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The aim of this study was to determine whether homophobic victimization was associated with alcohol consumption and riding with an intoxicated driver or driving a car while under the influence of alcohol or drugs among adolescent men who have sex with men (MSM). Cross-sectional analysis used baseline data from a national HIV prevention trial (NCT03167606) for adolescent MSM aged 13-18 years (N = 747). Multivariable logistic regression models assessed associations between homophobic victimization (independent variable) and alcohol-related outcomes (dependent variables), controlling for age, parents' education level, sexual orientation, health literacy, race, and ethnicity. Most participants (87%) reported at least one form of homophobic victimization in their lifetime, with verbal insults being the most frequently reported (82%). In the bivariate analysis, alcohol consumption and riding with an intoxicated driver or driving a car while under the influence were associated with many forms of victimization. Exposure to at least one form of victimization was associated with increased odds of alcohol consumption (OR: 2.31; 95% CI: 1.38-3.87) and riding with an intoxicated driver or driving a car while under the influence (OR: 2.25; 95% CI: 1.26-4.00), after controlling for covariates. Increased risk of alcohol consumption and risky alcohol-related behaviors were found among adolescent MSM who experienced homophobic victimization. Interventions should address homophobic victimization and its impact on adolescent MSM, as well as disentangling motivations for underage drinking, riding with an intoxicated driver or driving a car while under the influence.

Background This cluster randomised control trial is designed to evaluate whether the Communities That Care intervention (CTC) is effective in reducing the proportion of secondary school age adolescents who use alcohol before the Australian legal purchasing age of 18 years. Secondary outcomes are other substance use and antisocial behaviours. Long term economic benefits of reduced alcohol use by adolescents for the community will also be assessed. Methods Fourteen communities and 14 other non-contiguous communities will be matched on socioeconomic status (SES), location, and size. One of each pair will be randomly allocated to the intervention in three Australian states (Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia). A longitudinal survey will recruit grade 8 and 10 students (M = 15 years old, N  = 3500) in 2017 and conduct follow-up surveys in 2019 and 2021 (M = 19 years old). Municipal youth populations will also be monitored for trends in alcohol-harms using hospital and police administrative data. Discussion Community-led interventions that systematically and strategically implement evidence-based programs have been shown to be effective in producing population-level behaviour change, including reduced alcohol and drug use. We expect that the study will be associated with significant effects on alcohol use amongst adolescents because interventions adopted within communities will be based on evidence-based practices and target specific problems identified from surveys conducted within each community. Trial registration The trial was retrospectively registered in September, 2017 ( ACTRN12616001276448 ), as communities were selected prior to trial registration; however, participants were recruited after registration. Findings will be disseminated in peer-review journals and community fora.

Background Research has consistently shown that early onset of drinking (EOD) is associated with alcohol-related problems in adulthood. However, recent reviews have identified several limitations in the early onset literature, including the use of retrospective reports, insufficient control for potential confounders, ambiguous definitions of the concept, and an assumption that early onset is independent of cultural norms and national alcohol policies. This study addresses these limitations by examining whether EOD, independent of early onset of excessive drinking (EOE), prospectively predicts hazardous drinking in late adolescence/young adulthood in Norway and Australia, two countries with different drinking cultures. Methods Data were drawn from two population-based longitudinal studies; the Norwegian Tracking Opportunities and Problems Study ( n  = 329) and the Australian International Youth Development Study ( n  = 786). Data were collected prospectively from mid adolescence (14–16 years) to late adolescence/young adulthood (18–25 years) and a modified Poisson regression approach was used to estimate prevalence ratios. Adolescent self-reports included measures of EOD and EOE. Young adults completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). The results were adjusted for adolescent factors; age, gender, impulsivity, hyperactivity, conduct problems, smoking, early sexual intercourse and friends’ substance use, and family factors; alcohol and drug use in the family, maternal education, family management and monitoring. Results Hazardous drinking was identified in 46.8 and 38.9% of young adults in Norway and Australia, respectively. Both EOD and EOE in adolescence were significantly related to an increased risk of alcohol-related problems in late adolescence/young adulthood in both studies, even when adjusting for possible confounders. Conclusion Our findings indicate that adolescent drinking behaviour is an indicator of alcohol-related problems in late adolescence/young adulthood, even when controlling for a variety of covariates. This finding is in contrast to previous research on older adults, where no association between adolescent drinking and later alcohol-related problems were found when controlling for covariates. The divergence in findings may suggest that the impact of EOD/EOE is limited to the late adolescent and young adult period. Preventing drinking in early adolescence may thus have some impact on the drinking patterns in late adolescence/young adulthood.

