Rapid transition from drinking to alcohol dependence among adolescent and young-adult newly incident drinkers in the United States, 2002–2013

Abstract

Background To study male-female and age differences in estimates of rapid transition from first full drink to alcohol dependence among youthful newly incident drinkers in the United States (US). Method The study population included 12-to-25-year-old non-institutionalized US civilian residents, sampled for US National Surveys on Drug Use and Health 2002–2013, with assessments via confidential computer assisted self-interviews. Newly incident drinkers are those who had their first full drink soon before the assessment (n=32,562 12–25 year olds). Alcohol dependence (AD) criteria are from DSM-IV. Results For 12-to-25-year-old females, the peak risk for making a rapid transition from first full drink to alcohol dependence is seen during adolescence, followed by declining estimates (meta-analysis summary=3% at 12–17 years of age, 95% CI= 2%, 3%). Among males, corresponding estimates fluctuate around 2%, with no appreciable differences across age strata. Among 12-to-17-year-old newly incident drinkers, there is a female excess in the rapid transition to alcohol dependence; a male excess is observed among young adult newly incident drinkers. Evaluated cohort-wise, using an epidemiological mutoscope view, individual cohorts show a congruent pattern, with age at first drink held constant. Conclusions Studying multiple replication samples of young newly incident drinkers, we discovered a clear female excess in the risk of a rapid transition from first full drink to alcohol dependence among adolescents, with age patterns differing across males and females.

Las transiciones en el uso de alcohol en una cohorte de nacimiento-sexo en la población general: el proyecto transversal PEGASUS-Murcia

“…En estos estudios, los índices de prevalencia dependen en gran medida de la prevalencia de los TCA en los varones (8,6% y 2,5% para abuso de alcohol y dependencia, respectivamente) en comparación con las mujeres (1,1% y 0,1%) (Navarro-Mateu et al, 2015). En el presente estudio, ser varón estaba fuertemente asociado a un mayor riesgo de transición de uso a abuso y de uso regular a abuso, lo cual es consistente con los resultados de otras regiones del mundo (Cheng, Chandra, Alcover y Anthony, 2016;DeWit et al, 2000;Grant, 1997;Kalaydjian et al, 2009;Lee et al, 2009;Lopez-Quintero et al, 2011;Silveira et al, 2011;Suliman et al, 2010). Sin embargo, el sexo no se asociaba significativamente con el riesgo de transición de uso a uso regular ni tampoco con el inicio de uso de al-cohol, que en parte puede reflejar un acortamiento de las diferencias entre hombres y mujeres en el uso de sustancias observado en los últimos años (Slade et al, 2016).…”

“…Como se mencionó anteriormente, determinados factores de riesgo tienen un efecto diferencial en el espectro total de los estadios de uso de alcohol (Kalaydjian et al, 2009;Lee et al, 2009;Silveira et al, 2011;Suliman et al, 2010). Estudios previos sugieren de hecho que la edad temprana de uso de alcohol se asociaba con algunos, pero no con todos, los estadios de uso de alcohol (Silveira et al, 2011), y que puede no afectar la rápida transición a trastornos de alcohol entre adolescentes o jóvenes varones (Cheng et al, 2016). Se requieren investigaciones adicionales para documentar el rol diferencial de los factores clave asociados a mayor riesgo de transición a los TCA en España, incluyendo el rol de la edad temprana de inicio en el uso de alcohol.…”

Age of onset or age at assessment—that is the question: Estimating newly incident alcohol drinking and rapid transition to heavy drinking in the United States, 2002–2014

“…One suspects that this kind of missingness might be more likely to be faced among 19‐to‐20‐year‐old drinkers who live alone compared to 12‐to‐18‐year‐old drinkers (to the extent that younger adolescent drinkers are less likely to live alone and therefore should be included on sampling rosters listed by parents and adult caregivers). Nonetheless, only a small proportion of 19‐to‐20‐year‐olds live alone, and only a small proportion of new drinkers experience alcohol dependence within the first 12 months after drinking onset (Cheng et al, ). Therefore, we suspect that differential rostering and participation do not have a large enough effect to completely account for the observed pattern of a dip in incidence at age 19–20 years, followed by an increase in incidence at age 21 years.…”

“…In the NSDUH publicly downloadable dataset, age was binned into age pairs for 22–25 year olds. As in previous published estimates, newly incident drinkers are individuals who consumed their first full drink within the 12 months prior to the assessment (Cheng & Anthony, ; Cheng, Chandra, Alcover, & Anthony, ).…”

Female–male differences in alcohol dependence levels: Evidence on newly incident adolescent and young‐adult drinkers in the United States, 2002–2014

“…According to recent US estimates, 50% of adolescents have taken a first drink by the age of 16 years, and approximately 90% of individuals have had a first drink by the age of 21 years (Cheng, Cantave, & Anthony, 2016a). Among newly incident drinkers, roughly three percent (3%) develop an alcohol dependence syndrome (ADS) within 12 months after the first full drink (Cheng, Chandra, Alcover, & Anthony, 2016; Lopez-Quintero et al, 2011).…”