The National Drug and Research Centre Annual Symposium will hear about research that finds the heaviest teen drinkers consumeÌý11Ìýto 15 drinks in one session.
Marion Downey
91É«ÇéƬ National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
0401 713 850
m.downey@unsw.edu.au
Fewer young people are drinking,Ìýbut the one in five teenagers who areÌýcontinuing toÌýdrinkÌýat risky levelsÌýappear to do so in higherÌýquantitiesÌýthan their predecessorsÌýand experienceÌýsignificant harms, research to be presented at the National Drug and Research Centre Annual Symposium has found.Ìý
The survey of 3,500 of the heaviest drinking top quarter of 14- to 19-year-oldsÌýfound they were drinkingÌýaÌýmedianÌý(middle point)ÌýofÌý13Ìýstandard drinksÌý(15Ìýfor males andÌý11Ìýfor females)ÌýonÌýa single occasion,ÌýandÌýthree-quarters had experienced a negative event, including one in five who had blacked out.ÌýÌý
In another presentation, research from the sixth year of data from 91É«ÇéƬ’s landmark parental supply of alcohol study has found that 17-year-olds given alcohol by their parents in the earlier years, even sips, were more likely toÌýbinge drink and show symptoms of dependence and alcohol use disorders than those who had not obtained alcohol from parents or other sources.Ìý
A third study on drinking and teens to be presented at the conference has found that teens who drank to cope with symptoms of anxiety and depression were twice as likely to progress to high risk drinking by age 21.
Research led by Professor SteveÌýAllsopÌýand Dr Tina Lam of Curtin University’s National Drug Research Institute surveyed 3,500 14- to 19-year-olds,Ìýwho were the heaviest-drinking 25% of their age group.
The surveys were conducted face to face and online as part of the Young Australians Alcohol Reporting System (YAARS), a collaboration between Curtin University, 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney and Turning Point in Melbourne.Ìý
"We have targeted this group because theyÌýare underrepresented in ourÌýnational household surveys,"Ìýsaid chief investigator Dr Tina Lam. "We know from other studies that rates of alcohol-related emergency department presentations in Australian teenagers is twice as high as for other Australians and far too many ambulance call outs for alcohol related incidents involve those under the age of 18."
Dr Lam said we don’t know enough about this high-risk group’s heavy drinking sessions.
"These heavy drinking sessions are the ones that areÌýassociatedÌýwith the greatest harms – we wanted to know details such as exactly how much they were consuming, where they were drinking, where they obtained the alcohol and the range of harms they experienced," she said.ÌýÌý
"When we asked about their most recent heavy drinking occasion, the median quantity was 15 standard drinksÌýfor malesÌýand for femalesÌý11,Ìýand they told us this was a fairly normal drinking session for them,Ìýand for most hadÌýoccurred in the previous fortnight."ÌýÌý
The researchers found that much of this drinking was on private premises and that most of those who took part in the study accessed alcohol fromÌýfriends,Ìýbut also from licensed bottle shops.
Nearly a quarter of the drinkers under the age of 18 said that the last time they tried to buy alcohol from the bottle shop,Ìýthe purchaseÌýwas "very easy"Ìýand took less than an hour.
When asked how they chose their drinks, taste was closely followed by price and strength.Ìý
But parents who think they might be helping their children by supplying alcohol and supervising sips and whole drinks for their younger teens are putting them at increased risk of binge drinking, says 91É«ÇéƬ Professor RichardÌýMattick, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow at NDARC.Ìý
To reduce the risks of alcohol-related harms, parents should avoid supplying alcohol to children.
Professor MattickÌýand colleagues have been following nearly 2,000 children, and their parents, for the past six years, first recruited into the study at age 12 to 13. By age 17 to 18, any protective effects of parental supply have dissipated, data to be presented at the conference has shown.Ìý
"At around 17 years of age children who received alcohol from their parents were more likely to be binge drinking, experience alcohol-related harms and show symptoms of dependence,"ÌýsaidÌýProfessorÌýMattick.Ìý
"These results contrast with the results we obtained when the children were 15-yearÌýoldsÌýwhen parental supply was associated with drinking but not with drinking to excess."Ìý
It seemedÌýthat the passage of time did not see moderation of consumption, but rather an increase in drinking problems,ÌýProfessorÌýMattick said.
"There was no evidence to support the view that in the long term, whenÌýteensÌýare on the cusp of adulthood, that parental supply is any way protective," he said. "Rather, to reduce the risks of alcohol related harms parents should avoid supplying alcohol to children."Ìý
The reasonsÌýyoung peopleÌýdrinkÌýalso has an impact onÌýlong-term adverse outcomes, saidÌý91É«ÇéƬ Senior Research fellow DrÌýLexineÌýStapinski.
Results of a collaboration between 91É«ÇéƬÌýandÌýthe University of Bristol in the UK will be presented at the conference. The researchÌýanalysed how alcohol use changes from adolescence to early adulthood using data from a UK birth cohort.
"We found that risky drinking was more common among young people with an anxiety disorder, and that teenagers who drank to cope with anxiety or depression were two times more likely to progress to higherÌýrisk drinking over the transition to adulthood,"ÌýDr Stapinski said.
"The next step for our team is to evaluate the impact ofÌýan onlineÌýcognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)ÌýprogramÌýfor anxious young people, which aims toÌýenhance anxiety coping skills, and prevent escalation of alcohol use."
What: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre Annual SymposiumÌý
When: October 3 - 4
Where: John Niland Scientia Centre, 91É«ÇéƬ, KensingtonÌý
View the conference programÌýÌý