Wetter and Better?

Abstract

Background/Aims: The consumption of alcohol and the frequency of intoxication among Norwegian youth increased significantly from 1992 to 2002, and we thus asked what, if anything, can be expected to happen to rates of other problem behaviors when heavy drinking becomes more widespread? Do such aggregate level changes in alcohol use imply that individual level associations between drunkenness and behavioral deviance change as well? Method: School-based surveys of 16- to 19-year-old Norwegians that were carried out in 1992 (n = 4,744, response rate 97%) and 2002 (n = 5,458, response rate 92%). Results: Contrary to rates of drunkenness, the level of theft/pilfering declined from 1992 to 2002, while rates of aggressive behavior and school misconduct remained unchanged. We assumed that heavy-drinking adolescents were relatively less deviant with regard to non-violent problem behaviors when the youth culture was relatively ‘wet’ (2002) as compared to the period when it was much ‘drier’ (1992) and revealed that this was the case. However, the link between drunkenness and aggressive behavior was equally strong at both assessments. Conclusion: Differential temporal trends in the associations between drunkenness and various problem behaviors may reflect variations with respect to the etiological significance of alcohol use on such behaviors.

Is the Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Violence Relative to the Level of Consumption?

“…This is in line with other studies of Norwegian youth based on other data and covering the same period (Skretting and Bye 2003;Pape et al 2008). As overall consumption has increased significantly and young people drink relatively much, this is also in line with what could be theoretically expected from the total consumption model (Skog 1980).…”

“…However, this is not likely. In fact a recent study shows that the drinking pattern in Norway has been quite stable over the last 30 years (Horverak and Bye 2007), and this study and other survey studies among adolescents have shown that frequency of intoxication has increased at least as much as overall consumption (Pape et al 2008). Moreover, we also found that the association between intoxication and the risk of violence was lower in the wetter period.…”

“…Since alcohol-related aggression occurs more frequently among boys than among girls, we might expect that the prevalence of alcohol-related aggression would have been slightly higher if more boys had answered the questionnaire. However, in a recent study of Norwegian adolescents (16-19-yearolds) in 1992 and 2002 with response rates of 97% and 92%, aggressive behaviour did not increase in the period, although (like in our study) there was a substantial increase in intoxication incidents (Pape et al 2008).…”

“…Ellickson et al 2001;Rossow 2006). Such a clustering of heavy drinking and other problem behaviours seems to be a more prominent phenomenon in a period with relatively low consumption compared to a period with higher consumption (Pape et al 2008), and consequently deviant or problem-prone individuals seem to constitute a larger fraction of the heavy drinkers in a 'dry' period or society when heavy drinking is a more marginal phenomenon compared to in a 'wetter' period or society. This may imply that heavy drinking to a larger extent carries the risk of violence in 'dry' societies where heavy drinking is a marginal phenomenon and heavy drinkers are more likely to be socially deviant in various respects, compared to in 'wetter' societies where heavy drinking is more common and heavy drinkers are less socially deviant.…”

“…In Norway total alcohol consumption (registered sales and estimated unregistered consumption) has increased by approximately 30% over the past 10 years, and among young people selfreported consumption has increased by more than 60% (Bryhni 2006). The frequency of drinking to intoxication has also increased significantly in the same period in Norway (Horverak and Bye 2007;Rossow 2007;Pape et al 2008). Thus, in recent years Norwegian adolescents have been part of what can be labelled as a much 'wetter' society compared to adolescents a decade earlier.…”