Student survey trends in reported alcohol use and influencing factors in Australia

Abstract

Reductions in adolescent alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use from 1999 to 2015 were associated with similar reductions in parent favourable attitudes and availability of substances. It is plausible that a reduced tendency for parents and other adults to supply adolescent alcohol are implicated in the reductions in adolescent alcohol use observed across Australia.

Alcohol and injury risk at a Western Australian school Leavers Festival

“…Additional factors may have been an increased police presence, greater attempts to prevent large quantities of alcohol entering public accommodation sites and campaigns discouraging parental supply in the lead up to the Festival. Lastly, recent research indicates a decline in teenage drinking rates, indicating changes in external drinking habits are possibly observable during the Leavers Festivals …”

Underage alcohol sales in community sporting clubs

“…The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia recommends those who are under 18 years of age should avoid alcohol . Evidence indicates rates of adolescent alcohol use have fallen in recent decades both in Australia and internationally . Despite this trend, data from 2015 show 45% of Australian adolescents aged 13–14 years use alcohol, with higher rates in older age groups .…”

Exploring the changing landscape of youth drinking—we are still drawing the map

“…The changes in youth drinking seem to have been concurrent with changes in parenting practices; six studies in this special issue identify increases in parental supervision [6][7][8][9][10][11] and parents' attitudes towards youth drinking becoming more restrictive [6,7,9,11]. Larm et al [6], however, also show changes in parenting practices of the same magnitude among those youth that drink, which implies a general increase in parental supervision that is not confined to non-drinking youth.…”

“…The changes in youth drinking seem to have been concurrent with changes in parenting practices; six studies in this special issue identify increases in parental supervision and parents’ attitudes towards youth drinking becoming more restrictive . Larm et al .…”