National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2018 Jan;42(1):100-110. doi: 10.1111/acer.13525. Epub 2017 Nov 21.
Early alcohol initiation is common and has been associated with the development of alcohol problems. Yet, past research on the association of age of initiation with later problem drinking has produced inconsistent findings. Using prospective data from the Australian Parental Supply of Alcohol Longitudinal Study cohort, this study examined age of alcohol initiation, and of first drunkenness, and associations with subsequent drinking in adolescence.
A total of 1,673 parent-child dyads recruited through Australian secondary schools completed annual surveys for 5 years (grades 7 to 11). Limiting the sample to those adolescents who had initiated alcohol use by age 17 (n = 839), multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine associations between (i) age of initiation to alcohol use (consuming at least 1 full serve) and (ii) age of first drunkenness, and 2 outcomes: (i) binge drinking (consuming >4 standard drinks on a single occasion), and (ii) the total number of alcoholic drinks consumed in the past year, adjusted for a range of potential child, parent, family, and peer covariates.
Fifty percent of adolescents reported alcohol use and 36% reported bingeing at wave 5 (mean age 16.9 years), and the mean age of initiation to alcohol use for drinkers was 15.1 years. Age of initiation was significantly associated with binge drinking and total quantity of alcohol consumed in unadjusted and adjusted models. Age of first drunkenness was associated with total quantity of alcohol consumed in unadjusted models but not adjusted models and was not associated with subsequent bingeing.
Initiating alcohol use earlier in adolescence is associated with an increased risk of binge drinking and higher quantity of consumption in late secondary school, supporting an argument for delaying alcohol initiation for as long as possible to reduce the risk for problematic use in later adolescence and the alcohol-related harms that may accompany this use.
早期饮酒现象普遍存在，并与酒精问题的发展有关。然而，过去关于起始年龄与后期问题饮酒之间关联的研究结果并不一致。本研究使用澳大利亚父母供应酒精纵向研究队列的前瞻性数据，研究了青少年时期饮酒起始年龄和首次醉酒年龄与随后饮酒之间的关系。
通过澳大利亚中学招募了 1673 对父母-子女对，在 5 年内（7 至 11 年级）完成了年度调查。将样本限制在那些在 17 岁之前开始饮酒的青少年中（n=839），使用多项逻辑回归模型来研究（i）开始饮酒的年龄（至少饮用 1 份标准饮料）和（ii）首次醉酒年龄与两个结果之间的关系：（i）狂饮（单次饮酒量>4 标准饮料）和（ii）过去一年中饮用的酒精饮料总量，调整了一系列潜在的儿童、父母、家庭和同伴协变量。
50%的青少年在第 5 波（平均年龄 16.9 岁）报告了饮酒，36%报告了狂饮，饮酒者开始饮酒的平均年龄为 15.1 岁。在未经调整和调整模型中，起始年龄与狂饮和饮酒总量显著相关。首次醉酒年龄与未经调整模型中的饮酒总量有关，但与调整模型无关，且与随后的狂饮无关。
青少年时期较早开始饮酒与后期中学时期狂饮和饮酒量增加的风险增加有关，这支持了尽可能推迟饮酒起始时间以降低后期青少年期问题饮酒风险和伴随这种饮酒行为的酒精相关危害的论点。
