How alike are young non-drinkers, former-drinkers, low-risk drinkers, and hazardous drinkers?

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de Visser, Richard O, Hart, Angie, Abraham, Charles, Graber, Rebecca, Scanlon, Tom and Memon, Anjum (2014) How alike are young non-drinkers, former-drinkers, low-risk drinkers, and hazardous drinkers? Addictive Behaviors, 39 (8). pp. 1258-1264. ISSN 0306-4603

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine whether – in terms of personality characteristics and beliefs – former-drinkers and people who have never consumed alcohol exist on a continuum that includes low-risk drinkers and hazardous drinkers, or are distinct groups. An online questionnaire hosted on a secure server was completed by 1418 young people (642 men and 776 women) aged 16–21 living in South-East England. Participants' scores on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) were used to classify them as non-drinkers, former-drinkers, low-risk drinkers or hazardous drinkers. Multinomial logistic regression identified eight significant multivariate correlates that explained 39% of the variance in men's AUDIT category membership (χ2(24) = 263.32, p < .01), and seven significant multivariate correlates that explained 41% of the variance in women's AUDIT category membership (χ2(21) = 332.91, p < .01). The results suggest that non-drinkers and former-drinkers are more similar to each other than they are to both low risk and hazardous drinkers. We should not, therefore, treat these groups of young people as representing a drinking continuum. In particular, interventions for high risk young drinkers may be more effective if distinguished from general campaigns intended for all young people.

Item Type: Article
Schools and Departments: Brighton and Sussex Medical School > Primary Care and Public Health
School of Psychology > Psychology
Subjects: Q Science > QZ Psychology
R Medicine
R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Related URLs:
Depositing User: Tom Marshall
Date Deposited: 30 Jul 2014 13:11
Last Modified: 28 Sep 2017 14:56
URI: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/49439

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