Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T15:01:18.140Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2017

K. S. Betts ,
R. Alati ,
P. Baker ,
P. Letcher ,
D. Hutchinson ,
G. Youssef  and
C. A. Olsson
K. S. Betts*
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland, School of Population Health, Herston, QLD, Australia
R. Alati
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland, School of Population Health, Herston, QLD, Australia
P. Baker
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland, School of Population Health, Herston, QLD, Australia
P. Letcher
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
D. Hutchinson
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development School of Psychology, VIC, Australia Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Centre for Adolescent Health, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
G. Youssef
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development School of Psychology, VIC, Australia Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Centre for Adolescent Health, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
C. A. Olsson
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development School of Psychology, VIC, Australia Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Centre for Adolescent Health, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
*
*Address for correspondence K. S. Betts, Ph.D., Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland, Cycad Building, Long Pocket Precinct, 4072, QLD, Australia. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

We aimed to describe the natural history of heavy episodic drinking (HED) and associated harms from adolescence to young adulthood in a large Australian population cohort study.

Method

The Australian Temperament Project consists of mothers and babies (4–8 months) recruited from Infant Welfare Centres and followed every 2 to 4 years until age 28 years. Analyses were based on data from 1156 young people (497 male; 659 female) surveyed repeatedly at ages 16, 18, 20, 24 and 28 years. We used dual processes latent class growth analysis to estimate trajectories of HED and associated harms, employing a piecewise approach to model the hypothesized rise and subsequent fall across adolescence and the late twenties, respectively.

Results

We identified four sex-specific trajectories and observed little evidence of maturing-out across the twenties. In males, a normative pattern of increasing HED across the twenties with little related harm was observed (40% of the male sample). Early and late starter groups that peaked in harms at age 20 years with only minor attenuation in binging thereafter were also observed (6.1% and 35%, respectively). In females, a normative pattern of increasing, but moderate, HED with little related harm was observed (44% of the female sample). Early and late starter groups were also identified (18% and 17%, respectively); however, unlike males, the female late starter group showed a pattern of increasing HED and related harms.

Conclusions

Continued patterns of risky alcohol use and related harms are apparent for both males and females across the twenties.

