Pre-Drinking Behavior of Young Heavy Drinkers

ABSTRACT

Background: Pre-drinking has been linked to subsequent heavy drinking and the engagement in multiple risky behaviors. Objectives: The present study examined a group of adolescents who recently had a “big night out” to determine whether there were differences in their pre-drinking behavior based on age, gender, geographic location, and social setting. Methods: Participants (n = 351, aged 16–19) representing the heaviest 20–25% of drinkers in their age group were recruited using nonrandom sampling from metropolitan (Melbourne, Sydney, Perth) or regional (Bunbury) locations across Australia and administered a survey by a trained interviewer. Results: Almost half the sample pre-drank (n = 149), most commonly at a friend's house. Those aged 18–19 were more likely to pre-drink, and did so at higher quantities compared to their younger counterparts. Males and females reported similar pre-drinking duration, quantity and amount spent on alcohol. Compared to those in cities, regional participants consumed greater quantities over longer periods of time. Two-thirds of participants consumed alcohol in excess of national guidelines during their pre-drinking session. These participants were more likely to nominate price as a motivation to pre-drink and were less likely to report that someone else provided them alcohol. Conclusions: This study sheds light on the pre-drinking habits of a population of young risky drinkers, and highlights the need for policy makers to address this form of drinking to reduce alcohol-related harm among young people.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol
• pre-drinking
• youth
• risky drinking

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rowan P. Ogeil

Rowan P. Ogeil is an NHMRC Peter Doherty Early Career Fellow in the Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University and Turning Point. His research interests include examining sleep and substance use, and the use of drugs in shift working populations.

Belinda Lloyd

Belinda Lloyd is Head of Research and Workforce Development at Turning Point, and an Associate Professor of Addiction Studies at Monash University. Her research interests include alcohol and drug use, mental health, and self-harm monitoring at the population level.

Tina Lam

Tina Lam is a Research Fellow at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University. She completed her PhD on alcohol and other drug use at large youth events, and her research interests include drug treatment systems, alcohol policy, and the context of risky alcohol use amongst young people.

Simon Lenton

Simon Lenton is a Deputy Director at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University. His research interests include bridging the gap between drug policy research and drug policy practice, illicit drug use and harm reduction, impact of legislative options for drugs, availability of take-home naloxone, and drink and drug driving.

Lucinda Burns

Lucinda Burns is Associate Professor at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. She heads the Drug Trends Unit that monitors the price, purity and availability of illicit drugs in Australia on an annual basis. Her other research work focuses on drug use in marginalized populations such as pregnant women who are drug dependent and people who are homeless.

Alexandra Aiken

Alexandra Aiken is a Senior Research Officer in the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of new South Wales. Her research interests include Public Health, Alcohol and Substance use and misuse and Health promotion.

William Gilmore

William Gilmore is a Research Fellow at the National Drug Research Institute, Australia, conducting epidemiological research focused on population health and prevention approaches related to alcohol use. He has worked in the field of public health, in both health service and academic positions, since 2008.

Tanya Chikritzhs

Tanya Chikritzhs leads the Alcohol Policy Research team at the National Drug Research Institute. Her research program is focused on; the epidemiology of alcohol use as it relates to disease and injury, monitoring, prevention, policy impact evaluation, communicating research findings to decision makers and the public and translating research into policy.

Richard Mattick

Richard Mattick is the Professor of Drug and Alcohol Studies in the National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. His major current research interests are in clinical trials for management of opioid dependence, psychostimulant substitution therapy, treatment of young drug dependent people, and the effects on cognitive functioning of exposure to psychostimulants and opioids.

Steve Allsop

Steve Allsop is the Director of the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Prevention of Drug Abuse. He has worked in government, academic and service organizations and has a strong interest in prevention and policy, responses to alcohol and amphetamine type stimulants and drug use among young people.

Dan I. Lubman

Dan I. Lubman is the Director of Turning Point and Professor of Addiction Studies and Services at Monash University. He has worked across mental health and drug treatment settings in both the UK and Australia, and his research investigates the impact of alcohol and drug use on brain function, and the development of treatment programs across multiple service settings.