Purpose We explored factors predicting repeated or hazardous alcohol use among autistic and non-autistic U.S. youth ages 16 to 20 years. Methods Autistic (n = 94) and non-autistic (n = 92) youth completed an online survey. By design, half of each group reported past-year alcohol use. We compared drinking patterns for autistic and non-autistic youth, and within each group between abstinent or infrequent drinkers (0–1 drinking episodes in past year) versus those who drank 2 + times in past year. Results Autistic (vs. non-autistic) youth who drank did so less frequently and consumed fewer drinks per occasion. However, 15% of autistic youth who drank in the past year reported heavy episodic drinking and 9.3% screened positive for AUDIT-C hazardous drinking. For autistic youth only, a diagnosis of depression, bullying or exclusion histories were positively associated with drinking 2 + times in the past year. Autistic youth who put more effort into masking autistic traits were less likely to report drinking 2 + times in the past year. As compared to non-autistic youth, autistic participants were less likely to drink for social reasons, to conform, or to enhance experiences, but drank to cope at similar rates. Conclusion Repeated and hazardous underage alcohol occur among autistic youth. Targeted prevention programs designed to address the specific drinking profiles of autistic youth are needed.

Objectives. To assess the exposure of Chinese adolescents to proalcohol advertising and explore its association with alcohol consumption. Methods. A nationally and regionally representative school-based survey was conducted in mainland China in 2021 among students in grades 7 through 12, aged 13 to 18 years. We assessed adolescent exposure to proalcohol advertising and its association with alcohol consumption. Results. A total of 57 336 students participated in the survey, and the exposure percentage of proalcohol advertising was 66.8%, with no difference between boys and girls or between urban and rural areas. The top 3 exposure channels were television (51.8%), the Internet (43.6%), and outdoor billboards (42.0%). The exposure was higher among students who had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days (80.1% vs 65.1%; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.29) and in the past 12 months (77.3% vs 61.7%; AOR = 1.30). However, no significant correlation was observed between advertising exposure and drunkenness. Conclusions. Approximately two thirds of Chinese adolescents have been exposed to proalcohol advertising in the past 30 days, with television, the Internet, and outdoor billboards being the most prevalent channels. Exposure to proalcohol advertising exhibits a positive correlation with drinking. ( Am J Public Health. 2024;114(8):814–823. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307680 )

Sipping, an early form of alcohol initiation, is associated with aspects of psychopathology and personality that reflect long-term risk for harmful alcohol use. In the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development cohort ( N = 11,872), sipping by age 9–10 was concurrently associated with impulsivity, other aspects of externalizing, and prodromal schizophrenia symptoms. Still, these associations were cross-sectional in nature, leaving open the possibility that these features of psychopathology and personality might not reflect long-term risk for alcohol consumption and related harm across development. Here, we attempted to replicate baseline concurrent associations across three waves of data to extend concurrent associations to prospective ones. Most cross-sectional associations replicated across waves, such that impulsivity, other aspects of externalizing, reward sensitivity (e.g., surgency, sensation seeking), and prodromal schizophrenia symptoms were associated with increased odds of having sipped alcohol by the age of 12. Nevertheless, not all concurrent associations replicated prospectively; impulsigenic features did not reflect long-term risk for sipping. Thus, some psychopathology features appeared to reflect stable risk factors, whereas others appeared to reflect state-dependent risk factors. All told, sipping might not reflect long-term risk for harmful alcohol use, and the nature of sipping may change across development.

Parental monitoring behaviors are negatively associated with adolescent substance use. Yet, the processes explaining these associations are still unclear. The current study examined adolescents’ knowledge of minimum legal drinking age laws and their perceived acceptability of underage drinking as potential mediators of the links between parental monitoring behaviors and youth alcohol use. The sample included 1154 Belgian adolescents (Mage = 16.34, SD = 1.33; 71% girls), who were recruited in Wallonia (54.9%) and in Flanders (45.1%). Path analyses revealed that higher parental rule setting, but not solicitation, was related to lower alcohol use. Acceptability of underage drinking mediated this link, but not knowledge of the laws. Results suggest that beyond laws regulating the minimum legal drinking age, alcohol use prevention programs should consider the importance of parental rule setting and youth’s perceived acceptability of underage drinking.

