, it seems that the homeless youth are more desired to use alcohol and drug injection, whereas the prevalence of alcohol consumption and drug injection in homeless youth was higher than general youth population in Iran. Therefore, some suitable solutions are needed to prevent the homelessness. Also, the effective variables that were identified in this study for alcohol use and drug injection can help design and implement beneficial interventions.

Identifying patterns of alcohol use among secondary school students in Canada: A multilevel latent class analysis

IntroductionHarm from alcohol use depend not only on the volume of consumption but also on drinking patterns. This study identifies patterns of alcohol consumption in youth and investigates how these patterns vary across schools and whether individual- and school-level factors are associated with engagement in patterns of alcohol consumption. MethodsThe sample consists of 45,298 grade 9 to 12 students attending 89 secondary schools across Ontario and Alberta (Canada), who participated in the COMPASS study during the school year 2013–14. The frequency of drinking, the frequency of binge drinking, and age of alcohol-use initiation were used to characterize alcohol use patterns. ResultsThe multilevel latent class analysis identified 4 student-level latent groups and 2 school-level latent groups. Student-level groups of youth were characterized as non-drinkers (44.2%), light drinkers (41.8%), regular drinkers (11.1%), and heavy drinkers (2.9%). Two groups of schools were characterized as either low-use (44.9%) or high-use (55.1%) schools, with significantly different probability of membership in each student-level group. Male students (OR 1.30) and upper grades (OR 1.93) were significantly associated with membership in higher use groups of individuals. The median household income and the number of off-premise alcohol outlets had no significant association with patterns of alcohol consumption within schools. ConclusionsA large proportion of students reported a level of drinking, suggesting that, in addition to delaying the onset of alcohol use, interventions need to encourage drinker students to quit drinking or lower their consumption. Schools may need to select and/or alter external interventions according to the dominant patterns of alcohol use among their students.

Relative importance of caregiver characteristics for future alcohol consumption in youth involved with child welfare system

BackgroundAdolescents involved with child welfare system are disproportionately at risk for underage drinking. Little empirical evidence has informed interventions targeting child welfare caregivers to prevent alcohol consumption among adolescents involved with the system. MethodsThe present study addressed this gap by examining modifiable caregiver characteristics most predictive of future underage drinking in a cohort of adolescents (N = 1205) in a nationally representative child welfare dataset. We used dominance analyses to examine direct contributions of each caregiver predictor to the overall variance of future alcohol use. This is the first study to apply the reputable Turrisi and Jaccard (2001) framework of familial processes affecting underage drinking to the child welfare population. ResultsFindings highlight the role of caregiver-adolescent relational quality and communications for predicting underage alcohol use, and downplay the role of caregiver monitoring. ConclusionsChild welfare service systems may help prevent underage drinking by systematically training and motivating caregivers to foster trusting, helping relationships and regular communications with the adolescents in their care.