Heavy alcohol consumption among marginalised African refugee young people in Melbourne, Australia: motivations for drinking, experiences of alcohol-related problems and strategies for managing drinking

ABSTRACT

Objective. Little is known about substance use among resettled refugee populations. This study aimed to describe motivations for drinking, experiences of alcohol-related problems and strategies for managing drinking among marginalised African refugee young people in Melbourne, Australia.

Design. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 16 self-identified African refugees recruited from street-based settings in 2012–2013. Interview transcripts were analysed inductively to identify key themes.

Results. Participants gathered in public spaces to consume alcohol on a daily or near-daily basis. Three key motivations for heavy alcohol consumption were identified: drinking to cope with trauma, drinking to cope with boredom and frustration and drinking as a social experience. Participants reported experiencing a range of health and social consequences of their alcohol consumption, including breakdown of family relationships, homelessness, interpersonal violence, contact with the justice system and poor health. Strategies for managing drinking included attending counselling or residential detoxification programmes, self-imposed physical isolation and intentionally committing crime in order to be incarcerated.

Conclusion. These findings highlight the urgent need for targeted harm reduction education for African young people who consume alcohol. Given the importance of social relationships within this community, use of peer-based strategies are likely to be particularly effective. Development and implementation of programmes that address the underlying health and psychosocial causes and consequences of heavy alcohol use are also needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol
• culturally and linguistically diverse communities
• refugee health
• Africa
• young people
• qualitative research

Key messages

(1) Three key motivations for engaging in heavy alcohol consumption were identified among refugee-background young people: drinking to cope with trauma; drinking to cope with boredom, frustration and marginalisation; and drinking as a social experience.

(2) A range of health and social consequences were associated with heavy alcohol consumption.

(3) There is an urgent need for development of appropriate interventions to reduce alcohol use and related harms among refugee young people, as well as strategies to improve community awareness, knowledge and response strategies around alcohol use.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by funding from the NHMRC-funded Centre for Research Excellence into Injecting Drug Use (CREIDU), based at the Burnet Institute. DH is supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award, a Monash University Postgraduate Publications Award and through funding from CREIDU. PH is supported by a Curtin University Research Fellowship. The National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Substance Misuse Prevention and Service Improvements Grants Fund. PD is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution to this work by the Victorian Operational Infrastructure Support Program. The funding bodies played no role in the study design, data analysis or preparation of the manuscript for publication.