A report provided a European Union-wide overview of the market and regulation regarding types of alcoholic beverages with potentially particular appeal to minors. Over the period 1995–2007, drinking prevalence in young people had remained stable: but drinking patterns had become more risky. Alcohol-related advertising, in general, was targeted at minors, in particular via 'social media'.
Source: Peter Anderson, Marc Suhrcke, and Chris Brookes (eds), An Overview of the Market for Alcoholic Beverages of Potentially Particular Appeal to Minors, National Heart Forum
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Dec
A report examined young people's exposure to alcohol marketing through television and online media in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany.
Source: Eleanor Winpenny, Sunil Patil, Marc Elliott, Lidia Villalba van Dijk, Saba Hinrichs, Theresa Marteau, and Ellen Nolte, Assessment of Young People's Exposure to Alcohol Marketing in Audiovisual and Online Media, RAND Europe
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Dec
A study examined the lives of young people who drank little or no alcohol. Getting drunk was not an automatic rite of passage for young people. Young people who drank little or no alcohol tended to prefer activities where drinking alcohol rarely played a role. The immediate effects of drinking alcohol (e.g. hangovers) concerned young people more than longer-term health effects. Young people believed that alcohol education was based on the assumption that young people drank: they wanted 'not drinking' to be presented as a legitimate option.
Source: Rachel Herring, Mariana Bayley, and Rachel Hurcombe, A Positive Choice: Young people who drink little or no alcohol, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2012-Aug
A study explored the lives of young people in two regions of England where alcohol-related harm rates differed. The north had a higher degree of reported indicators of alcohol-related harms than the south-east and the south-west: but despite this young people's drinking behaviour in these areas followed similar patterns. Young people rarely drank on their own: they actively sought out clusters of youth-orientated bars, and sometimes these clusters encouraged young people to drink more than they intended. Planning authorities had often been unable to resist commercial pressures to allow clubs and bars to fill units that would otherwise be vacant, despite a wish to limit the number of licensed premises.
Source: Marion Roberts, Tim Townshend, Ilaria Pappalepore, Adam Eldridge, and Budhi Mulyawan, Local Variations in Youth Drinking Cultures, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2012-Aug
An article examined the relationship between parental socio-economic status and adolescent substance use. Familial and demographic factors emerged as important predictors: but socio-economic status did not appear to be relevant.
Source: Alex Sutherland, 'Is parental socio-economic status related to the initiation of substance abuse by young people in an English city? An event history analysis', Social Science & Medicine, Volume 74 Issue 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
A report said that the government needed to harness family-based treatments in order to tackle inter-generational substance misuse.
Source: Sophie Kydd and Natalie Roe, A Better Future for Families: The importance of family-based interventions in tackling substance misuse, Addaction
Links: Report | Addaction press release
Date: 2012-Mar
A paper examined how young adults felt about their drinking and what influenced their choices, with a view to identifying the strategies most likely to change norms around alcohol.
Source: Young People, Gender and Alcohol, Glasgow Centre for Population Health
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Mar