Response to commentaries: (de)normalization of drinking and its implications for young people, sociality, culture and epidemiology

Commentar

Examining trends in the representation of young people and alcohol in Australian newspapers over twenty years (2000-2019)

Background: The news media can reflect and influence public opinion, as well as affect individual practice. In the context of significant changes in alcohol consumption among young people over the past twenty years, we examined Australian newspaper reporting of young people (under 18 years) and alcohol to assess whether there have been changes over time in the content and slant of articles that reflect or elucidate these trends. Methods: Factiva was used to search newspaper articles from major Australian newspapers over a twenty year period (2000-2019). After screening, two researchers coded 2,415 newspaper articles across four key domains: article type, article theme, sources cited and topic slant (e.g. approving, disapproving tone). Change over time across the study period was assessed using joinpoint Poisson regression analyses. Results: There was a significant increase in articles on young people and alcohol between 2000 and 2008, before a corresponding decrease to 2019. Policy or prevention strategies were the most common theme of articles (35.8%), followed by articles reporting on risks or harms associated with alcohol use for young people (18.1%). Researchers were the most common source reported (25.1%), followed by politicians (19.0%). Three quarters of articles (75.9%) had a socially disapproving topic slant, which increased significantly up until 2011, with a corresponding decrease thereafter. Conclusion: Attention to, and problematisation of, young people and alcohol increased in the first decade of this millennium which may have acted to sustain or accelerate declining drinking trends. However, this dissipated back to baseline levels in the second decade, which may indicate a lag time in recognition of young people’s drinking becoming less of a public health ‘problem’

Why is adolescent drinking declining? A systematic review and narrative synthesis

Background: Adolescent drinking has declined across many developed countries from the turn of the century. The aim of this review is to explore existing evidence examining possible reasons for this decline. Methods: We conducted systematic searches across five databases: Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Informit Health and Scopus. Studies were included if association between declining alcohol consumption and potential explanatory factors were measured over time. Narrative synthesis was undertaken due to substantial methodological heterogeneity in these studies. Results: 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. Five studies found moderate evidence for changes in parental practices as a potential cause for the decline. Five studies that examined whether alcohol policy changes influenced the decline found weak evidence of association. Three studies explored whether alcohol use has been substituted by illicit substances but no evidence was found. Two studies examined the effect of a weaker economy; both identified increase in adolescent alcohol use during times of economic crisis. One study indicated that changes in exposure to alcohol advertising were positively associated with the decline and another examined the role of immigration of non-drinking populations but found no evidence of association. One study tested participation in organised sports and party lifestyle as a potential cause but did not use robust analytical methods and therefore did not provide strong evidence of association for the decline. Conclusions: The most robust and consistent evidence was identified for shifts in parental practices. Further research is required using robust analytical methods such as ARIMA modelling techniques and utilising cross-national data

Declining drinking among adolescents: are we seeing a denormalisation of drinking and a normalisation of non-drinking?

Background In the early 2000s, alcohol use among young people began to decline in many western countries, especially among adolescents (aged between 12-17 years old). These declines have continued steadily over the past two decades, against the backdrop of much smaller declines among the general population. Argument Hypotheses examining individual factors fail adequately to provide the necessary ‘big picture’ thinking needed to understand declines in adolescent drinking. We use the normalisation thesis to argue that there is strong international evidence for both processes of denormalisation of drinking and normalisation of non-drinking occurring for adolescents in many western countries. Conclusions Research on declining adolescent drinking provides evidence of both denormalisation of alcohol consumption and normalisation of non-drinking. This has implications for enabling policy environments more amenable to regulation and increasing the acceptability of non-drinking in social contexts. Normalisation theory (and its various interpretations) provides a useful multi-dimensional tool for understanding declines in adolescent drinking

‘90 per cent of the time when I have had a drink in my hand I’m on my phone as well’: a cross-national analysis of communications technologies and drinking practices among young people