Alcohol-related emergency department attendance in adolescents should be considered as a valuable opportunity to address and mitigate future alcohol consumption. Therefore, a paediatric department of a major district hospital in the Netherlands developed an outpatient preventive program targeting adolescents admitted for acute alcohol intoxication. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate how adolescent drinking patterns participating in the preventive program developed over time. This retrospective observational study involved 310 patients from the Reinier de Graaf Hospital, Delft, the Netherlands (years 2014–2022). The outpatient preventive program consists of three main components: an initial intervention, subsequent an extended counselling session and psychological interventions. The alcohol consumption was compared at three time points: before the admission for acute alcohol intoxication(T = 0), 4–6 weeks after hospital admission (T = 1) and 6–12 months after the hospital admission (T = 2). Moreover, sociodemographic variables, adolescent risk-taking behaviour and family and pedagogical factors were included in secondary analysis. Adolescents who experienced an alcohol intoxication exhibited more adolescent risk-taking behaviour (higher rates of lifetime smoking, substance use and sexual intercourse) compared to the Dutch average. Initially, these adolescents had significantly higher rates of alcohol consumption and drunkenness. Alcohol use decreased significantly in the month following intoxication, even below the Dutch average. Though 6–12 months later, their alcohol consumption increased but remained statistically lower and involved less binge drinking than the Dutch average. Conclusions : The findings of this study demonstrate that a preventive program following acute alcohol intoxication contributes to the reduction of adolescent alcohol use and associated risk-taking behaviours. What is Known: • Earlier studies showed that adolescents with problematic alcohol use reported reduced alcohol consumption and fewer alcohol-related problems after participating in a motivational interviewing intervention compared to standard care. • During the follow-up assessment of adolescents with acute alcohol intoxication it is possible to signalize mental disorders and to determine whether the patient requires referral to specialized mental healthcare. What is New: • These findings suggest that the preventive program had a short-term impact in reducing alcohol consumption among adolescents with acute alcohol intoxication, as well as a long-term impact in reducing binge-drinking behaviours. • The program’s success in mitigating binge-drinking behaviours aligns with its goals of promoting safer drinking habits among adolescents.

Adolescent alcohol use has significant consequences for concurrent and longitudinal health and wellbeing, with sexual minority youth consistently reporting higher levels of alcohol use than their heterosexual peers. Understanding how individual-difference variables like aggressive behavior are associated with variability in sexual minority adolescents’ higher levels of alcohol use offers novel theoretical insight into this vulnerability. The 81,509 participants were drawn from the Profiles of Student life: Attitudes and Behavior Study . They were ages 14–17 years (M = 15.38, SD = 1.09) and 50.1% were cisgender girls. For sexual identity, 88% were heterosexual, 5% were mostly heterosexual, were 4% bisexual, were 1% mostly gay or lesbian, and were 1% being gay or lesbian. Participants reported on alcohol use, aggressive behavior, and sexual identity. Gay/lesbian and mostly gay/lesbian adolescents who reported higher aggressive behavior had higher levels of alcohol use than their heterosexual peers who also reported higher aggressive behavior. The way in which aggressive behavior amplified the link between mostly gay/lesbian and gay/lesbian identities and alcohol use suggests the need for more research examining how this trait may heighten both exposure and reaction to minority stressors among some subgroups of sexual minority youth.

Background We aimed to evaluate the potential independent and interactive associations of tobacco and alcohol use with suicide ideation, plan, and attempt among adolescents, and the role of legal purchase age restrictions among these associations. Methods A pooled cross-sectional analysis was conducted with data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) (2013–2019), the US Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) (2021), and a Chinese school-based health survey (2017). Self-reported use of tobacco and alcohol during the past 30 days, and suicide ideation, plan, and attempt during the past year, were collected from questionnaires. Country-level purchase age restrictions on tobacco and alcohol products were obtained from official government websites. Results Among the 211,022 adolescents from 58 countries, 46.7% were boys. Compared with adolescents who used neither tobacco nor alcohol, those who used both tobacco and alcohol had the highest odds of suicide ideation (boys: 2.42 [95% CI: 2.25–2.61]; girls: 3.19 [95% CI: 2.98–3.40]; P difference  < 0.001), suicide plan (boys: 2.39 [95% CI: 2.21–2.58]; girls: 3.33 [95% CI: 3.11–3.57]; P difference  < 0.001), and suicide attempt (boys: 3.24 [95% CI: 3.00–3.51]; girls: 4.03 [95% CI: 3.75–4.33]; P difference  < 0.001). In countries with higher suicide plan prevalence, boys who use tobacco and who live in countries with tobacco purchase age restrictions had lower odds of suicide plan (1.86 [95% CI: 1.64–2.12]) than those who lived in countries without restrictions (2.81 [95% CI: 2.32–3.42]). Similarly, girls who use tobacco and who live in countries with legal age purchase restrictions displayed lower odds of suicide plan (2.20 [95% CI: 1.98–2.45]) compared to those who live in countries without restrictions (4.61 [95% CI: 3.65–5.83]). However, our study revealed no subgroup differences in whether countries have legal tobacco or alcohol purchase age restrictions in association with suicide ideation, plan, and attempt risk in countries with a lower prevalence of suicide behaviors. Conclusions Tobacco and alcohol consumption are strongly associated with the risk of suicide behaviors among adolescents, particularly among girls. Country-level tobacco control strategies may have the potential to reduce risks of suicide behaviors associated with tobacco use among adolescents.