Keywords

Adolescencealcohol-related harmsheavy episodic drinkingmaturing outyoung adulthood
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , January 2018 , pp. 23 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alati, R, Betts, KS, Williams, GM, Najman, JM, Hall, WD (2014). Generational increase in young women's drinking: a prospective analysis of mother–daughter dyads. JAMA Psychiatry 71, 952–957.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byrne, BM (2012). Structural Equation Modeling with Mplus: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming. Routledge Academic: New York.Google Scholar
Chikritzhs, T, Catalano, P, Stockwell, T, Donath, S, Ngo, H, Young, D, Matthews, S (2003). Australian Alcohol Indicators, 1990–2001. Patterns of alcohol use and related harms for Australian states and territories. National Drug Research Institute: Perth, Australia (https://ndri.curtin.edu.au/local/docs/pdf/naip/naipaaifullreport.pdf).Google Scholar
Geels, LM, Bartels, M, van Beijsterveldt, TC, Willemsen, G, van der Aa, N, Boomsma, DI, Vink, JM (2012). Trends in adolescent alcohol use: effects of age, sex and cohort on prevalence and heritability. Addiction 107, 518–527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goddard, E (2008). General Household Survey 2006: Smoking and Drinking Among Adults. Office for National Statistics: London.Google Scholar
Hibbert, M, Caust, J, Patton, GC, Rosier, M, Bowes, G (1996). The Health of Young People in Victoria: Adolescent Health Survey. C. f. A. H. Monograph: Melbourne.Google Scholar
Holmila, M, Raitasalo, K (2005). Gender differences in drinking: why do they still exist? Addiction 100, 1763–1769.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howard, SJ, Gordon, R, Jones, SC (2014). Australian alcohol policy 2001–2013 and implications for public health. BMC Public Health 14, 848.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jackson, KM, Sher, KJ, Schulenberg, JE (2005). Conjoint developmental trajectories of young adult alcohol and tobacco use. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 114, 612–626.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keyes, KM, Li, GH, Hasin, DS (2011). Birth cohort effects and gender differences in alcohol epidemiology: a review and synthesis. Alcoholism-Clinical and Experimental Research 35, 2101–2112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keyes, KM, Miech, R (2013). Age, period, and cohort effects in heavy episodic drinking in the US from 1985 to 2009. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 132, 140–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, MR, Chassin, L, Villalta, IK (2013). Maturing out of alcohol involvement: transitions in latent drinking statuses from late adolescence to adulthood. Development and Psychopathology 25, 1137–1153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Little, K, Hawkins, MT, Sanson, A, O'Connor, M, Toumbourou, JW, Smart, D, Vassallo, S (2013). Longitudinal predictors of alcohol-related harms during the transition to adulthood. Australian Psychologist 48, 270–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, K, Hawkins, MT, Sanson, A, Toumbourou, JW, Smart, D, Vassallo, S, O'Connor, M (2012). The longitudinal prediction of alcohol consumption-related harms among young adults. Substance Use and Misuse 47, 1303–1317.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maggs, JL, Schulenberg, JE (2004). Trajectories of alcohol use during the transition to adulthood. Alcohol Research 28, 195–201.Google Scholar
Meier, MH, Caspi, A, Houts, R, Slutske, WS, Harrington, H, Jackson, KM, Belsky, DW, Poulton, R, Moffitt, TE (2013). Prospective developmental subtypes of alcohol dependence from age 18 to 32 years: implications for nosology, etiology, and intervention. Development and Psychopathology 25, 785–800.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Midford, R, Mitchell, J, Lester, L, Cahill, H, Foxcroft, D, Ramsden, R, Venning, L, Pose, M (2014). Preventing alcohol harm: early results from a cluster randomised, controlled trial in Victoria, Australia of comprehensive harm minimisation school drug education. International Journal of Drug Policy 25, 142–150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muthén, LK, Muthén, BO (1998–2010). Mplus User's Guide. Muthén & Muthén: Los Angeles, CA.Google Scholar
National Institutes of Health (2016). Drinking levels defined (https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/moderate-binge-drinking).Google Scholar
Nylund, KL, Asparouhov, T, Muthén, BO (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: a Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modelling 14, 535–569.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patrick, ME, Schulenberg, JE (2011). How trajectories of reasons for alcohol use relate to trajectories of binge drinking: national panel data spanning late adolescence to early adulthood. Developmental Psychology 47, 311–317.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Powers, JR, Anderson, AE, Byles, JE, Mishra, G, Loxton, DJ (2015). Do women grow out of risky drinking? A prospective study of three cohorts of Australian women. Drug and Alcohol Review 34, 278–288.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prior, MR, Sanson, A, Smart, D, Oberklaid, F (2000). Pathways from Infancy to Adolescence: Australian Temperament Project 1983–2000. Australian Institute of Family Studies: Melbourne.Google Scholar
Rehm, J, Mathers, C, Popova, S, Thavorncharoensap, M, Teerawattananon, Y, Patra, J (2009). Global burden of disease and injury and economic cost attributable to alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders. Lancet 373, 2223–2233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roche, AM, Deehan, A (2002). Women's alcohol consumption: emerging patterns, problems and public health implications. Drug and Alcohol Review 21, 169–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanson, AV, Prior, M, Oberklaid, F (1985). Normative data on temperament in Australian infants. Australian Journal of Psychology 37, 185–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staff, J, Greene, KM, Maggs, JL, Schoon, I (2014). Family transitions and changes in drinking from adolescence through mid-life. Addiction 109, 227–236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, K, Stockwell, T, Leadbeater, B, Homel, J (2014). Association among different measures of alcohol use across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Addiction 109, 894–903.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Umberson, D (1987). Family status and health behaviors: social control as a dimension of social integration. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 28, 306–319.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vergés, A, Haeny, AM, Jackson, KM, Bucholz, KK, Grant, JD, Trull, TJ, Wood, PK, Sher, KJ (2013). Refining the notion of maturing out: results from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions. American Journal of Public Health 103, e67–e73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vergés, A, Jackson, KM, Bucholz, KK, Grant, JD, Trull, TJ, Wood, PK, Sher, KJ (2012). Deconstructing the age-prevalence curve of alcohol dependence: why “maturing out” is only a small piece of the puzzle. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 121, 511–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wechsler, H, Austin, SB (1998). Binge drinking: the five/four measure. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 59, 122–124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yamaguchi, K, Kandel, DB (1985). On the resolution of role incompatibility: a life event history analysis of family roles and marijuana use. American Journal of Sociology 90, 1284–1325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zucker, RA (1986). The four alcoholisms: a developmental account of the etiologic process. In Alcohol and Addictive Behaviors: Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (ed. Rivers, PC), pp. 27–84. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, NE.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Betts et al supplementary material 1

Supplementary Table

Download Betts et al supplementary material 1(File)
File 259.6 KB
Supplementary material: File

Betts et al supplementary material 2

Supplementary Table

Download Betts et al supplementary material 2(File)
File 30.2 KB