Greater use of communication technologies among young people, including mobile phones, social media and communication apps, has coincided with declines in youth alcohol use in many high-income countries. However, little research has unpacked how drinking as a practice within interconnected routines and interactions may be changing alongside these technologies. Drawing on qualitative interviews about drinking with young people aged 16–23 across three similar studies in Australia, the United Kingdom and Sweden, we identify how communication technologies may afford reduced or increased drinking. They may reduce drinking by producing new online contexts, forms of intimacy and competing activities. They may increase drinking by re-organising drinking occasions, rituals and contexts. And they may increase or reduce drinking by enabling greater fluidity and interaction between diverse practices. These countervailing dynamics have likely contributed to shifting drinking patterns and practices for young people that may be obscured beneath the population-level decline in youth drinking

Response to commentaries: (de)normalization of drinking and its implications for young people, sociality, culture and epidemiology

Commentar

Why is adolescent drinking declining? A systematic review and narrative synthesis

Background: Adolescent drinking has declined across many developed countries from the turn of the century. The aim of this review is to explore existing evidence examining possible reasons for this decline. Methods: We conducted systematic searches across five databases: Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Informit Health and Scopus. Studies were included if association between declining alcohol consumption and potential explanatory factors were measured over time. Narrative synthesis was undertaken due to substantial methodological heterogeneity in these studies. Results: 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. Five studies found moderate evidence for changes in parental practices as a potential cause for the decline. Five studies that examined whether alcohol policy changes influenced the decline found weak evidence of association. Three studies explored whether alcohol use has been substituted by illicit substances but no evidence was found. Two studies examined the effect of a weaker economy; both identified increase in adolescent alcohol use during times of economic crisis. One study indicated that changes in exposure to alcohol advertising were positively associated with the decline and another examined the role of immigration of non-drinking populations but found no evidence of association. One study tested participation in organised sports and party lifestyle as a potential cause but did not use robust analytical methods and therefore did not provide strong evidence of association for the decline. Conclusions: The most robust and consistent evidence was identified for shifts in parental practices. Further research is required using robust analytical methods such as ARIMA modelling techniques and utilising cross-national data

How much are we exposed to alcohol in electronic media? Development of the Alcoholic Beverage Identification Deep Learning Algorithm (ABIDLA)

Contains fulltext : 214926.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)Background: Evidence demonstrates that seeing alcoholic beverages in electronic media increases alcohol initiation and frequent and excessive drinking, particularly among young people. To efficiently assess this exposure, the aim was to develop the Alcoholic Beverage Identification Deep Learning Algorithm (ABIDLA) to automatically identify beer, wine and champagne/sparkling wine from images. Methods: Using a specifically developed software, three coders annotated 57,186 images downloaded from Google. Supplemented by 10,000 images from ImageNet, images were split randomly into training data (70%), validation data (10%) and testing data (20%). For retest reliability, a fourth coder re-annotated a random subset of 2,004 images. Algorithms were trained using two state-of-the-art convolutional neural networks, Resnet (with different depths) and Densenet-121. Results: With a correct classification (accuracy) of 73.75% when using six beverage categories (beer glass, beer bottle, beer can, wine, champagne, and other images), 84.09% with three (beer, wine/champagne, others) and 85.22% with two (beer/wine/champagne, others), Densenet-121 slightly outperformed all Resnet models. The highest accuracy was obtained for wine (78.91%) followed by beer can (77.43%) and beer cup (73.56%). Interrater reliability was almost perfect between the coders and the expert (Kappan=n.903) and substantial between Densenet-121 and the coders (Kappan=n.681). Conclusions: Free from any response or coding burden and with a relatively high accuracy, the ABIDLA offers the possibility to screen all kinds of electronic media for images of alcohol. Providing more comprehensive evidence on exposure to alcoholic beverages is important because exposure instigates alcohol initiation and frequent and excessive drinking.8 p